Snack Media 2016 Predictions

“The digital advertising landscape will continue to evolve as mobile comes further to the forefront and more spend flows through native channels. There will be a rush towards the ‘less is more’ equation at the premium end of the scale, with fewer ads on page in an attempt to improve viewability, push up the value of inventory and combat the rise of ad blocking. Cross-device will also become the norm, as desktop inventory availability is squeezed and large agency budgets are forced to be activity on mobile devices.”

“This year will become a bigger issue for small publishers because of adblocking. The number of users with adblock enabled has grown a lot during 2015. What will be interesting to see is how different publishers react to this change. We know already a few different responses. Bigger publishers with the resources to do so will possibly turn to sponsored content and native advertising. Some publishers will increase advertising to make up for the shortfall by trying to make more money from the users who don’t have adblocker installed. More publishers may decide to detect adblocker. Others may adopt a subscription based model so users have to pay for ad-free content.

 

 

 

“Virtual Reality will enter the mainstream and brands will begin to use this technology in new and exciting ways to completely immerse the consumer in experiences and environments where their product is king.”

 

 

“The Snapchat growth in 2015 made the platform a giant in the world of social media. Indeed, with a couple of partnerships with the sports world (NFL, Real Madrid, MLS…), cities (London, Bangkok…), events (U2 show in Paris…)… the yellow ghost lets fans produce social content for all users. Fans wants to be seen and involved on social media, Snapchat is a perfect example of this. In 2016, brands will continue to use these platforms to communicate with their audience and engage with fans.”

 

 

In the year of the EUROs, the brands that do well will find the best way to incorporate sports data with live fan engagement. Sports data has been the creeping tiger of the last two years and with sports data companies seeing such heavy investment, particularly in the US, it’s going to become an integral part of live fan engagement.”

 

 

At the very end of 2015 Twitter Moments was released in the UK across desktop and mobile apps, and although people are just getting used to this extra tab, this could really provide an engaging platform, especially for major sporting and music events, for fans to consume the most engaging and biggest news in real-time.

 

 

“Technological developments will create new possibilities for engaging fans. The rise of beacon technology will allow targeted messages to be sent to specific sections of a sports venue, wearable tech will provide data on the mood inside the stadium that can be shared with people at home and mobile apps will capture the ever-growing number of people glued to their smartphones.”

 

 

 

 

“There will be a surge of niche social media plays amongst sports right-holders as they realise their pull and power in the social media space. Will we see a football or rugby specific social media launch, probably! The likes of Facebook, Google and YouTube are already mobilising to capitalise on their market position by offering “moments” and real-time scores for sport. Small publishers will need to think quickly and deeply about how they cope with these macro changes in the market. Key influencer marketing will become more regulated and we may see a positive change in how effective these channels become integrated into the marketing mix.”

 

 

“The platform has seen a meteoric rise in 2015 and it’s only going to get bigger in 2016. Don’t be surprised if Snapchat-like platforms emerge in a similar way the Twitter-owned Periscope will now find competition in Facebook’s live video streaming feature. With huge organisations like Real Madrid, NFL and the NBA jumping on Snapchat and now a third of agencies planning to set aside budget for it in 2016, it’s going to explode. The brands that do well in 2016 will be the brands that optimise their Snapchat usage and the ability to geo-target fans.”

 

 

“Messaging Apps will continue to give social media platforms food for thought in 2016, reducing the amount of content people post to sites such as Facebook. Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp will start to catch up with the likes of Asia’s WeChat, where you can shop, book a taxi and make restaurant reservations all within the app. Expect to see brands trying to find a way to combine social media efforts with capturing the attention on messaging apps.”

 

 

“Video will cement its place as the dominant medium and brands will begin to produce more and more video content in portrait to appeal to the mammoth mobile audience on social media.”

 

 

“Definitely Snapchat is the 2015 social media. In 2016, brands should integrate the platform in their social strategy to target people (above all young users). A couple of characteristics owned by Snapchat will charm communications business. Snapchat offers a real immersion in real and short time, a great way for brands to demonstrate their creativity and offer a “good time” to fans. To launch a product or show an event exclusiveness (like The North Face or Nike Basketball), Snapchat can become the major communications tool.”

 

 

Twitter gave the people a heart instead of a star, then they teased people with the idea of unlimited characters in tweets but instead used this in DMs only, but hopefully 2016 will be the year where Twitter will give its audience what they need: the ability to edit a tweet after it’s been sent!