A Big Round-Up of Marketing Posts Featuring 2016’s Top Trends: E-commerce Link Digest

Well, Big Thinkers, we’ve reached the start of the holidays, and with it, the end of the Thinks E-commerce Link Digest for the year. Since both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on Fridays this year, this will be our last E-commerce Link Digest in 2015 (Editor’s note: We will publish our final Hospitality Marketing Link Digest of the year as scheduled this week).

But don’t worry. We’ll be back with even more link goodness in January.

In the meantime here’s a big round-up of marketing posts featuring 2016’s top trends to hold you over until then. Enjoy:

1. The Washington Post highlighted an important trend when it noted that only three of YouTube’s top 10 videos of 2015 were made by ordinary YouTubers. That’s seems to suggest that content marketing demands increasing focus and an ever more professional approach to attract customer attention.
2. A recent podcast episode of Thinks Out Loud, our weekly e-commerce and digital strategy podcast, looks at a key trend for next year and asks, “Is Execution the New Innovation?” In a nutshell, the answer is “yes,” but you should check out the whole episode to see why.
3. The acceleration of mobile continues to drive changing customer behavior and that seems unlikely to change in 2016. For example, as Marketing Charts reports, more than 1 in 3 young adults are online “almost constantly.”. And that’s why, when it comes to e-commerce vs. store, increasingly, it’s not either/or as Thinks Out Loud, our weekly e-commerce and digital strategy podcast, points out. Give it a listen to see how to make this trend work for you in 2016.
4. It’s no secret that I’m bullish on mobile payments, new data gathered by Mobile Commerce Daily suggests in-store mobile payments will grow by more than three times in 2015. For instance, PSFK outlines several digital services that eliminate purchase obstacles with Starbucks’ mobile ordering/payment pairing providing one prime example. Really cool stuff.
5. The folks over at MyCustomer think that customer experience will unify with brand management in 2016. I’m inclined to agree and think that reputation management represents the single most effective way to improve your brand’s digital marketing for most brands.
6. Using data well continues to rise as a key factor separating the winners and losers in digital, which is what makes this Quartz guide to bad data so damned handy. Really useful stuff.
7. CMO.com presents an excellent slide show featuring its top 10 marketing trends for 2016. Highlighting those key themes, L2 says search-engine marketing and a mobile-first attitude define “Genius” brands in 2016.
8. CMO.com’s Australian branch follows that up with their predictions for 2016 with these 7 trends set to drive the CMO role.
9. On the SEO front, Econsultancy rounds up expert predictions of SEO trends for next year.
10. And, not to be outdone, we highlighted three trends to watch in 2016 during Episode 143 of Thinks Out Loud.
11. Looking further down the line, PSFK explores the next phase of wearable tech: interactive clothing. I’m not convinced that’s a trend we’ll see really come to dominate next year, but it’s certainly worth knowing what’s on the horizon.
12. Finally, if you liked this big trends round-up, don’t miss these 7 special mobile commerce moments: the top posts of November, 2015 that we collected a few weeks back for you. You’ll be glad you did.

If you’re interested in learning more about making the social, mobile web work for your customers, be sure to check out these “8 Digital Strategy Posts to Start Your Week Right,” this set of “10 Must-Read Posts About Mobile Commerce and Content Marketing” a fun collection of posts featuring “Google, Mobile, E-commerce. What More Could You Want?” and all the rest of the entries from our E-commerce Link Digest series.

And if you want learn even more about how your customers’ changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, be sure and register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You can also check out these slides and video from my recent webinar, “Digital Marketing Directions: Three Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year”:

And, finally, you might want to take a look at some of our past coverage of the e-commerce, mobile commerce, and digital marketing overall, including:

• 10 Key Posts about Millennials and Mobile: E-commerce Link Digest
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56