“It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change” – Charles Darwin
Whilst these trends are set to become apparent as the year goes on, many won’t be feeling the effect until much later into the decade, but it’s always going to be those who can recognise the changes in the market and adapt accordingly who’ll capitalise and become the new gatekeepers of the future, so it’s always good to brush up on your futurology and prepare!
1 – Digital Advertising Becomes Top Priority
This probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone; one of the most notable trends of 2015 is set to firmly follow into the New Year, as digital advertising continues to take a lead in the advertising market; traditional mediums will continue to lag behind as businesses lean more and more towards the digital realm. According to eMarketer, paid digital advertising will rise 18% this year, which will make up a whopping 30% of the digital market!
2 – Mobile browsing will continue to dominate desktop
I’m a bit in the niche, as I personally use the desktop a lot and I’ve only just got into using a smartphone. I really appreciate being able to pull up Facebook on my phone, keep in touch with my family, despite the distance, and check in on all my other social media apps. It seems that this accessibility of having the whole of the internet in your pocket is popular with a lot of the first world. Google have recently announced that mobile traffic has overtaken desktop traffic in ten different countries in 2015, which is a trend set to continue. This is amazing in itself, but when you consider that this also includes commercial internet use too, the number is a lot higher.
Google has actually said that so long as you have a mobile optimised website or an app, having a desktop website isn’t all that important, which leads me neatly onto…
3 – Apps will explode (metaphorically) and will start to replace traditional websites
Apps are everywhere, if you haven’t used an app in the last ten minutes, you’re either a very hard worker, who’s resisted the alluring seduction of checking messenger or you’re in the teeny-tiny minority of those who has yet to migrate to smartphones.
Apps are constantly being released for every manner of function, from Sleep tracking to personalised newspapers, with more and more niche markets emerging, it’s getting easier for apps to be seen on app indexing platforms. With apps doing everything a mobile-optimised webpage can do, in a more intuitive, convenient and accessible way 2016 will be a pivotal year for app adoption by business owners.
4 – Wearable tech and the internet of things will continue to grow.
A few years ago, the idea of having a device on your wrist that can access the whole collection of the combined human knowledge at unimaginable speeds was simply a fantasy of the sorts of people who don’t take action figures out of their boxes, but with the emergence of the new apple way, and other similar products, it’s become very real. Similarly “The internet of things” has started to gain, with the internet taking an omnipresent place in our lives, in the car, around the home, etc, the lines between online and “real” marketing will blur.
This will also mean that even more, the world will shift so that marketing will reach the consumer, not the other way round, with adverts (eventually) moving from bus-stops and billboards, closer to bathroom mirrors and wearable glasses.
5 – Online advertising will increase in price
Whilst a lot of these posts have been predictions based on educated observations by experts, the idea that advertising will increase in price is almost common sense. Even if you ignore the fact that everything seems to be increasing in price (we’re still sore about Freddos), simply the idea that there’ll be a lot more demand for online advertising simply means that costs will go up, because they can.
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