Bronco Media Digital Marketing Predictions for 2016 – Reviewed

2016 has been the year the Digital Media Marketing team have certainly honed our skills, although we have all been working in this sector for a number of years we are always learning. Looking back at the predictions we made at the beginning of the year, it’s great to see what we have got right and what we have done as a team, as the digital environment adapts and changes and how we change with it.

So how did our predictions turn out?

Bronco Media Digital Marketing Predictions for 2016

Hannah

At the start of the year, I predicted that we will see content from digital and PR marketing agencies that hadn’t been created for the sake of creating content and instead carefully constructed pieces. This is something the digital marketing team have had quite some success with this year; when working with our clients a lot of effort goes into constructing carefully thought out pieces and we have seen some great coverage with this approach. We have been Improving student interaction and engagement for my Voucher Codes, where we had coverage on news sites such as the Huffington Post and the Independent, on student issues including University retention, finance and student opinions on Brexit. This approach is something we are keen to continue in 2017.

Multi-platform or cross-platform marketing was also something I thought we would certainly see more of, so not only focusing on a press release, but also content which is specifically created for websites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even Snapchat. People are still accessing the internet via their mobile phones, so as predicted we have seen an increase in content specifically created for mobile, whether that’s on responsive sites or on social channels. So it makes sense for campaigns to create content specifically for each platform.

The DMM team have also seen success producing content not only for PR but also social media. This year we worked with NRS Healthcare to create content for World Diabetes Day; a video to be used on their social media platforms, an infographic about the differences in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and a press release covering the content. The video we produced was a success on their social media channel but was also picked up by the Express who featured it and the information from our press release. We also had over 20 people tweeting the video and infographic and many more sharing the posts.

How we see people interact with brands online has also changed, for me this year was a big year for Influencer Marketing, as we have seen huge audiences drawn from social media brands have been able to harness this and work with ‘influencers’. Building on from the work above, I can only expect this will grow after all, even though fashion bloggers have been derided by the likes of Vogue for being influencers, their views and opinions have never been more important to brands and marketing teams.

Laura

Having proudly stated at the beginning of the year that social was key and one of the best marketing tools we had at our disposal which was only going to get better, I have to admit as we end the year my confidence in the appeal of social, and its use as a marketing tool is a little bit shaken. Of course, I still think it is one of the best things since sliced bread, but I also know that over the last few months, Facebook’s recent algorithm changes have hit those of us who favour organic marketing hard. Producing high quality, useful content now doesn’t seem to be enough. Instead, the cynic in me feels it’s becoming very much a case of if you want to be seen you have to pay, and I don’t know if that means is going to see a lot of smaller companies looking for other ways to promote themselves. I can’t help but worry Facebook has lost its way.

I have to say this year I have become a little obsessed with Twitter.  I think the changes on this platform over the last 12 months have been positive; expanding the DM twitter limit was a brilliant idea and it is quickly becoming my favourite platform to work on.  Although Instagram, Snapchat and Tumblr are continuing to grow, I still feel that they only offer marketers a niche target audience. I’m interested to see where 2017 will take us.

Sian

My predictions for 2016 were more focused on the blogging side, and I expanded on my thoughts later in the year.

As I thought might be the case, comments have fallen further and further out of favour – nowadays bloggers only tend to see comments from other bloggers participating in comment swaps or if they’re massive influencers. For the regular reader, it’s much easier to send a quick tweet or like an Instagram post rather than spend the time filling in a comment form. The digital world is so fast moving that even those extra few seconds spent commenting are getting thrown away.

We’ve seen bloggers morph even further this year from “just bloggers” to influencers, publishing content across multi-platforms. You can’t be a blogger in 2016 without having the full range of social media too – you need to be a Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram expert to run a successful blog, but to really stand out, you need to be a YouTube influencers as well, and also make sure you’re up to date with your “dark social” too such as Snapchat and WhatsApp.

To be honest, I’m not sure my prediction of design has come true. A lot of bloggers do still sway towards the shiny, magazine style design and style of content – fashion bloggers now hire professional photographers and purchase expensive equipment to keep up with the crowd – but we are still seeing the raw and real side of blogging, with influencers admitting their weaknesses and being loved for it.

And again, as predicted, bloggers are expanding in terms of what they offer. A blog is a place for useful content in 2016, with guides on how to run a blog as successfully as they do, with tips on saving money, with downloadable spreadsheets to fill in, with eBooks to purchase. Blogs are optimised to make sure that everyone knows they have this content available.

Stew

As I predicted earlier on in the year video media has become one of the most popular forms of medium on social platforms, but it isn’t as cut and dry as it seems.

With the arrival of Facebook Live, users can now stream live video whenever they want. This has become a popular media over the past year and shows that video is now emerging as one of the most popular mediums on social media.

With live streaming also comes controversies and offensive videos, which has seen Facebook busy developing an AI to take down inappropriate content. This is not without its problems as the trade-offs in such a system could potentially mean that some beneficial broadcasts may be flagged and censored.

This year we have seen a rise of ad blocking software again, as consumers grow ever wearier of unrelated adverts on the internet. The latest figures from IAB UK show that 20% of adults are actively using ad blocking software in the UK when online and that figure is set to grow in 2017.

This creates a problem for the advertising industry as a whole, with some brands going so far as to pay ad blocking services to let their adverts through. This in itself could have a negative impact from consumers aimed against these brands whose advertising is shown.