3 Digital Marketing Trends You Have To Try In Your Business 2017

Remember Digital Marketing Trends are Forever Changing Firstly let me begin with that if you want your business to keep up with todays technology, you have to have a set digital marketing strategy in place. No amount of tips will work if you are trying with no plan or consistency. Boring lecture out of the way now we can begin wink We as a people are racing through this digital world, and this isn’t going to change anytime soon. In this digital universe new fads and latest shooting stars are born faster then the blink of an eye. Some of the stick around shining brightly, while the other simply fade away. Consider the Pokemon Go craze that went absolutely nuts throughout 2016. While it hasn't exactly disappeared, it has slowed down some. But it gave marketers a great insight into the huge possibilities of the users fascination and hence interaction with augmented reality. Augmented realty basically meaning merging silly animations with your real world.

Augmented Realty - SnapChat

Kim Kardashian / Via SnapChat

I use this example of the mobile app Snapchat, obviously because of the insane strong hold its had in the social media world since 2012, but also for its utilisation of another very strong marketing tool, expiring content. But what I mentioned before, we live in a “one day you’re hot, one day you’re not” digital landscape. What consumers want and these rapidly evolving technologies, are intertwined more than ever before. So if you want to stay relevant and in the game you simply have to develop a sound marketing strategy with a massive eye on technology. So enough banter, lets now take a look at our 3 biggest digital marketing trends for 2017 to help you along hopefully.

1. Visual Content

These days we are being bombarded with information 24/7, so it no wonder we are rapidly becoming more about the “visuals”, because of the speed of information transfer. Visual information gives people a quick and clear understanding of all this information, and that is what they want. Did you know that our brains process visual information 60,000 times faster than text. On top of this staggering stat, 90% of the info transmitted to our brains is visual. So it doesnt take genius to realise that through this we can very quickly envoke emotion very quickly and most importantly, memorably. Enter: the huge importance of visuals to establish your brand’s identity with logos, infographics, animations, digital marketing, photos and website design etc. The list goes on but I think we all understand where this going and it isnt going away in the near future. Check out this infographic by NatGeo. It is seriosly one of the best I have seen. You can almost immediately make sense of the Manhattan’s skyline in a few seconds, its so clean.

2. Interactive Content

Basically, the driving desire behind the current demand for visual content is engagement and connection. It’s this consumer appetite for more engagement, that has highlighted to marketers to the new consumer thirst for interactive content. Interactive content means the user is getting involved through active participation. In a way, all these new forms of content like polls, contests, voting, animations and infographics are creating a new level of connectivity to the all around user experience. By inviting the user in, companies are asking us to become part o their brand, and thats what is really exciting. Interactive content is taking connectivity to a whole new level, and they are in turn creating “brand loyalists”, rather than simply “users”. This is definitely a strategy that is leading the way in 2017 and will continue well into 2018. Check out this BuzzFeed quiz for an awesome example of how to increase traffic and enhance user interactivity.

3. Live Video

Another variation of visual content is you guessed it, videos, and few have greater influence in the marketplace. Video holds immense power to connect with consumers and transfer massive amounts of info, evoke feelings and action within a matter of seconds. Video content is so much on the the rise that since 2015, video content has accounted for 50% of mobile phone usage, thats is crazy, and it is still very much on the rise. It is very much this “live element” that can add a personal and human component to our brands. And of course along with this comes increases feelings of honestly, trust and connection with our consumers. So obviously brands are now “going live” to heighten these positive emotions. Businesses are now able to promote ahead of time and then connect in real-time with their consumers. Consider some companies who are already doing these “Behind the Scenes” videos for example. They are simply live streaming their events and inviting consumers to comment in a live debate, making the consumers feel involved and part of the whole branding process. In most cases your consumers will promote your events or products for you, given you provide a designated hashtag. This live video marketing can be so successful, we strongly suggest you look into it.