Digital marketing has taken the marketing industry by storm. While print marketing still holds power within the industry, it’s the digital marketing trends that are proving to hold precedence. While Web Strategies reported that in 2016 the five digital channels that saw large gains were email marketing, social media, online display advertising, mobile marketing and search, you’re likely wondering what this year will bring. After all, the internet and all of its trends are constantly changing and what was a marketing powerhouse last year could very well be old news this year. To help you strategize a marketing plan that will take your company to the next level, here’s our list of the digital marketing trends anticipated for the rest of 2017.
Live Video Streaming
Without a doubt, live video streaming will take off fully this year. Facebook and Instagram have already integrated live video capabilities into their channels, and other platforms are expected to follow suit. From the presidential debates to the Oscars, local news stories and personal experiences have been shared online via a live stream. It’s a trend that has the potential to draw in millions of people who are eager for a look at something that is happening right now.
People are drawn to the idea of seeing someone else’s perspective first hand and now live videos cater to this desire. This can significantly improve the way you build brand awareness and customer loyalty as you form a personal relationship with your customers. You’re offering them an exclusive look inside that not everyone will see. That is unless they’re online at that exact time.
Augmented Reality
The Pokémon Go trend may have died just as quickly as it grew in 2016, but it showed marketers the power of augmented reality. It proved that people are enthusiastic to indulge in AR experiences. The trick is to find out why Pokémon Go wasn’t successful for longer. Once you’ve figured that out and made the tweak, augmented reality could very well be the key to success in 2017.
The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to figure this out yourself. App developers and marketing experts are already working on this. On the other hand, you may want to start thinking of ways to can incorporate AR into your business, whether it’s with an advertisement, game or application.
Virtual Reality
Continuing from the previous theme, virtual reality is expected to be just as popular as AR in 2017. However, there seems to be some confusion over AR and VR, and in order to capitalize on these trends, you need to understand them.
To put it simply, AR is where you use technology in the real world, such as Pokémon Go to distort or add to what they are actually experiencing. People are able to interact with a different world within their own. VR is putting your consumers into a different world, using technology to escape reality.
As such, it’s predicted that companies will start to provide VR experiences to reach a wider range of consumers. Real estate agents can provide various property showings all in one place with VR and consumers can interact with other people from their living room. It’s a marketing trend that is inarguably going to change the industry in 2017. It’s the next step in evolution and because it’s so different from what companies, marketers and consumers are used to, it will be important to capitalize on it before you’re left behind.
Viral Marketing
“Viral” is one term that has flooded the internet as of late. Everyone wants their content to go viral. Whether it’s a video, article, status, photo – companies are now focusing on producing quality and catchy content that has the potential to go viral instead of producing batches of smaller, generic content. It’s about quality, not quantity.
Google’s algorithm considers the social status of your content to determine the ranking in the search engine. So the more likes, shares and engagement you have on your material, the better your search engine ranking will be. It’s a new twist to SEO that is expected to hold precedence over other SEO tactics.
Behavior-Based Email Marketing
Some countries, such as Canada, have an anti-spam law which has changed the way businesses interact with their consumers via email. This law has been in place since 2014, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. However, consumer behavior continues to change, which results in the need for email marketing to also evolve and adapt to the trend.
Although consumers may have opted for your newsletter campaign, irrelevant content is now causing them to unsubscribe. As a result, behavior-based email marketing is expected to trend. Just like the ads on Google, emails are now tailored to what the consumer is doing online. For example, if your consumer is searching online for content marketers, your next email to them should be about content marketers. Generic emails are no longer a success and spam emails will jeopardize your marketing success, whether the anti-spam law is active in your country or not.
Visual Content
Forget about long social media statuses and blog posts; 2017 is the year for visual content. While you’ll still need to produce written content for search engine optimization, visual content will be the main source for driving traffic and leads. Everything from infographics to photos, digital guides, presentations and graphics will become the ultimate way to generate new leads.
Let the visual content captivate your audience and your written content keep your audience.
Digital marketing trends are constantly changing year by year. What’s popular at the beginning of 2017 may be old news come the end of the year. It’s important to always stay current with any changes within the industry to ensure an optimal marketing strategy throughout the year. However, these top digital marketing trends are looking like they will not be going anywhere anytime soon. They’re a big hit with consumers and can be an even bigger success for your company.
Source Forbes
