Top 2016 Marketing Trends for Small Businesses
Wondering what the top marketing trends in 2016 will be? Well, wonder no more! We bring you the scoop on the hottest marketing crazes that will be the talk of the town in the approaching year.
Staying on top of the latest trends can make a world of difference for small business owners, since even something as simple as adopting a new marketing trend can turn a small business into a huge overnight success. The world of marketing is fast-paced and increasingly volatile, which means that keeping up with the latest trends, is an absolute must for small businesses looking to rise above the fierce competition.
Whichever way you look at it, today’s preparation is tomorrow’s success – and with the New Year only days away – it’s time to start preparing! Read our list of the top 2016 marketing trends for small businesses, and greet the New Year ready for success.
Video marketing
Why save the best for the last, when we can kick off our list with the biggest and hottest content marketing trend in recent times – video! Videos were all the rage in 2015: they were regularly used by over 90% of content marketers, watched weekly by 75% of business executives, and took up over 50% of all consumer internet traffic. Not only will the video marketing phenomenon continue in the next year, but video is predicted to become the undisputed leader in content marketing for businesses of any size in 2016. Versatile, affordable, and audience-friendly – in 2016 videos are bound to play the biggest part in transforming small businesses into bigger and better ones.
Social media
If you think search engines are the supreme rulers among the referral sources, you’re in for a big surprise! For a long time, Google was the top referral source for major publishers, but in 2015, the coveted role was overtaken by Facebook. Plus, it looks like the social networking website will keep the top spot in the approaching year too. According to Parse.ly CTO Andrew Montalenti, the influence of Facebook has “shown it’s on a continued growth trajectory.” What does all this mean for small businesses? It means that for a marketing campaign to be successful in 2016, business owners will have to keep the finger on the pulse of social media and come up with a way to include social media marketing techniques in their campaign.
Mobile marketing
Due to the unstoppable rise of smart phone use, mobile marketing has become one of the leading marketing strategies for both small and big businesses alike. With a growing number of consumers using their pocket devices instead of desktop computers for shopping, small business owners everywhere are rushing to make their websites mobile-responsive. In 2015, 90% of shoppers used their phone for price comparison, and used their devices while shopping in a store. In the following year, mobile marketing is predicted to surpass desktop, which means that small business owners should think mobile when devising their marketing campaigns for 2016. Benefits of mobile marketing for small businesses include cost-effectiveness, high consumer impact, increased response rate, viral potential, among many others.
E-mail marketing
With the rapid use of social media and mobile, you might be tempted to think that e-mail marketing is a thing of the past. This of course would be a mistake. Not only is e-mail marketing a very much current trend, but is in many ways superior to social media. In 2015, 60% of marketers chose e-mail is “a critical enabler of products and services”, as opposed to 42% of marketers in 2014. This clearly indicates that e-mail marketing will continue to grow in the following years. According to one study, “e-mail marketing will experience a second coming of age in 2016” – a prediction that small business owners should take seriously before they start brainstorming their marketing campaigns for the approaching year.
Marketing automation
Marketing automation – the use of software to automate different marketing processes – was one of the leading trends in the outgoing year. In 2015, 68% of the top business-to-business firms used marketing automation for customer acquisition and 50% used it for customer retention. Since there are many marketing automation software which are equally affordable and effective, this marketing strategy is especially valuable for small business owners – helping them to launch campaigns, automate processes, and keep track of the progress. In 2016, marketing automation software is expected to become even more sophisticated, while the content marketing boom and new advertising trends will expand the use of marketing automation platforms across the board.
What do you think about these marketing trends? How do they fit in with what you have planned for 2016? Let us know in the comments.
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