by Alecia Wright
Marketers love looking towards the future. Come each December, two big questions arise for marketers:
1) What marketing campaigns did well this year and why? What made them memorable?
2) What distinct marketing trends can we expect to see in 2016?
Today we’ll delve into the second question. Of course, keep in mind that marketers’ perspectives depend on their nature of work. Considering prospective marketing trends tends to create “buzzwords” for the upcoming year. Big Data, anyone?
VIDEO: Social and Virtual
The more interactive the content, the better the results. Photos see more user engagement than words (let’s face it, words tend to get glazed over), but even better than pictures are videos. Nowadays, companies don’t necessarily need highly produced pictures and videos, because we all have smartphones.
Which first leads us to major developments in the social video space…
Periscope
Developing leads through this live stream video application will likely become more popular. What’s unique about Periscope is that the app allows you to live stream whatever you’re doing — unlike Snapchat. It’s a real-time interaction between the broadcaster and viewers, who can leave live comments on the video.
Snapchat
Snapchat is undoubtedly spiking in popularity, with 6 billion views daily. The rise of Snapchat stories is also increasing, especially with the new Discover feature for brands like CNN, Cosmopolitan, and the Food Network. According to the Content Marketing Institute, only 6% of B2B marketers use Periscope and 5% use Snapchat, which leaves tremendous room for growth.
As a Millennial, if brands want to engage consumers daily, Snapchat is the way to go.
In September 2015, Facebook introduced 360 Degree interactive videos. Here at Matchnode, we sat in the office watching a video of a concert, turning our phones up, down, left, and right to see various angles of the stage. Now, it’s not just enough to see video footage of an event, you can actually feel like you’re there.
Surf with professional freesurfer Anthony Wash in Tahiti using his GoPro: this is REALLY COOL.
Virtual Reality
Virtual live streaming seems like something Marty McFly would’ve imagined, but today it’s actually becoming a reality. Katie Vanneck-Smith, global managing director of Dow Jones, foresees not just video on mobile but virtual reality to be a likely trend.
In fact, CNN live-streamed one of the 2015 democratic debates to Samsung GearVR headsets, giving people the feel as if they are in the audience no matter which way they turn.
Are you excited to see how video will affect marketing in 2016? I know I am.