Digital in 2016: Executive Summary
Find the full trends forecast at edelman.com The year of consumer-led communications marketing JANUARY 2016

What’s Next in Digital Marketing?
2 We looked at consumer insights to predict the biggest trends for 2016. Behavior How are they behaving on and offline? Engagement What content and experiences engage them? Communication What are they saying? Influence: What inspires them?

Consumers Want More From Brands
3 want brands to communicate openly about their products** of consumers expect brands to innovate with societal impact in mind* 90% 70% *Edelman. Innovation and the Earned Brand. 2015. **Edelman. Brandshare. 2015

Today’s consumers are more powerful
than ever. Implicitly through behavior and data — and explicitly through direct communication — consumers are telling us what they want. 2016 is… THE YEAR OF THE CONSUMER MARKETING DIRECTOR

Key Learnings for Marketers in
2016 5 Evolve to meet consumers’ high expectations for brands—from responsiveness to social action Engage influencers to address consumers’ rising skepticism of media and advertising Leverage emerging technology to better listen to and engage with consumers Deliver real, contextual value when and where consumers demand it most

Key Digital Trends Put Consumers
at the Center of Brand Marketing 6 And, we’re keeping an eye on virtual & augmented reality, beacons, esports 1VIDEO, VIDEO, VIDEO INFLUENCERS AS CREATIVES SOCIAL LISTENING AS SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE CROSS-DEVICE CONSUMER JOURNEY MAPPING 2 3 4 5 THE BUY NOW REVOLUTION

VIDEO, VIDEO,
VIDEO1

Video Engagement Dominates Digital Platforms
8 of all consumer internet traffic will be dedicated to video consumption by 2019* 80%Estimated 10-20 Billion 8 Billion 6 Billion 4 Billion Views Per Day *Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2014-2019 White Paper. May 27, 2015.

Trending Formats Engage Consumers 9
Livestreaming 360-video Crowdsourcing Video Influencers Short Form Bits & GIFs

Make the most of your
investment with a multi-platform approach Build a holistic, storytelling strategy with your consumer in mind Drive discoverability via organic optimization and paid media How can brands keep up? 10

INFLUENCERS
AS CREATIVES2

Influencer Popularity Is On The
Rise 12

Influencer Engagement Supports Business Objectives
13 *Augure. State of Influencer Engagement 2015, conducted by Schlesinger Associates. June 18, 2015. Via eMarketer, Inc. **Tomoson. Influencer Marketing Study. 2015. Marketers are making $6.50 for each $1 spent on influencer marketing** 5x ROI of marketers believe influencer marketing is effective in raising brand awareness* of marketers believe influencer marketing generates sales leads* 93% 75%

The Influencer Should Be an
Extension of Your Creative Team Petco* Comedy Series with YouTube Star Toby Turner • 2.2 million views • 98% positive sentiment • +65% subscriber growth • 300% increase in views of catalog content 14 *Edelman client

How can brands keep up?
15 Choose influencers who will resonate with your consumers through strategic data analysis Put storytelling at the heart of it Grant the influencer creative license Get a good deal by partnering with experts

THE BUY NOW
REVOLUTION3

Nearly Every Major Platform Supports
“Buy Now” Functionality 17 Projected 2015 income from social commerce*$30BN *Statista. Worldwide social commerce revenue from 2011 to 2015. 2015.

Consumers Want Exclusive and Limited-Time
Shopping Incentives 18 Factors that Would Encourage US Digital Buyers to Make a Purchase via Social Media When Holiday Shopping, Sept 2015 (% of Respondents) 33 35 37 52 52 55 55 56 63 Free Shipping Offer Exclusive Discount (Only Members Of Social Network) Daily Deals Seeing A Unique Product Rewards/Loyalty Points Seeing A Product I Had Recently Viewed When Shopping Online A Product Has Received Numerous “Likes” Ability To Vote On Which Promotion Company Offers To Social Network A Friend Has “Liked” A ProductMarketLive. 7th Annual Holiday Research Study. Oct 14, 2015. Via eMarketer, Inc.

How can brands keep up?
19 Understand your consumers’ shopping behaviors DRIVE DISCOVERABILITY VIA ORGANIC OPTIMIZATION AND PAID MEDIA Build a seamless omnichannel experience online and offline Create contextual “buy now” opportunities that improve the shopping experience, not detract from it

SOCIAL LISTENING BECOMES SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
4

Consumers Want Brands to Listen
21 Of consumers think it’s important for brands to listen and respond thoughtfully 78% 17% Feel that brands are truly listening* BUT ONLY *Edelman. Brandshare. 2015

Social Listening Should Guide Your
Business 22 Customer Service Product Development Product Improvement Cause & Social Purpose

TECHNOLOGY Visual Listening uses computer
vision to recognize brand presence in photos. Facebook Customer Service tools award a “Very Responsive to Messages” badge to brands who maintain a 90% response rate within 5 minutes. Social Listening tools provide insight into conversations, perception, competition, influencer identification and more. OUTPUT Broader Contextual Insights Better Consumer Experience Stronger Business Intelligence TOOLS Technology Enables Better Business Practices 23

How can brands keep up?
24 Operationalize social listening with the right technology DRIVE DISCOVERABILITY VIA ORGANIC OPTIMIZATION AND PAID MEDIA Be open to consumer insights that may disrupt your business for the better Pair social listening with traditional market research

CROSS-DEVICE
CONSUMER
JOURNEY
MAPPING
5

Cross-Device Consumer Behavior Has Been
the Norm for Several Years 26 of users start an activity on one device and finish on another* 90% *Google. The New Multiscreen World. August, 2012.

Emerging Technologies Enable Cross-Device Consumer
Tracking Like Never Before 27 SAMPLE QUESTIONS TO UNDERSTAND THE CONSUMER JOURNEY: How does a consumer find out about my product? Do they conduct research on their phones, tablets or desktop? What ads do they see? What motivates them to make that final purchase? Do they purchase on a desktop or in-store? TOOLS:

How can brands keep up?
28 Keep an eye on emerging tracking technologies as this trend becomes more sophisticated DRIVE DISCOVERABILITY VIA ORGANIC OPTIMIZATION AND PAID MEDIA Be authentic and transparent to address consumer privacy concerns Test and learn with targeted messaging as you start to build an attribution model

29 VR and AR Changing
the Future of Storytelling eSports Amassing Huge, Captive Consumer Audiences Beacons Adding Value in Context while Yielding Behavioral Insights WATCH THIS SPACE

Read our full digital trends
forecast at edelman.com