Every brand wants to stand out in today’s crowded marketplace. However, with increasing sensory overload, it is becoming hard to stand out. What can brands do to distinguish themselves?

Following these 4 marketing trends may help you stand out in 2016!

9. USER EXPERIENCE IS CRUCIAL TO WEBSITE

• As first point of customer contact, websites must reflect authenticity of the brand
• Google states the first impression of a webpage happens in the blink of an eye (50
milliseconds to be exact)
• 94% of consumers who rejected or mistrusted a website said it was due to design1
• Website development is now accessible to all levels of users because of the increasing options of pre-made templates like WordPress

10. SOCIAL MEDIA IS THE INTERNET

• Brands are shifting efforts/budgets from pure SEO to increasing social
media optimization
• 92% of B2B companies use social media in their marketing tactics2
• Search will be extended beyond Google with other channels developing their own search engines, like Facebook
• Today’s consumers are more social in their purchase patterns than ever before
• 88% of today’s purchasers make choices based on online comments3
• Payment options will increase in usage in social, continuing to grow all-in-one platforms

11. VIDEOS WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY

• 74% of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video4
• 58% of consumers consider companies that produce video content to be more trustworthy, and 71% say that videos leave a positive impression5
• 52% of marketing professionals report video as the mode of content with best ROI4
• Engaging videos boost the chances users will stay on your website longer, increasing SEO

12. MOBILE MARKETING IS NOT OPTIONAL

Optimizing your website for mobile has become a necessity and a valuable investment
• The number of smartphone users worldwide will surpass 2 billion in 20166
• Optimizing and making the customer experience easier on a mobile webpage/app increases conversions by 160%7
• 45% of emails are opened on mobile devices8
• Mobile apps will trump traditional ads as advertising and will be used for their functionality (not intrusive)
• Users spend, on average, 82% of their time on mobile with apps and just 18% on browsers9

To get the full list, download our infographic – 16 Marketing Trends for 2016

If you missed the other marketing trends, check out our blog series “16 Marketing Trends for 2016”.

1 Marketing and Management Sciences Book
2 Pulizzi, Joe. “What Effective B2B Marketing Looks Like [New Research]”. Content Marketing Institute. 30 September 2015. Web. 1 October 2015.
3 n.p “Bright Local Consumer Review Survey”. Bright Local. n.d. Web. 1 October 2015
4 Google’s Brand Lab. “Building a YouTube Content Strategy: Lessons From Goggle BrandLab”. Google’s Brand Lab. July 2015. Web. 1 October 2015.
5 n.p. Animoto.com Survey (featured in NY Times, CNN, NBC, Bloomberg). n.d. Web. 1 October 2015.
6 EMarketer. “2 Billion Consumers Worldwide to Get Smart(phones) by 2016” EMarketer. 11 December 2014. Web. 1 October 2015
7 Bell, Sharon. “Five ways to improve your mobile-friendly e-commerce site”. NetElixir.com. 24 June 2014. Web. 1 October 2015.
8 n.p. “Top 10 Email Clients”. Andestra.com. September 2015. Web. 1 October 2015.
9 Harvard Business Review. “For Mobile Devices, Think Aps Not Ads”. Harvard Business Review. n.d. Web. 1 October 2015.