Now more than ever, change is on its way, and not just in the social and political landscapes either. The digital world is moving faster than ever before, and failing to keep up with it could be fatal for your business.
Many people feel as though it is impossible to stay up to date with the latest trends with everything changing all the time, but staying on top of new marketing trends is a must. Here are THE 4 top trends to keep an eye on…
Increase in Live Content
In early 2016, Facebook made a huge bet on Live video and this year, it made its new live skills the focal point of the platform. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said, and believes that, “Facebook Live is a big shift in how we communicate, and it’s going to create new opportunities for people to come together.” (SOURCE Live Mint) http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/TkiRD2amWp6GAQCLeRxXgL/For-Facebooks-Mark-Zuckerberg-Going-Live-is-quite-the-ne.html
The Live feature allows businesses to show customers what type of business you’re running and what type of business you are, more over it allows your audience to familiarise themselves on a personal level – or what they perceive personal. In the last month of 2016, Facebook also rolled out a Live-stream option for its “Stories” feature. This is an excellent chance for businesses to take advantage of a large platform.
Mobility
The move from desktop to mobile has dragged out for years now, but this year it’s only going to keep moving forward. A study carried out by OFCOM showed that “One in six adults in the UK now only use smartphones or tablets to go online-up 10% from last year”- (SOURCE OFCOM) https://www.ofcom.org.uk/data/assets/pdf_file/0026/80828/2016-adults-media-use-and-attitudes.pdf
Make your content mobile friendly by using social platforms. Users, especially the younger demographic, will almost expect all content to be tailored to their devices especially on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. This year Google is set to be advancing the mobile alteration movement. The search engine has stated that it will soon begin to twist its search index to show the rise in the percentage of people doing mobile searches. This means that mobile results will now be organised in searches over desktop results. If you are looking to rank higher in search pages your mobile presence will have to be significant in order to achieve this.
Tip: As a business, your mobile presence is very important so you need to take time to evaluate how your site looks and how it performs on a mobile device as this is how most users will view your site. Users will not bother looking on your site if it’s not easy to navigate and unappealing.
Movement in Paid Advertising
Make sure your business stays ahead of trends and makes use of current and relevant advertising. Google wants to ensure positive user experiences and any ads that are seen as inconvenient may lower your performance. 2017 will see a further shift to more personalised forms of online advertising - such as Native ads. Native adverts work well because consumers don’t perceive them to be as disruptive as traditional ads. Native advertising is mostly online and displays as a news article or video with the intent to promote a product.
The Merging of E-commerce & Social Media
Social media has become increasingly tangled with e-commerce in recent years and now is the time to take advantage of this trend. All the major platforms, from Facebook to Pinterest, are incorporating more direct selling methods for advertisers. Pinterest has even allowed people to buy pins! Overtime they have morphed into a valid online shopping platform. Instagram also gives pages the option to add Buy Now links to their ads. This is a huge addition to a platform that was previously very hard to connect to. According to National Jeweler “a stunning 92 percent of all online orders that came through social media belong to Facebook.”(SOURCE: National Jeweler) http://www.nationaljeweler.com/majors/ecommerce/5003-4-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-for-in-2017.
Here are a few stats on the increase of online shopping using a smartphone…
∙ “Seventy-nine percent of all consumers have purchased something online.”
∙ “Seventy-seven percent of millennials have made a purchase from their smartphone.”
∙ “Sixty-three percent of shoppers younger than 30 use their phone in stores to check online reviews of a product.”
(SOURCE: National Jeweler) http://www.nationaljeweler.com/majors/ecommerce/5003-4-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-for-in-2017
These statistics just prove how vital it is for a business to maintain an online presence however, it’s obvious that these trends are only going to become more and more common.
We are looking forward to what 2017 has to offer.
Merry Christmas from the Tickle Team