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Samsung VR headset
Virtual reality devices have the potential to introduce an entire new medium of online advertising. Photograph: Gustau Nacarino/Reuters
Virtual reality devices have the potential to introduce an entire new medium of online advertising. Photograph: Gustau Nacarino/Reuters

Blake Cahill: my five predictions for marketing in 2016

This article is more than 8 years old
Blake Cahill

From wearable devices that interact with the internet of things to immersive video experiences, the global head of digital at Philips looks to marketing in 2016

Marketers look to the future. Every year, new players, products and consumer habits come to the fore, the industry evolves, adapts and what was once cutting edge best-practice becomes sub-standard. It looks like next year is shaping up to be full of surprises.

Seeds have been planted over the past 18 months that will start bearing fruit – from the rise and rise of wearable technology, to mobile payments and even virtual reality. There’s no guarantee exactly which trends will develop during the year but the sooner you change your thinking, the longer you’ll have to adjust and stay ahead of the game.

1 Mobile commerce

It’s become something of a predictions piece trope, but mobile in 2016 will be just as significant as it has been this year.

Marketers need to focus on driving conversions when it comes to mobile users. In Europe, only 12% of all online purchases are done on mobile, despite the increase in time users spend browsing retailers’ websites on their mobiles.

More than ever, marketers will need to prioritise their mobile strategy. With 80% of mobile time spent in-app, everything needs a mobile-first approach: mobile search, mobile content optimisation. Having a mobile-first approach to marketing could be the difference to winning or losing in 2016.

Smartphones
Mobile will be as significant for marketers in 2016 as it was in 2015. Photograph: PhotoAlto/Alamy

2 Content marketing and customer centricity

51% of business-to-business (B2B) companies plan to increase spending on content marketing in 2016 (pdf) and for good reason. Today, consumers want better service, faster responses and targeting with more relevant and timely information.

Content marketing is an effective way to build a stronger rapport between the brand and the customer, delivering more interactive and valuable experiences that go beyond a company’s traditional products and services to the right audience, at the right time.

In 2016, content marketers will have several new tools and mediums at their fingertips – Periscope and Meerkat are two examples – to create a more personalised and engaging experiences for the target audience.

Meerkat: a new content marketing tool.
Meerkat: a new content marketing tool? Photograph: Screengrab

3 The rise of video ads

Video ads are far from new. However, it’s predicted that next year, Google will include video-based advertisements in search rather than text-based ads.

This means brands will have to start embracing more visual forms of content. People are increasingly using video to share their stories and marketers need to follow that trend. Michael Kors, for example, was the first brand to use Instagram’s video advertising capabilities in the UK, releasing a series of video clips for its new footwear collection.

The introduction of 360 degree video on Facebook also signals the beginning of the platform’s push towards the immersive video experience that virtual reality will offer.

Instagram is to add new landscape photo and video advertising formats
Brands must start embracing visual forms of content. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

4 Wearable technology

By now we’ve witnessed almost every technology brand on the planet, plus a good number of banks, fitness brands and fashion labels, launch a wearable. As more people strap technology to their wrists, these gadgets are set to become powerful platforms for customer engagement.

Some of the smartwatches that have been released on the market this year offer only limited functionality as they are linked to smart phone devices. Next year however, we expect independent smartwatches and other wearables to be released, made specifically to interact with the internet of things. These gadgets will allow marketers a unique opportunity to analyse habits, attitudes and behaviour patterns – ultimately using big data to better serve consumers.

Wearable tech such as The Apple Watch could help with customer engagement. Photograph: Stephen Lam/Reuters

5 Virtual reality

2016 will see the arrival of the first consumer virtual reality (VR) headsets – the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. These VR devices have the potential to introduce an entire new medium of online advertising.

With the probability of integration to popular social media platforms and video channels (Facebook’s purchase of Oculus makes this a near certainty), VR could be the type of disruptive technology that makes waves in marketing strategies.

Whether consumers will embrace this on social remains to be seen, but the ability to control the perspective and have a unique experience on each view is something that merits repeat watches – as this video for 360 Star Wars experience and others have shown.

Virtual reality could transform marketing strategies in 2016. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP

Over the past 12 months, the customer decision journey has evolved almost beyond recognition. No longer a linear path, we’re instead faced with thousands of micro-moments. 2016 will be the year that brands have to reconsider the experiences that they’re offering consumers – whether that’s through mind-blowing VR or one-tap purchases.

Companies that create a personalised, consistent and relevant customer experience, regardless of touch point, online and offline, will come out on top.

Blake Cahill is the global head of digital and social marketing at Philips. He is speaking at the Guardian Changing Media Summit 2016.

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