2016 Customer-Centric Trends You Shouldn't Ignore

We've read many marketing trend predictions for 2016, but a recent Entrepreneur magazine article best emphasizes the new "customer-centric" focus of many shared predictions. Jay Arnold, vice president of marketing at FullContact, cites 10 marketing trends that he believes will make 2016 the "year of the customer." Here are just his first five forecasts. He foresees a proliferation of "marketing apps" this year, not just mobile apps but web apps, desktop apps and even TV apps, as marketers take advantage of the many free or low-cost apps that can now aid with tasks such as e-mail, social media, online ads, contact management, analytics and more. He also sees a shift to "insight-driven marketing," using analysis of the heaps of available data for more relevant targeting and messaging. Of course, this assumes a centralized database of multichannel customer info, so that is a priority task if not already under way. Content marketing got a lot of buzz last year, but Arnold now sees a greater shift from static content (such as social posts and white papers) to "interactive content," such as interactive assessments, calculators, training and games to keep people clicking and sharing useful information for sales. Everyone agrees that "personalization" will continue and grow as a proven response driver, but Arnold warns that 2016 will demand greater adaptation by channel and customer expectations. Consumers now expect relevant content tailored to them, but they will also be less tolerant of online and mobile advertising that is overly personal to the point of intrusive and creepy. Finally, Arnold predicts that 2016 will see a leap in "advocate marketing," as marketers realize that using customers to advocate for brands and generate referrals can be more effective than incentives and affiliate programs for referral generation--especially now that identifying influencers and advocates is easier than ever before via social and digital interactions. For five more of his customer-centric marketing predictions, go to http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254620

Spurring Referrals Is Top 2015 B2B Marketing Focus

If your business-to-business marketing is in a competitive scramble for leads this year, you're not alone. Generating new business is the top 2015 concern of professional services firms, according to a recent Hinge Research Institute study shared in Business2Community. A whopping 72% of firms surveyed said that attracting and developing new business is their priority this year. The Hinge survey included 530 professional services firms in a range of industries: technology, marketing and communications, accounting and finance, management consulting, architecture, engineering, and construction. So the focus of the surveyed firms' marketing plans should come as no surprise: generating more referrals was the most cited 2015 marketing initiative (61.9%). Senior executives named on average 5.7 different marketing tactics in their drive for new business. Only percentage points behind referral generation came increasing brand visibility, updating/upgrading the company website, increasing the visibility of their firms’ experts, making existing clients more aware of their full range of services, and developing more compelling messages to potential clients. For details and access to the full report, go to the Business2Community post at http://www.business2community.com/b2b-marketing/top-b2b-marketing-priorities-2015-01154781