5 Digital Marketing trends which will influence 2017
6 December 2016
Last Updated on 2 October 2023
The beauty of the Digital Marketing industry is that it never slows down. It’s constantly changing, growing, evolving, innovating, and 2017 is shaping up to be fantastic in terms of Digital Marketing trends. We’ll take a look at the top 5 trends which are set to influence the industry in 2017 the most.
Can the past predict the future?
2016 was a visionary year for Digital Marketing. This is what happened:
We experienced both virtual and augmented reality
Content marketing boomed
Video marketing gained traction
Disruptive new social media platforms emerged, think Snapchat and Twitch
Next year will see trends that expand on these concepts, taking them to brave new heights which will, hopefully, see consumers engaging with brands on a deeper and more human level.
Let’s take a closer look at these predicted trends:
Augmented Reality
As we already mentioned earlier, thanks to the success of Pokémon Go, which earned around $10 million a day at the height of its popularity, brands are now ready to capitalise on this new technology (as there is clearly a profit to be made) and users are ready to trust and engage with augmented reality (AR) apps, games and even ads.
Automated marketing
Wikipedia defines automated marketing as “software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations to more effectively market on multiple channels online (such as email, social media, websites, etc.) and automate repetitive tasks.”
So in other words, software that can take over human elements, such as social media community management. Think chatbots who can engage with users online 24/7.
Video marketing has been on the rise for the last year or so, but the way users are consuming video has changed. Social media users are wanting more. More in-the-moment content that is. We clearly saw this when this year’s first US Presidential debate was streamed live, drawing in millions of viewers.
Similarly, marketers are wanting more. More views and engagement from their desired target market. Enter live video streaming.
Tools such as Periscope, Meerkat and more recently, Facebook live, have pushed this new technology onto the willing public. 2017 will see live video functionality being built into all kinds of platforms, apps and devices.
Data visualisation
Data is what drives digital marketing. The ability to be able to take huge amounts of raw numerical information and convert it into readable, bite size data which is easy to understand and consume.
Native marketing has been around for a while now, but this sneaky form of online marketing is going to be taken to new heights next year, with company’s upping their content game, providing ever increasing more natural-looking advertising.
Predictions have it that we’ll be seeing really clever, thoughtful and valuable marketing from company’s not previously known for their native advertising strategies.
These are the top 5 Digital Marketing trends for 2017, but we’ll be keeping an eye on a few more as well.
Here are 5 more trends to watch in 2017:
Social media “buy” buttons
More focus on mobile
Influencer marketing
Purpose – driven marketing
Integration of wearable tech
We can’t wait to see these Digital Marketing trends grow and expand in the New Year and how both brands and consumers will be using them.
Which of these trends will your company be investing in? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. Or contact us today if you need a professional digital strategy in 2017.
