We’re approaching a new year again and the online marketing world is estimating and predicting what is going to be trending in 2016. This year we’ve seen a bunch of new features in online marketing – the rise of mobile and video, new features in online advertising and innovative tool such as virtual reality and wearables.
Before we dive into all those new trends, remember that proven channels such as text ads (though better targeted and personalised), remarketing and a user friendly site will still be a major cornerstone of the e-commerce business.
So what is going to be trending in PPC in 2016?
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Video campaigns
Video content definitely became a stronger and more important medium in 2015 thanks to all social media platforms, most notably Facebook who now focus much more on video and are offering a video ads option for the advertisers too. Its impact will continue in 2016.
During 2015 video campaigns in AdWords became part of the standard campaign menu and are not hidden anymore. Moreover, Google announced incorporating embedded video ads into Google search results which essentially means it’s becoming a mainstream medium and users will accept and expect such content.
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App promotion via AdWords
Another recent addition to AdWords is a new campaign type that allows mobile app promotion directly via the AdWords interface. It’s called ‘Universal app campaign’ and lets you advertise your app across search, display, YouTube, adMob and Google Play.
App downloads are rising and they are easier to promote, therefore we expect to see rise in this segment too.
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Mobile surpassing desktop
During 2015 we’ve seen mobile traffic catching up with desktop and even surpassing it for some of our clients. According to data mobile devices are responsible for 53% of paid-search clicks and 69% of mobile searchers lead to a call straight from Google Search. No doubt the rise of mobile is going to continue.
By now, you should have had your mobile website polished and optimised. Now the goal will be to make it more user friendly, implement easy checkouts and to increase conversion rates that are often still behind desktops.
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ID-based targeting
Most of the traditional PPC advertising is still based on cookies, which brings obstacles in the multi-screen world and the contact with your user is lost once he switches to another device. Late this year, Google introduced a new type of targeting called ‘Customer match’ that allows following users based on their e-mail addresses which are then matched to signed-in users on Google. This targeting method is no longer cookie based, but uses ID based targeting instead so you can continue the conversation with your users even if they switch from laptop to their mobile phone. The background is changing and we think there will be a shift to cross-device targeting.
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Personalisation
Dynamic ads and customised parameters within search ads are becoming a standard in PPC and show that personalised targeting, personalised offers and personalised ads will be trending in 2016, too.
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Variety of platforms
Search and shopping capabilities go beyond usual Google, Yahoo and Bing and new platforms are booming right now. We can see the rise of Pinterest advertising and direct shopping on Pinterest with buyable pins, newly launched Instagram ads and there are rumours about Facebook’s own search engine. Not only can you advertise on a variety of channels, there is often an integrated payment method so users can successfully complete the whole shopping process there.
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Wearables & Internet of things
According to a CMO article by Adobe, ‘wearable technology will see a user adoption rate of 28 percent by 2016’. Traditional products with enhanced capabilities now connected to the internet are trending and this is not going to stop. The challenge for the next years will be how to engage with their users, whether and how to sell via these new gadgets.
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Ads-free
With too much advertising it was inevitable that we are just becoming tired of it. Yes, it supports all that free content that we want, but it can be overwhelming. Not a long time ago, YouTube launched its ad-free version called ‘You Tube Red’. It’s a subscription service that offers several services including ads removal. Do you think there will ever be a Google without ads?
If you would like us to help you with your PPC in 2016, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
