Top digital trends for 2016
Every year sees new trends and developments hit the world of website development. Here is a look at some of the hot contenders for 2016.
More apps
Apps are now so ubiquitous that they help many smartphone users run their day-to-day lives, and apps themselves now appear in mobile searches. As Google evolves, it has confirmed that it will be incorporating apps into its broader searches and offering greater advantages for brands with multiple digital assets. One trend that is likely to emerge is the use of apps in favour of mobile-optimised websites. Apps provide the functionalities that mobile sites offer in a way that is designed specifically around the user’s needs and is naturally intuitive. Big sites such as Amazon and eBay already offer dedicated apps, and other companies are likely to follow in their footsteps.
Niche social media
Most businesses are now on social media, but one surprising development is that niche social media platforms might be the way forward. The old big social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are already saturated, so brands are starting to look for opportunities to engage on Periscope, Path, Snapchat and Instagram, among others. These will offer an opportunity for meaningful engagement in a targeted way and allow marketers to link with passionate and engaged audiences. For example, the new “discover” section of Snapchat is designed to provide brands with a conversation platform.
Smart tech
Many website designers and digital experts believe that people will start to see a movement toward wearable technology in the year ahead. This could include shoes, hats, shirts and watches interlinking and connecting to the internet. This will offer hugely powerful opportunities to business marketers. To find out more about the possibilities that are emerging and the implications for your marketing strategy, sites such as https://www.viziononline.co.uk/ can be helpful.
Big data
It has been talked about for a long time, but now it looks as though “big data” will actually become a reality, with marketers now employing increasingly sophisticated means of using the data they capture through multi-channel strategies. This data can be used to highlight valuable patterns and trends, allowing for more targeted, intelligent campaigns based on predictive analytics. This offers opportunities to engage on an individual level, such as by showing ads that link to products that the user has been searching for more often.
