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Mystic Mark’s Marketing Predictions for 2018

marketing predictions mystic markHere are Mystic Mark’s marketing predictions for 2018.

GDPR Is Here

The first of the marketing predictions – Mystic Mark predicts that GDPR won’t be as mad and crazy as people suspect. Pretty much every company in the world has bad data management practices, however, it will force people to get better and put in better controls with data they hold on individuals.
Have you noticed more and more companies are using their scare tactics and trying to sell you services, particularly lawyers?
With GDPR, businesses will get better at marketing, especially email marketing, as they use cleaner data and personalise the message to their audience.

More Intelligent Predictable Algorithms

The second of the marketing predictions. With more companies online there is more noise this has meant sometimes your great content is lost. In 2018, you will see this start to change. Just like Netflix offers you shows you want to watch based on what you have previously watched. Facebook and Google etc will show you what you want as well to read as well. This is because their machine learning predicts what you want based on your behaviour.
Individuals will have personalised search listings and you will see more of what you like on Facebook.
We recently read that Mark Zuckerberg said it is his personal mission to fix Facebook in 2018. This will mean Facebook users will see more of what they want rather than fake news. So if you like and engage with a Facebook page, friend or group you will see more content from these accounts.
With Google, if using the same device or browser, you will have a personal search listing based on their previous behaviour. This will be a nightmare for SEO agencies as lots of people will see different search results.

Further Blurred Lines Between Marketing and Digital Marketing

Integrating traditional marketing and digital marketing is paramount. The customer journey has multiple touchpoints and you need to make sure you cover and personalise all these points of contact from print advertising to email.
This will also cross over into marketing automation software as their features will become more integrated. This is already in Autopilot where you can send/automate emails, text messages and postcards.

Instant Messaging Advertising 

There is a massive growth of people using instant message apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, etc. As more people are using message apps, you will see more companies trying to reach you with their marketing here. Already you can advertise on Facebook Messenger but we will see advertising happening on other instant messaging apps as well as marketers strive to get to where people are. Also, within these apps more companies will use chatbot software to get more leads or improve their customer service.

Social media channels in 2018

Instagram

As companies fear that their Facebook page is showing less to their network or they have less engagement in Facebook more B2B companies will use Instagram. Instagram will become even more popular and companies using Instagram stories will get better engagement. Many B2C brands tend to see better engagement on Instagram than any other social platform and its excellent advertising controls will help it become the go-to channel for social media marketing in 2018.

Twitter

This will continue to decline in the amount of users. Twitter will become more of a news site and used less for social media encouraging users to be first with the news headlines.
twitter news

LinkedIn

The design refresh and mobile app was a winner in 2017 and the app usage will continue to grow and be used more by LinkedIn users in 2018. Use of groups will grow as they are bringing it into the mobile app. Their advertising platforms will improve and users will see more engaged content.

SEO

2017 was SSL. 2018 will be AMP.
Google wanted you to increase security on your website and people bought an SSL certificate. In 2018, there will be more of a push on having a mobile-friendly and quick website. Other things to look out for is voice search optimisation and larger meta descriptions.

Video

  • There will be more use of native video people using live video
  • Facebook watch. This has recently been released in the US and created to compete with Youtube
  • The Human Connection – We will see more acts of transparency in 2018, as companies start giving consumers a behind-the-scenes look at their business. In 2018, add a human element to your marketing so that you are more than a logo, a product, a service. Be transparent.

 

Better content with the use of more free tools

With easier online software:
  • you will see more video
  • an increase in surveys, polls and reviews
  • more use GIFs instead of pictures
  • for ecommerce having live shopping carts

 

TV Ads Move to Digital

As TV migrates to the digital world—Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Netflix and Hulu among others—so will savvy business owners, opting for social media and YouTube ads rather than local TV commercials. Companies will release the add online before TV.
In 2018, Mystic Mark will see lots of winners tooooooo!
I will review Mystic Mark’s marketing predictions at the end of 2018, unless Nostradamus was correct with his prediction and World War 3 starts.