For digital trends in 2015 Bell Pottinger Digital has revealed its 15 predictions. Throughout the year they looked at the increase in mentions and the most discussed trends and so as to predict for the next year what will be the greatest trends in marketing.
Near field communication
NFC is a low-power short-range wireless link that allows two devices to transfer data between each other while held close. The most useful form of it is to identify your bank account to a computer thus allowing contactless payment through your mobile phone.
Internet of things
It will allow a deeper level of automation of our most routine daily tasks, both for the society and individual at large. This will connect a wide range of devices from city-wide transport networks, household products and health monitors.
Wearables
Their most common use is to allow fitness or health monitoring with information transferred to an online database. Some of the other applications include Google Glass which in the media you have probably seen it, which allows you to navigate, send a message, search online and much of the other activities that the internet facilitates.
Internal communications
Within an organization, for effective communication, the function responsible for that is the internal communications. Technological changes have transformed the progress as a discipline, including social media, video and mobile. The change is driven by concepts such as the inbox revolution and treating employees like consumers.
Storytelling
There’s no need for complex or long histories, because fast-moving social platforms want you to use video, more pictures and fewer words, more pictures. This is the core of transmedia storytelling where across multiple formats and platforms a single story is presented in unique fragments.
Branded content
The conventional distinctions between editorial and advertising content is blurred by branded content. The combination of the two develops one product intended to be distributed as editorial content. Usually, the brand itself curates or develops branded content in order to provide added consumer value like education or entertainment instead of selling a service or product.
Beacons
Beacons are sensors that communicate wirelessly through Bluetooth Low Energy technology with mobile devices. In a physical space, they allow two-way communication with the mobile device of a consumer. When a customer walks into a store, a typical use is to trigger the sensor so that he can be given targeted marketing messages through apps on his phone.
Personalization
With choice of channels and accurate targeting marketing messages become a valued service rather than an unwanted intrusion. Now the companies have the big data to design every aspect of the consumer journey. This includes the emotional desire for each one of us to be viewed as unique, and thanks to services across the web this is growingly turning into an expectation.
Big data
Using traditional techniques, it is difficult to process extreme volume of data known as big data. It has the potential to help companies make faster, more intelligent decisions and improve operations.
Content Marketing
According to the Content Marketing Institute the definition of content marketing is ‘a marketing technique of distributing and creating consistent relevant and valuable content to acquire and attract a clearly targeted audience with the goal of driving beneficial customer action.’
Augmented reality
Augmented reality takes an existing picture like real environment or live video and into it blends new digital information. You might know the concept of video games where digital elements are blended into the environment of the user. Other practical uses include audio guides and visual displays for complex tasks, while online shopping trying on clothes or product information displayed over products in-store.
3D printing
For rapid prototyping, 3D printers have been used in traditional research and manufacturing because of the test designs’ quick turnaround. They are also used for prompt manufacturing, especially in short runs for personally customized products.
Real-time
Real Time Marketing is focused on up-to-date events. It focuses on creating a broader strategy on immediate feedback from customers and current trends instead of making a marketing plan and perform it according to a fixed schedule. The purpose is to connect costumers with the resolution they need at that moment.
Mobile
Even though the industry has discussed mobile optimization since 2002, there are still top-brand sites that are not optimized for mobile. The devices that allow online access to information are changing quickly. According to Google, the search rankings would be reduced for sites which aren’t optimized for mobile.
Gamification
In order to develop wider experience that taps into intrinsic motivators, gamification is built into the system. In order to relate actions to stronger and different motivators, it doesn’t aim to develop a game but to utilize gaming techniques.
