How Emerging Media is turning the marketing world upside down

There are so many articles that discuss how the digital age is coming and how marketers need to be prepared, but it’s here. It’s been here for while, and things are never going back to the way they were before. We now advertise in a world where up and coming apps or platforms are old news almost overnight. The next generations of consumers have been on the band wagon for a long time, and they’re waiting for you to show them the newest thing.

Emerging media is changing the playing field for advertisers, and some of these trends and services are even changing consumers’ behavior. If someone had mentioned emojis or “binge-watching” seven years ago, I would have just starred at them blankly.

While it’s hard to predict what the trends will be because things are happening so quickly, here are few things to keep an eye out for during the remainder of the year.

1. Small(er) Data: When consumers go through major life events such as getting married, having a baby or purchasing a home, they are more open to changing their buying habits. The ability to drill down into behavioral data allows brands to create social media content that targets people with more customized content. These customers are also more likely to recommend brands who successfully gain their loyalty during these times (Revis, 2016).
2. Live Broadcasting is becoming the new Real-Time: With apps such as Snapchat and Periscope growing in popularity, the importance of “in-the-moment” news and updates has increased. Ultimately what these apps are giving users the ability to do is become the reporter and distributor of content (Revis, 2016).
3. The Passionate Consumer is the new Influence: Consumers are now looking to previous buyers before they make purchases. Brands who have the follower base to doing much better, and these followers are making a huge impact on their bottom lines. Consumers are now looking at an average of 11.4 pieces of content before making a purchase. Curated content is also more engaging. Posts with curated content links generate 33% more clicks than original content links (Revis, 2016).
4. Gifs and Immersive Video Are Driving Forces of Engagement: Young consumers are obsessed with micro-video and gifs as a form of expression. The popularity of gifs and cinemagraphs has translated to increased engagement. Cinemagraphs alone get 60% more engagement than static images. As a result, legacy social platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter are all fighting for more video and integrating gif content. With Facebook and Google adding 360 degree video capabilities and VR content on the horizon, expect to see a deeper dive into more immersive moving content, and the opportunities for social engagement within them to follow (Revis, 2016).
5. Messaging Apps and Emojis Just Keep Growing: Messaging Apps now have the same user-base as the top 4 social platforms (Entrepreneur, 2015). Providing quicker, simpler, and more engaging opportunities for consumers to connect with friends, now, users can send a friend money, send love (or Kim Kardashian’s backside) with emojis/stickers, purchase products, get 1:1 customer help, make a call, and even host group chats within these messaging apps. Due to it’s in-app ease, user base, integrated payment functionality, WeChat contributes to $1.76bn in lifestyle spending in China. This year, Facebook Messenger also added Gif Apps to create more interactive expression. The Gif option is available to over 700 million monthly active users (Revis, 2016).