Five stories for your 2016 marketing roadmap

Agile | B2B | Campaign | SFBJ

Reprinted from the South Florida Business Journal.

Marketers are starting to leverage Agile, a tried-and-true planning process methodology used by software companies. Agile methodology allows a cross-disciplinary team to collaborate and express all that they want to accomplish for a program or a project by creating a roadmap of the entire project. They do this by writing short, plain-English descriptions called stories, which are mutually agreed upon by the team and their stakeholders.

Here are five stories you may want to use in your 2016 roadmap. They reflect marketing opportunities that are either brand new or coming into their own.

Use free Facebook beacons in an office or store

Beacons are moving to the forefront of location-based marketing, and now Facebook is offering them for free, complete with online instructions. By using a Facebook beacon, marketers don’t have to create their own app to activate beacons. Users can log onto their Facebook app on their phone, and a nearby beacon will direct them to the specific content for that location.

Test coupon apps such as Snap by Groupon

Specifically designed to replace physical coupons, these new coupon apps will automatically provide discounts to a consumer’s account after the sale. The consumer simply takes a picture of the store receipt and receives an automatic payment for any active coupons for products on the receipt. You might test these apps as a consumer to determine potential applications for your business.

Create a virtual reality demonstration

While games have always been the cornerstone of potential virtual reality plays, product demonstrations of all types can be created using this new visual format. Furniture stores and tourism destinations have been among the first to take advantage of the virtual experience for their potential customers. However, these experiences can be created to enhance the selling power of any visually demonstrable product or service.

Beef up content/videos for better SEO

Changes in Google’s site optimization protocols now require more high-quality content than ever before. So, in addition to appropriate key words, sites need long-form content – as much as 1,000 to 2,000 words. Blogs should be updated at least twice a month, and news pages need monthly updates. Videos on the site will help SEO and take advantage of Facebook’s video autoplay feature in newsfeeds.

Create a brand channel app for Apple TV

Apple TV’s first upgrade in years has more potential than ever to change how media is consumed. Apple believes the future of TV is based on apps, which are quickly becoming how we consume media today. And, Apple TV’s new operating system, tvOS, accommodates apps that can become channels created specifically for your brand.

These are just five of the stories that may be helpful for your 2016 roadmap. Themes include greater sophistication and more change for savvy marketers who need to stay one step ahead.