Think of the difference between surfing a wave or getting knocked over by trying to swim against it.

As my friends in the investment field say, “The trend is your friend.”

Here you’ll discover not 1 but 5 megatrends that savvy marketers can capitalize on in 2016 and beyond. Practice “Hang Ten Marketing Style” and surf them profitably.   

Megatrend: Information on Demand

For many, the internet has become synonymous with all human knowledge available for free through a web browser.  Ask a question of a search engine and your answer appears almost instantly. 

Consider:  Buyers expect and can find information immediately.  If marketers are not providing it online, their buyers may turn to the competition.

Megatrend: Video Reigns Supreme

A recent estimate showed that 69,500 hours of videos are watched on Netflix . . . per minute.  Video, especially on-demand video, is embedded in both our professional and personal lives.

Marketers who use video in short and long form will generally create more leads and sales.

Video marketing statistics from Hyperfine Media reveal:

• “After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online.”
• “Including video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80%.”
• “65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call the vendor after viewing a video.”

Megatrend: Big Data and More Marketing Channels

Every day, we create an estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes of data.  Put another way, about 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone.

Also, we are experiencing the proliferation of channels and marketing options today.   Recently, when creating a marketing plan with one organization, we counted 111 marketing options commonly used in their industry alone. Picking the right channels for your audience and managing those well is more important that ever.

Consider:  The amount of structured and unstructured data keeps growing, and marketers must embrace this trend or risk swimming against this rip-current.

Megatrend: Marketing Automation Is Here to Stay

Just as buyers are overloaded with information, so are marketers.  It is nearly impossible for marketing departments to track manually exactly where thousands of prospects are in the buying journey and/or sales process.

Sales has its systems and tracks its sales pipeline; organizations have systems for tracking customers and the supply chain.

Marketing automation and supporting marketing technologies help marketers capture prospect data from the web and other channels and create a true marketing database which can be leveraged, controlled, analyzed, and nurtured into customers or repeat buyers.    

Megatrend: “Content marketing is the only marketing left,” said marketing guru and well-known author Seth Godin. 

Content marketing is marketing that creates and shares content to attract and engage a chosen audience.  Here I’ll share a formula:

Great Content Creates an Audience
Your Audience Creates an Opportunity for Marketing or Advertising

Buyers are on the look-out for ideas, advice, strategies, background, solutions, and tips.  Content marketing provides answers. This megatrend is almost entirely independent of how valuable or competitive your product or service is.   

Be Aware:  Those who become adept at content marketing and take advantage of the other megatrends will gain a competitive advantage.

They will be able to:

– generate more qualified leads and sales opportunities and
– be more likely to win business ahead of the competition.

How can you ride the wave of these five marketing megatrends and get the most from your content marketing resources?

Answer: By taking advantage of the one marketing strategy nearly every organization should have in its mix . . .

Your On-Demand Video Program to Multiply Qualified Lead Flow and Sales    

Imagine you divide your prospect list in half. One half consumes an element or two of your marketing content and opts into your list.  For most prospects you have gained limited information, such as a name and email address.

The other half also consumes an element or two of your marketing content and opts into your list. 

In addition, they see your best 25-minute presentation video about the problems you solve, how you solve them, external proof points, case studies of success along with testimonials about the advantages of doing business with your company.  Perhaps, they get a brief demonstration of your solution.

And imagine you knew a lot about each and every one of these prospects:  You gained their full name, address, business title, phone number, when they watched your video, how much of the video they watched, and if they’d like to try your solution or talk to a salesperson. 

Which half of your marketing list will generate more sales?

Obviously, the half that watches your best presentation on video.  Case studies show this marketing strategy alone can increase sales by up to 300%, especially when delivered with automated webinar tools like those provided by JetWebinar.

Ignore these megatrends at your peril.

If you can capitalize on them with a strategy such as on-demand video, you, too, will quickly benefit from “Hang Ten Marketing Style.”       

---

Expert blogger Bob Hanson is the creator of the Must-See Webinar system and a published author who has written dozens of eGuides and White Papers on all aspects of driving sales through webinars.  He gets in the marketing trenches with clients such as Citrix, Google, and Infusionsoft, who have produced thousands of successful marketing events and webinars over the past 20 years. Check out www.qlmarketing.com or email bhanson@qlmarketing.com for his new free report, 5 Keys to a Winning Content Marketing and Webinar Program.