What Will Be Big for Digital Marketing in 2017?

With 2017 just around the corner, digital marketers should be already looking at ways to plan their approach for the new year. This’ll keep you one step ahead of the competition and show clients you’re well equipped to help fulfil their maximum potential.

Although predicting what will drive future traffic isn’t an exact science, analysing current marketing movements may indicate likely trends. Recognising and acting on this data early on will help improve leads throughout the forthcoming year.

With this in mind, here are some marketing ideas for digital marketing agencies to consider as we approach 2017.

Mobile Dominance

Perhaps the best place to start is with mobile usage, a market still producing huge sales figures and ongoing technological developments. Smartphones play an increasingly important part of our daily lives so that, whatever is happening in the world around us, we turn to our phones for more information or to share our feelings.

The importance of mobile marketing can be highlighted by the fact that smartphones have overtaken laptops as our main route online, boosted by superfast 4G speeds, larger screen sizes and an increasing number of Wi-Fi hotspots.

Using Facebook as an example, 80% of their advertising revenue comes via mobile which in itself makes up 20% of the global mobile digital advertising share. This has shown no signs of slowing down in recent years, proving that a strong presence in the mobile sector can reap valuable rewards.

Live Streaming Video

Although online companies have been utilising the power of video for a few years now, the key to 2017 could lie with live streaming. Platforms such as Facebook Live, YouTube Capture and Periscope are great ways to instantly connect to your audience, especially as mobile devices become capable of playing videos in high-grade 4k quality.

Live streaming videos are being used by companies to reach customers as well as other businesses. They’re a great way of communicating on a more personal level, notably as they allow a chat response feature, without any great expense incurred.

Personalised Content

Focusing primarily on your target audience by personalising content is the best way to retain site visitors. 2017 will bring better ways to collect customer data, meaning you can guide potential clients to adverts or articles they’re more likely to click on.

Building a relationship with the customer and making it easier for them to complete a sale can be very beneficial. For example, using a pre-filled personal details form or an “other products you may be interested in” feature may encourage more conversions.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality combines the real world with computer generated elements such as graphics, sound and GPS data. It can be a fantastic avenue for companies to exploit, whilst also being relatively cheap and easy to use with a smartphone.

The Pokémon GO AR craze was a turning point for digital marketers, enhancing the more basic virtual reality platform that has become worth over £1 billion this year alone. It seems the public really take to this sort of interaction, something your business should consider utilising for the forthcoming year.

Video was huge in 2016 and this is likely to continue in 2017. Find out how to make an explainer video, just one great type of video that can help boost your sales and influence.
If you’d like some advice or help putting any of these trends into action for your business, get in touch with us today.