Results of the latest Havas research suggest that 74 percent of brands would not be missed if they disappeared. This represents a clear warning to those businesses failing to keep up with the ever changing marketing landscape. As digital technology continues to develop, marketers must update their marketing communication strategies, or fall behind.
Latest Trends
1. Ad Blocking
Between June 2015 and the same month in 2016, 198 million consumers used ad block, with active users increasing by a staggering 41 percent. It is estimated that in 2016, ad blocking costs somewhere in the region of $40 billion.
People typically use ad blocks to filter out irrelevant ads. Very often, advertisers do a poor job of delivering meaningful messages, or direct them at the wrong audience. A large number of young, technology savvy consumers do not respond to traditional media and brand messages. As such, marketers must find alternative methods of communicating. While just 6 percent of the population of worldwide internet users currently use ad blocking, this figure will become more significant in 5-10 years when millennials will be considered by most brands as their largest target audience. Those working in digital communications jobs will need to work hard to re-invent strategies to counteract the effects of ad blocking.
2. Listening
Today, brands are able to gain huge insight into consumers’ lives through social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. As a source for entertainment, news, information about friends and more, individuals spend a growing proportion of their time socialising and interacting there. Social media creates a broad space for communication, which brands are using to connect with consumers. By listening to what audiences are interested in, brands can more easily reach out to them. This presents an opportunity to gather many promising leads. Social listening tools can now be used to respond to mentions in the most appropriate manner. As well as generating leads, social media can be the perfect platform from which to engage audiences and manage brand reputation. However, care must be taken to ensure negative feedback is handled just as carefully as positive.
3. Emotional Marketing
A brand story can be extremely powerful. Headstream’s ‘Brand Storytelling Report 2015’, found that over 50 percent of consumers were more compelled to make a future purchase if they loved and could relate to a brand story. The best ones typically go viral, resulting in highly sought-after organic brand recommendations. Emotional marketing is definitely a trend set to continue and grow in popularity as part of digital communications jobs.
4, Influencer Marketing
Brands are no longer automatically trusted, especially by younger consumers. As a result, traditional advertising campaigns are not effective. Regular internet users are now far more likely to take the word of a blogger they follow over that of a brand. What we are seeing is word of mouth on a whole new level, an extremely valuable resource for attracting customers and gaining their loyalty. Influencer marketing must, therefore, become an integral aspect of digital communication, as part of fixed marketing strategies.