Our 10 predictions for growth marketing in 2016

2015 has been an exciting year for Grain. The team has grown in size, we've partnered with some interesting new clients and we've witnessed some interesting growth marketing trends; video marketing budgets are growing, Google’s giving ranking boosts to mobile-friendly sites, and native advertising has found a serious niche in the world of content marketing.

Those trends are only going to grow, too, and they’re something that businesses can make use of right now as part of their growth marketing strategy to reach new, relevant audiences, convert leads, and entertain people to turn them into long-term customers.

We’ve worked with brands to deliver bespoke inbound strategies across a variety of channels, helping them to identify and attract the people who matter most to their growth ambitions. Read our blog 'lessons from an inbound marketing agency' to learn more.

But what will 2016 hold not just for the marketing industry, but for you as a business? What techniques will become the new marketing staples? Which ones can be relevant to you, realistic for your budget, and help you capture the imagination of your target audience?

We’ve had a think and come up with our top 10 predictions for the growth marketing sphere for 2016 and beyond. Predictions, mind, so if any of them turn out to be wrong don’t light torches and surround the office holding pitchforks if we (in the unlikely event) are slightly off the mark:

1: Greater use of beacon technology

Beacons could help net up to $40 billion in sales by next year. More brands are exploring the possibilities of capturing customers on the high street with beacon technology. If a person chooses to download an app and opt-in, they’ll receive brand updates and special offers when they’re within certain range of a Bluetooth beacon. It’s something that was used effectively by Proxama when the giants last visited Liverpool, with beacons providing tailored smartphone content detailing the story of the puppets’ journey through the city.

2: The fall of television marketing revenue

Linear television viewership is set to fall for the first time ever in 2016, and with online video budgets continuing to grow it’ll be interesting to see how marketers that rely heavily on traditional media adjust their budgets accordingly. Expect more creative advertising campaigns featuring on YouTube and Facebook from more established brands as the mentality shifts to online, and other smaller brands exploring their options when it comes to video.

3: An explosion of live social video marketing

Live streaming is catching on, especially with content marketers looking to capture and entertain a more social-savvy audience on platforms like YouTube, Snapchat, Periscope, Meerkat, Blab, and others. We expect this to trend to really take off in 2016 with creative brands using the live element as another part of their strategic bow, using it to promote giveaways and provide greater viewer engagement than ever before.

4: More marketing automation

Marketing automation isn’t really anything new, but it’s fair to say that it’s been mostly in the dominion of the big boys for a long time. That trend’s changing though thanks to more affordable and easier-to-use software hitting the market targeted toward smaller companies looking to grow and automate tasks like customer nurturing. Expect that trend to really pick up during 2016.

5: More attention paid to conversation metrics

Today we're excited to announce Twitter Brand Hub, the newest addition to our suite of analytics tools. https://t.co/Oj5WSj2JFb

— Twitter Advertising (@TwitterAds) October 26, 2015

The recently released Twitter Brand Hub is interesting in that it finally introduces conservation metrics to smaller brands. Users will be able to see how well they’re conversing with prospects, as well as competitor conversation metrics to see how rival brands are interacting with your target market. Expect this to become more refined and a bigger feature of social campaigns in 2016; not just on Twitter but on Facebook and other leading networks.

6: Using huge amounts of data effectively

Another year, another "big data is here" prediction... As time passes more and more data is being collected by companies and software to discover more about prospects to try and lure them to brands. It can be hugely overwhelming, though, especially to smaller novice businesses. 2016 will see brands better focus on the data relevant to them and their business, using it to improve their web presence and provide a much more refined user experience to potential customers.

7: The growth of 4G and introduction of 5G

4G and incoming 5G networks will make browsing and searching online a much faster and better experience than ever before, especially on mobile. More than ever before that means there’s no excuse to have a slow loading, clunky website that isn’t optimised for smartphones. Google even has a simple URL test to see if your site is effective on mobile; expect to see optimisation techniques centred around the effects of 4G and 5G next year, especially when it comes to smartphone and tablet devices.

8: The rise of AdBlock (and marketers trying to avoid it)

When the IAB itself goes as far to apologise for messing up the internet then you know there’s a big problem. AdBlocking software is on the rise due to user frustration with the invasiveness of rich media advertising, with AdBlock even releasing their very own mobile browsers. You’ll see a lot of advertisers trying new ways of reaching out to customers with simpler, more streamlined advertisements and – hopefully – less popups…

9: Native ads and participation marketing

We’ve mentioned the benefits of native advertising before, and participation marketing is a form of influencer marketing where the influencer and marketer get their heads together to create and promote content. Vloggers have been under fire previously for not declaring commercial partnerships; expect those rules to sink in during 2016 on YouTube and across other marketing channels, adding a whole new dimension to growth marketing.

10: A huge focus on engagement optimisation

Traffic’s great, but it’s what you do with that traffic that really matters when it comes to expanding your presence and growing your company. 2016 will see companies better optimising their user experience across all devices to help their visitors get what they want as quickly as they possibly can. That’ll also include social optimisation (see Conversation metrics) and how people interact with others, and how they deal with questions asked by potential prospects.

We’ve worked with brands to deliver bespoke inbound strategies across a variety of channels, helping them to identify and attract the people who matter most to their growth ambitions. Read our blog 'lessons from an inbound marketing agency' to learn more.