As audiences become more digitally dependent and spend more and more time on their mobile devices, audience engagement practice will need to keep evolving in order to stay relevant in the face of new tools and trends. Here are our top five digital trends for marketers to watch out for in 2016:

#1 Automation

As anyone using email marketing or remarketing tools will have noticed, automation tools are getting cleverer and more precise every day, and smart marketers will be exploiting this to the full in 2016.

• Be targeted – but don’t be creepy! You are likely already using marketing automation but, as always, with great power comes great responsibility. Econsultancy’s summary is a good reminder of places you can use it and how to make sure that you’re giving customers the information and messages that they can really use. Their best advice is to take care not to be creepy about it despite the temptations, flagged here by Social Media Week, of new opportunities for personalisation and targeting.
• Will a robot take your job? Robotics doesn’t stop at driverless cars: according to Econsultancy, robots can now write marketing copy, although they still need humans to add nuance. And it doesn’t stop there: the Stage recently profiled a new West End musical whose plot and musical themes were created by an algorithm that distilled a “recipe for success”. And lest you think that live performance is safe, the Guardian reported on the first robot opera performer. Worried now? Check out Nesta’s handy quiz to find out whether a robot will take YOUR job!

#2 Influencer marketing

Content marketing isn’t going away … but 2016 is set to be the year of influencer marketing. This is all about getting maximum impact from the content you produce, by exploiting your networks to the full. How to do it? You need to make sure your best content reaches the tastemakers in your social networks, to transform them into your advocates.

• Get started The big idea is to find those bloggers and online personalities that are trusted on a particular topic as their endorsement won’t be ad blocked and has greater authenticity than your own marketing messages. Relevance is the watchword says Social Bro when it comes to influencer marketing. Tumblr, in Social Media Week, predicts the marrying of influence + content so that your best material can be better disseminated from peer to peer.
• Use video Making the right kind of content has never been more crucial. More than 55% of people watch videos everyday according to Charity Digital News.  The Guardian predicts a consistent and rapid growth in the relevance of video for content marketers and small businesses. And Social Media Week points out that people consume video differently on Facebook and YouTube,  whilst Union Metrics Insights show the significance of Instagram video … you may need to use all three. If you’re not yet a master of Instagram video, check out these top tips from Charity Digital News and examples of how brands are using them for engagement from Econsultancy.

#3 Your data in the spotlight

According to Nesta’s report on Making Digital Work, we have turned the corner from big data (remember that?) – in 2016 it’s all about putting the focus on our own data. This is about concentrating on internally held data to get to know your audiences in order to serve them better – and what better way to kick-start your Influencer Marketing?! Use your internal data:

• For decision making Social Media Week have a four point plan for building data- driven decision making culture in your organisation.
• For great UX Data can give insight into what your audiences want from you – but when you have too much data, it can be hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. Econsultancy offer their top tips on creating data driven experiences for all  your users, and making sure that you’re picking out the really useful data from all the noise.
• For your own protection According to Charity Digital News, 2016 is going to bring changes to Data Protection legislation. Read Econsultancy’s guide to the new EU data framework and keep your eye on your data protection policies – these might need to change.

Ready to get started? Take Econsultancy’s advice and create a data strategy for your organisation, that will help you figure out what changes are needed to make the best of the data systems that you’ve got. Need a case study? The AMT Lab offer this data love story from the Dallas Theatre Centre which brought two internal departments – marketing and fundraising – into harmony.

#4 Focus on access

With Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at the heart of the agenda for cultural organisations everywhere, digital innovation has a clear role to play as you work to expand your audiences and serve them better. Here are a few top examples of how digital developments are already advancing the EDI agenda for arts organisations around the world:

• Subtitling on smart glasses can be personalised to help audiences who speak a range of languages as well as users who are hard of hearing – read more in this piece from Classical Music Magazine.
• Induction loops for outdoor events are becoming a reality for hearing impaired audiences at Hogmanay – read more from The Scotsman.
• Support to audiences on the autistic spectrum – Arts Professional highlighted this Nesta R&D funded project that helps to prepare young audience members on the Autistic spectrum for what they can expect during a performance.
• Virtual experiences for physical disabilities – VR developments, according to NPR, now offer the potential for immersive experiences for people who are physically unable to participate in real life experiences.

#5 The year of virtual and augmented reality?

There’s been talk about virtual and augmented reality for engagement and for creative practice for years now, but we’ve yet to see that killer app that draws everyone in. Still, 2015 brought us some pretty exciting projects – 2016 could be the year it hits big.

• AR for marketing According to Social Bro, augmented reality can be used for a range of branding and customer engagement campaigns by using mobile technology to interact with an object or image. It’s one to watch.
• AR for sales Art Retail Network launched a tool to engage potential art buyers in a more interactive experience. Culture Republic helped Glasgow venues use Active Canvas (explained here by Colin Ruffell) to drive interest and awareness of the city’s contemporary art scene, at the time of the Turner exhibition. Five Glasgow museums and galleries hosted artworks that were ‘activated’ with a series of short films about the exhibition or the venue.
• AR comes to life in pictures Last summer, painter Trevor Jones used the Edinburgh festival season to launch his guerrilla one-man show #edinburghhacked which layered digital versions of his work into locations all over the city.

Get started

If you’re ready to up your game in the digital arena in 2016,  get in touch. We can help you make a coherent communications strategy that maximises your mission and business goals; make sense of your audience data for segmentation and reach your audiences with better tactical delivery. If you are a Culture Republic Partner, you can take advantage of February’s First Wednesday. Digital marketing expert Brian Tait will help you make sure your website is working hard enough.

Main image credit: Wearable Technology by Keoni Cabral (CC BY 2.0)