Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends for 2016 – Tactics vs. Strategy
The list from the linked article below is very good, but it randomly mixes Strategic Trends with Tactical Trends. Tactical items are those “check box items” that marketers do to attract attention, establish authority and build their brand. I see the bottom five items on the list as purely tactical:
10. Mobile Marketing
9. Video Ads
8. Podcasts
7. Hybrid Advertising
6. Paid Content Distribution
I feel that the #1 and #3 choices on the list are also tactical:
3. Personalization
1. Interactive Content
Lost in the middle of their list is what I feel are truly important strategic items. When properly implemented, these strategic initiatives drive more than just the vanity marketing metrics of views, likes, shares, and clicks.
5. Marketing Automation
4. Audience Segmentation
I believe that without Marketing Automation and Audience Segmentation, you can easily end up with lots of data, all stuck in very narrow silos. Automation and Segmentation allow you to tie areas of interest and engagement together so that you can deliver true Marketing Qualified Leads to your sales team.
An important item that is missing from their list is Analytics. More and more marketers are beginning to realize that without solid analytics, which tie the entire marketing process together (from prospect acquisition, through engagement, into qualification and then onto customer) you can never really show how your marketing effort is contributing to the top line.
PS: If you are looking for #2 on their list, it was Competition, but I couldn’t even figure out why it was on the list. It was a ham-handed attempt to say you need to watch your SEM spend and your competitors activity on these platforms. Otherwise you lose visibility and significantly increase the cost CPC of your campaigns.
We asked a growth marketer to talk digital marketing trends for startups in 2016.