This year has seen some big shifts in marketing trends. We saw many businesses go digital while traditional marketing remained stagnant.
What is next in digital that will disrupt markets?
No sector is safe from the disruption brought by the digital revolution. Sector after sector has been reshaped by this. Customers chose to download individual songs over visiting the high street and purchasing an album. This destroyed the high street retail music sector almost overnight. Blockbusters were supplanted by Netflix. Users chose the convenience of streaming over returning physical discs. Taxi companies around the world are living in fear of Uber because of the more streamlined experience they can offer. What’s next?
Here’s a roundup to keep you abreast with some forecasted trends that may change how you digitally market your company in 2017.
Live video streaming
Video consumption is set to increase next year with researchers predicting that it will account for 69% of all internet traffic by 2017. It doesn’t take “Chewbacca Mum” to show us how big and important using video and having a visual storytelling strategy are. The use of live feeds started in 2015 with the rise of Periscope and Meerkat. This trend exploded in 2016 with Blab, Facebook Live and Snapchat Stories, Instagram stories joining the scene. Statistics show that Snapchat’s Live Stories generate 10 to 20 million views per day while Facebook has eight billion video views daily and its users spend three times longer watching live video. Facebook Live has been widely used to cover important events such as the Brexit referendum. For business women in Scotland, live video feeds can be used to broadcast your events, showcase your products, talk about your services or simply engage with your target audience.
Snapchat and Instagram
If you only have Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, think again! It is now time to diversify your small business’ social media accounts to include both Snapchat and Instagram. These two platforms are now on the rise. Instagram has been named as the most engaging social platform and Snapchat has 100 million active daily users. Also, it isn’t just the kids getting in on the action. It took some time, but they appear to have penetrated the adult demographic, as more companies are adding these platforms to their social media strategy.
Email and marketing automation
Email marketing isn’t dead – you just need to be smarter about your approach. More B2B businesses are making use of email marketing automation software, in order to nurture leads through the journey to purchase. The beauty of marketing automation is that you can reach out to your prospects and customers on a regular basis. You can incorporate how to solve problems and create up-sells in your automated communications.
Now that we have covered all the exciting changes in the digital landscape for 2017. Next step is leveraging on all of these and creating a digital marketing strategy that’s fit for your business needs.
If you need some help with your digital marketing, get in touch with me.
