Marketing Trends to Watch in 06: Here s to a Fulfilling New Year! by Jeff Walker

Like our clients, we here at Iron Mountain Fulfillment Services are always eager to stay abreast of the latest topics and trends. As 2015 ends, where should marketers focus their time and budgets in 2016 and beyond?

Here are four hot marketing topics we found dominating internet posts, as well as one drawn from research Iron Mountain commissioned in 2015:

Content remains king. In the sixth annual survey of B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends, 88 percent of respondents said they use content - up two percent from last year - and 76 percent said they will produce more content in 2016. Why? Because 67 percent of B2B buyers rely more on content to research and make B2B purchasing decisions than they did a year ago. And while they're casting a wide net with respect to the type of content, they tend to access different types depending on where they are in the decision-making process. For example, they may view a webinar early in their research, then look for more detailed, industry specific information as their decision making journey continues.

Use of video marketing will increase. Video is expected to account for 67 percent of all consumer internet traffic by 2017. The rationale? Videos (and visual content in general) tend to capture people's attention, which translates into longer web page dwell time - something Google algorithms take into account in their rankings. Moreover, 70 percent of people in one media study said their perception of a brand was positively influenced after viewing video content.

Marketing will become even more mobile. With some 3.65 billion unique mobile users in the world, spending on mobile is expected to top $100 billion worldwide in 2016. Given those statistics, business success demands incorporating mobile into your marketing strategy. But, says Aaron Stout, author of Location-Based Marketing for Dummies, mobile devices are very personal - the first thing we see when we wake up and the last thing we put down before sleep. This can make sales messaging seem intrusive. To avoid negative reactions, Stout recommends taking a more educational approach to mobile communications and leveraging native advertising and in-app advertising to reach target customers.

Email will come back in a big way. In an era of overcrowded inboxes, spam filters and our love affair with social media, many marketers wonder if email is still worth the investment. The short answer? Absolutely! In a Gigaom Research survey of 300 digital marketers, respondents deemed email the most effective tactic for building awareness, acquisition, retention, and conversion. One-quarter of them said they plan to increase spending on email campaigns. Why? In addition to ROI, effectiveness and measurability, consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to access their email. While mobile audiences are more captive than ever, the window of opportunity is narrower. Marketers not only need create and design content from a mobile perspective, they also need to take a much more targeted and personalized approach to their messages.

Print still plays an important role in marketing. Earlier this year, Iron Mountain partnered with InfoTrends to explore trends in print production and fulfillment. We learned that, far from being dead, print still pays off big for business. Which is why the companies we surveyed spend an average of $6.3 million per year on printing and fulfilling printed collateral, direct mail and other critical communications. Many of them have outsourced fulfillment because they recognize that a third-party specialist can help them get to market faster with online order management. A good fulfillment partner can also save them money by using digital print to cut waste created by overproduction and obsolescence. Additionally, variable digital printing enables them to personalize communications, making them more relevant to recipients and fostering better response rates.

These are just a few of the many important trends to watch in 2016. What issues are you tracking as you move forward with your plans for the year ahead? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2015/service-lines/marketing-production-...
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