by Ulrik Bo Larsen, Op-Ed Contributor, December 22, 2016
The digital marketing landscape is in a constant state of flux, and brands must be up to date on the latest trends to stay relevant. Social media, mobile and digital play an increasing role in our lives, presenting marketers with new opportunities to reach and engage with untapped customers and markets.
However, they do not come without challenges. What’s in store for 2017?
More video, more platforms
Digital video will be the fastest-growing category for mobile and desktop; it is now a must-have for all brands looking to stay fresh and relevant. Although YouTube is currently the most popular platform, Facebook will continue its rapid growth. After all, Facebook Live has already surpassed YouTube as the preferred live-streaming medium.
The network has added clever optimizations to every video feature in order to maximize click-through rates. This focus on optimization will make Facebook an increasingly attractive advertising investment for marketers in 2017. Instagram Live also launched this month.
Brands will need to increase their investment in video content to find singular ways to engage their social audience. Video ad spend will form a big part of this effort.
Competition with grandma
Social-media sites will continue to tailor their algorithms to prioritize posts from friends and family, following behind Twitter and Instagram’s recent changes. Marketers will have to work harder to get the same social engagement as before.
If you don’t want to spend big bucks on paid ads, consider the opportunity presented by these two groups. Harness the sharing and word-of-mouth potential to create a coherent social advocacy and influencer strategy.
Better written, personalized content
While there is ample buzz around video and other content-marketing trends, written content is still dominant. But frankly, most of it sucks, and most consumers don’t read all of the content companies put out. To stand out, brands will need segmented, personalized and concise content on niche topics.
Social, the new shopping hot spot
Forget ecommerce sites. Social-media sites will become optimized to support shopping without ever having to leave the app, opening up new audiences to retailers. Pinterest is already doing this with buyable pins, and Facebook isn’t far behind with Messenger’s “Get a Quote,” “Book a Time,” and “Shop Now” call-to-action buttons. Expect Twitter to offer an in-app shopping feature by the end of 2017.
Targeted ads on a new level
If you thought you could blanket all of your brand’s social-media feeds with the same ads, forget it. The average digital consumer has about seven social accounts and engages with 3.5 of them, usually for different purposes. Successful brands will personalize their targeted ads for the right audience, or risk being the victim of an uptick in consumer ad blocking.
Social, mobile and digital – the marketing buzzwords we won’t escape in 2017. Expect prioritized ad spending on mobile as Web traffic increasingly comes from mobile devices. As the New Year rings in, the best marketers will seize these opportunities and conquer all challenges.
MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily
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