What is on the Horizon for Marketing in 2017?

As the year comes to a close, it is time for us to start reflecting on 2016 and look forward to what is on the marketing horizon in 2017. A lot can be learned from the marketing trends, successes, and failures of 2016, but it is also important to look forward as much as possible and discuss what is to come in the next year. A few things we predict include:

1. Video Marketing is Going to be Key

No one will argue that visual media has made an impressive impact on digital marketing over the last year. Videos have earned their place in most marketing strategies, but it is being argued that even more of that is to come in 2017. According to Madison Logic, 73% of marketing professionals claimed that videos (product, service, meet-the-staff, business explainer videos, etc.) had a positive impact on their marketing efforts. Videos are easy to share, gain attention on social media, and they add an extra dimension on your website. Whether you are trying to show how a product works or explore an aspect of your business services, videos are going to be a creative and efficient way to market in 2017 more than we even see currently. Below is a great example of a short and effective video marketing initiative:

This Integer Emissions Summit 2015 Video shows the importance of networking and and conference events on the industry. The point of the video? Knowledge is power, and the dialogue on the emissions scene and market intelligence presented at events like this urges those in the industry to be in attendance. More importantly that message is achieved in under 3 minutes of video! Integer has this video from the 2015 event hosted on their 2016 conference page—to show potential attendees some of the highlights of their conferences, and importance of their events.

2. Marketers Will Take on a More Important Role

Traditional divisions of labor in the workplace are going to be changing and transforming over the next few years, but it is anticipated that marketers are going to take on an even more important role in 2017. An article by the Huffington Post claimed that more CMOs will be moving into the seat of CFOs and that “traditional” sales departments are a thing of the past. There is no doubt that the knowledge that marketers have makes a difference in business decisions in consideration of the digital landscape, and “data-driven” marketers have the potential to easily transition into a leadership role.

3. Social Media is Changing (as Always)

Forbes has predicted that SnapChat (now a part of Snap Inc.) will continue to grow and be relevant in the marketing world because of its focus on capturing a current moment and “live content.” This likely means that Instagram’s story/moment-capturing platform will also remain important in 2017. However, platforms like Twitter, which has been experiencing “fatigue” according to Forbes, are bound to continue in their downhill path. The reasoning is that while users found small bits of incoming and outgoing information important at first, they are now transitioning to wanting more detailed in-depth information on the topics they are interested in.

4. Long-Form Blogging will Continue to Grow in Importance

Transitioning from my last point, users are craving more in-depth explorations of the topics they are interested in. Blogs are the perfect platform for industry experts, brands, and businesses to write and develop content around specific topics. Blogs are easily shared on social media, and have proven results for improving SEO. It is critical to understand that long-form content is privileged with SEO, so long-form content blogging is not only going to remain relevant but also become more important for organic ranking.

5. “Live” and Real-Time Experiences

Facebook Live, Snapchat, Instagram stories, and other channels for sharing video and 360 experience in real time became really important in 2016. Users are beginning to desire more involved and in-the-moment experiences with the brands they love, so “live” and real-time experiences are going to become key in social media portrayal of business.

Hubspot recently covered the 7 best Facebook Live examples, one of which was Benefit Cosmetics who has started a beauty “series,” meaning that they post the same date and time every week so that their viewers can look forward to seeing their live posts on a regular basis.

6. Increasing Reliance on Reviews and Testimonials

Things are transitioning fast to primarily digital and e-commerce transactions. Since many people will never actually get to interact face-to-face with the businesses that they purchase from and support, online presence has taken on a new level of importance. In 2016 we read many articles about the importance of reviews and website customer testimonials, and these—for sure—are going nowhere. When prospects search for a business and they are trying to make a decision with only online information, one of the first things they are likely to do is look at what past customers and clients are saying about your business. According to Influencer Marketing, people are still more likely to trust recommendations from others. While word-of-mouth has transitioned to the digital landscape, this has not changed the importance of happy customers telling others why their experience with you was better than any other competitor.

Focus Lab has taken a really unique approach with their testimonials, which are woven in throughout the site and really capture what their clients love about their branding and customer-centered efforts.

7. Augmented Reality is Coming

No one can deny that Pokemon Go had a crazy impact on marketing in 2016. While the hype has definitely settled, there is no denying that at its peak (earning nearly 10 million dollars a day at the start), it captured the attention of users, and drew them to business locations in a whole new way. The thing that really generated user attention was “augmented reality”—and in 2017 we can expect to see AR apps, AR advertisements, and AR games that will allow business to market to users and drive in-store traffic in entirely new ways. Immersive experiences are definitely on the horizon in 2017, and if you can think of unique ways to market and capitalize on this, you will be ahead of the game!

8. Sharp and Effective Copy

Marketers are going to need to learn the art of effective copy. In the current digital age, users are more likely to skim articles and have the shortened attention spans that we have had to deal with as marketers. This means that titles, taglines, headlines, and structure need to have the sharpest and most effective copy in mind.

9. Visual Content and User Experience will be Essential

Lastly, visual content: photography, infographics, video, and other visual content are really want draw users in. Visual content has always been important, but it is very likely with the user-preference for visual content, that search engines will soon-follow with privilege visual content as well. Look at Google’s move to mobile-first optimization based on user preferences—search engines are really taking user experience into account, so anything you can do to enhance these features on your own website and social platforms, the better for marketing in 2017.

Check out: 5 Infographics About Infographics To Master Basics in Five Minutes

What do you anticipate we will see as marketers in 2017? As a small business, what do you hope your marketing team develops for the company next year? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

About The Author

Jason Hawkins / http://www.themiamiseocompany.com

Jason Hawkins is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Miami SEO Company. He has over ten years of experience in search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization and lead generation. His core responsibilities include identifying ways to increase value of services rendered, training staff on advanced SEO topics, and A/B testing internal processes to consistently improve client return on investment.