There is a lot of opportunity for digital marketers to have an impact on the businesses that they work with. Emerging technologies and innovative new ideas drive change and new trends that shape the industry year to year. It is important to understand what ideas and practices are driving that change and position yourself to not only follow these digital marketing trends but create thought leader-level content and strategy around them. In 2017, we are already seeing some trends that are shaping the industry and moving us into new exciting directions.
Live Video
When looking back on the beginning of social media with the emergence of YouTube in 2005, the world was smitten with real, uncut video, of people doing real things. This connection to reality through video has been taken to the next level with major social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Being able to stream live from anywhere in the world from your phone is a game changer that has been building traction since last year. In fact, according to an article posted by HubSpot, 14% of marketers experimented with it in 2016 and 43% plan to use interactive video in their marketing plans this year. Businesses ranging from major corporations to your mom and pop shop in your neighborhood are all using live video to promote their business. One of the most common ways is using Facebook LIVE to stream an event so that the customers/fans that couldn't make it can still be a part of the experience.
Virtual Reality
The best part of any video, not only live video, is how it captures your attention and transports you to a new place for that moment. Some companies have already taken that a step further with virtual reality. In 2015, TOMS launched a campaign entitled 'Experience Giving with TOMS' in which the viewer is taken on a journey that show's how impactful their One for One shoe matching pledge has been. This was one of the first cases of a brand using virtual reality and many have followed suit. The 2016 KPBC internet trends report states that 75% of all internet traffic will be represented by video this year. What does that mean for digital marketers? Continue evolving your skill set and tool set and experiment with different types of video marketing.
Social Messaging
Engaging directly with your audience in real-time is a necessity in today's social media climate. Many customers are turning to social media to ask questions or file complaints through social messaging apps. Rather than going through the customer service portal on a companies website or calling a customer service phone line they are simply finding the company on various social platforms and filing their complaint or asking their question through the direct messaging part of the application. Having a plan of action for how and when to response to these messages in your social monitoring strategy will be paramount to your social marketing and customer service success in 2017.
Discussing trends can be a very subjective topic, but when something stands out and is being implemented by the entire industry it becomes less idiosyncratic. In order to position yourself as a true digital marketing expert, it is important to have a finger on the pulse of the industry and truly understand what best practices, trends, and innovative new ideas are shaping the industry today. Our team of experts at Revenue River Marketing is standing by to show you how to properly position yourself as an expert in the industry with a digital marketing consultation. For more information visit our marketing page and don't forget to subscribe to our blog.
