Cross-Device tracking will become more prevalent

More consumers are being individually identified by the devices they use on a daily basis. Historically, it’s been tough to track consumers across their multiple devices (cell phone, tablet, desktop), but with the help of social media, this will change drastically in 2016.

Platforms like Facebook, Google and Twitter can track their users who log into their accounts on each device. Additionally, these platforms are aware of the apps and websites they visit when you opt to log in via Facebook, or any other available platform. Opting to log in to an app or shop via social media gives these platforms access to the devices you use while improving their ad targeting.

This type of tracking is known as “deterministic” tracking – but there’s another type of tracking involved in the game. Probabilistic tracking – the use of complex algorithmic acrobatics to track users – is becoming increasingly more prevalent in targeted marketing. Companies who use this tracking are those who aren’t involved with the big game players – i.e., the big tech companies and social platforms. These groups collect data points – such as IP addresses, browsing patterns and location — and then run predictive tests to match the same user on multiple devices. According to some reports, this method has a 97.3 percent chance of accurately identifying users across multiple devices.

Growth of One-To-One Marketing

With the growth in tracking comes the growth of targeted, creative advertising. Ads will speak more of the wants and needs of buyers, all without much human involvement. As more marketers track human web behavior, they are able to personalize their communications. The wants, needs and activity history of the user will come into play with the growth of automated, targeted advertising.

Ad formats will become more “Native”

Native advertising is the term used for ads that look like they’re a part of the website, and less like an advertisement. Just like how ads show up in Instagram feeds, they look natural, other than the “sponsored” tag in the upper right corner. More native ads will appear in 2016, which means more in depth customization and alignment of creative media.

Programmatic Ad buying = the new norm

New to the ad buying scene, programmatic ad buying is growing at an escalating rate. This “automated” ad buying is done on a real-time bidding platform that enables advertisers to bid only when the customer meets their desired criteria.

This type of ad buying now accounts for 25% of the industry, but will soon grow in the New Year, as advertisers demand more efficient ad performance.

Video emerging everywhere

From the immergence of Facebook Instant Articles to sponsored clips on Instagram, video marketing content will be pretty much everywhere.

In a recent study by Hubspot, about 50% of all mobile traffic is spent watching videos, with 78% of people watch online videos weekly… so tying in visual media might be the next best thing to do for your business.

YouTube’s statistics can back this up even further. This video streaming powerhouse averages over 1 billion users and clocks in 6 billion hours of video watched per month, and it doesn’t look like its stopping anytime soon. What’s more impressive is the watch time, which rose 60% in the last quarter of 2015.