2016 Digital & Social Media Predictions

It's time for my yearly digital predictions, and 2016 is no exception. I've loved seeing the digital marketing field continue to advance & make big moves the past few years and appreciate how many people have embraced digital channels over traditional ones. 

1. Out with SEO & PPC, in with Digital Assistant Optimization
• I'm not saying search engine optimization & paid ads aren't important, but optimizing ONLY for Google is. The rise of Siri & google's new predictive questions is going to force us all to stop simply writing content we think Google will find acceptable, but to write answers to simple questions our consumers may be asking about us to make it easier for us to be found by the Siri users of the world. 
2. Mobile growth 
• Mobile will continue to grow & I predict by the end of 2016 for many industries it will be outpacing desktop views, clicks & purchases. Look around you on your commute home & tell me you don't see everyone glued to their phones... 
3. Shifts in Social Media Channels 
• Facebook isn't out & won't likely be for awhile, but with it's pay-to-play stance on unlocking views & engagement for all users, it's getting to costly & those searching to target millennials aren't there anyways. Snapchat will continue to emerge as a newer gamechanger because fewer brands can figure out how to use it will - filters are fine, but can you really craft enough content to maintain a profile? Instagram will continue to be a star as well, but brands need to figure out the right type of content & how to measure engagement on the platform properly. 
4. The downfall of old-school brands
• I guarantee there will be yet another older brand (cough: Weight Watchers) who will be outdone by the fact that they can't keep up with the times. If you're not shifting your content to make way for better website experiences, better social media story-telling, great-functioning mobile apps, and keeping up with your demographics' trends, you will be obsolete. 
5. Personalized PPC 
• I must say Facebook is doing a fair job, but it and others could do MUCH better. As a customer it's frustrating to see ads that don't matter to you, and by now everyone's been tracking your every move on every site you've ever been on, they know ALL your likes/dislikes/friends/social media engagements, etc etc, so use that! 

I'm excited to step into another year of digital advancements & can't wait to see what's in store. Last year's predictions were mostly on point! 

2014 Digital Predictions

The Digital Marketing/Digital Advertising Field is constantly changing and evolving, especially lately. Earlier last year I decided to take a look at all 2014 trends that seemed to be emerging, as it's become apparent for certain industries that the marketing game is changing (if you hadn't already noticed) and everyone needs to shape up or ship out.

Social Media used to be quite the joke, and now it's finally emerged as a a revenue-generating channel, as well as one that's great at conversion assists. Content marketing has also become the latest revenue-generating fad over traditional online advertising, as it's much more helpful with conversions.

Mobile and tablets haven't come out of nowhere, but it seems that mobile and tablet conversions will skyrocket this year, as consumers have all felt comfortable enough to begin researching and purchasing on their devices, thanks to enhanced websites that are mobile-friendly, and reward programs such as Starbucks that allows them to pay through phones.

Take a look at the other predictions below, do you agree? 

2012 Tech Predictions.

With the start of the new year, everyone's been coming out with lists, resolutions, "Best ofs", and 2012 predictions... so why not jump on that band wagon! I think 2012 is going to be another great year for social media, e-commerce, tablets, smart devices and... hopefully... mobile! Technology keeps evolving and it's only helping consumers experiences become better and better all the time. I honestly cannot wait for the day that I ENJOY watching commercials, reading e-mails from businesses and clicking ads on various websites I visit because they all take into account things I am genuinely interested in.


Obviously, popular social media channels will continue to stay on the rise, and any companies who have yet to jump on this band wagon will probably realize it's all here to stay. Something that I think people need to begin sorting out are the rules and laws that individuals, clients and companies need to follow and are supposed to be aware of. It seems like many people are running into issues with who owns which fans and things of that nature, and it doesn't seem like it's going to be easy to sort that out.

I am also one of the biggest fans of mobile advertising because it just makes sense to me. People are always ON their phone or NEAR their phone, you can't tell me that's not the perfect place to try and advertise to your customers.  Many people also use them for multitude of things, and use them while watching TV, while driving, while walking, etc. so why not try and reach them there as well? 


I know that tablet advertising is also something that's relatively new, especially because the percentage of tablet owners is very small... but still. The demographic is perfect for many large companies, and not too many are fully embracing it so why not jump on it when it's cheap and you can? I'd be willing to bet the click through ratios are higher on ads here than many other venues.


The last techy trend I'm hoping for this year is personalization... Companies seem to be obtaining various types of information about consumers, especially somebody such as Facebook and Google so please, if you're going to take and sell my information I've given you anyways, let's make it enjoyable for me and others. Personalize my ads and I will be more willing to watch and even click on something. 


Hopefully next year I will remember to look back on my yearly rantings and see what, if anything, came true in any sort of way. Happy New Year!