We often hear a commonly uttered phrase that we are living in a competitive world. We either swim or sink but we can’t be in the middle. Same applies when it comes to follow the trends in order to be in the race of success and progressiveness in the arena of life. This article mainly concerns with digital marketing trends which are considered to be the ‘best practices’ of 2017.
As we all know that technological evolution has brought many changes in the formation of strategies used in digital marketing. This growth in technology challenges the industries and their professionals to keep their pace with the developing trends in marketing and choose the best way to incorporate them in their marketing strategies. Hence the inclusion of best practices or the standards is required. The article is an endeavor to enlist those ‘best practices’ of 2017.
The following trends have been crowdsourced based on the frequency of what has been mentioned as standard trends in digital marketing in 2017.
i. Relevant and catchy content for marketing either written or visual
ii. Advertising through videos
iii. Marketing automation
iv. Advertising through cell phones; a handy digital marketing tool
v. Marketing through the use of applications
vi. Social media sites, a great source to grab the attention
vii. Digital banners: a new technique to catch customer ship
The above-mentioned list is a sketch and an up to date look at the digital marketing trends in 2017. Let’s take an in depth look into it.
i. Relevant and catchy content for marketing either written or visual
Content is the king of all marketing trends without which brands can never claim to attain the attention of the customer and written content never goes outdated. The writing medium has a privilege of being the foremost medium but the rise of visual content has given brands an exclusive way to show their creativity and it has more room to bring something different and unique to the audience. It brings lucidity to the idea presented in the advertisement of brands and videos are the best choice to bring that clarity in advertising.
ii. Advertising through videos
Video advertising has also been the most important part of digital marketing and it has taken its wings over the past year. In 2017, there was an uprising trend of making and uploading short yet pithy videos of every product being marketed in the pitch of fashion, photography, food, clothing etc. It is flourishing mainly due to social media networks as it is one of the best sources that features such kind of content. When it comes to digital marketing, video advertising paves the way for far too effective and influencing content for the promotion of brands.
iii. Marketing automation
Marketing automation has been on top for the past five years that is helping marketing departments and brands to automate repetitive marketing tasks such as social media pages, emails and other web actions. These actions include automated replies to customer service, automated posts on social media for special occasions and automated emails like customer service inquiry, confirmation of purchase, emails related to similar stuff being searched etc. According to the research, it has driven increased productivity and saved time.
iv. Advertising through cell phones; a handy digital marketing tool
Over the past year, mobile phone is a significant gadget where digital marketing takes its flight. It’s a handy tool that can market and advertise your brand in the blink of an eye. According to comScore, US users spend 87 hours per month on their phones which shows that users are primarily accessing information through their mobile gadgets. Mobile web usage has also increased and has almost overtaken desktops. People can engage with the market just by a single touch. Brands advertise their products on different webpages in the form of ads. We also get those in the middle of videos that we play on cellphones. Over the year 2017, there are frequent number of messages being sent by the brands on the mobile phones for the promotion of their product. It has almost become our daily life routine to get the messages from various brands and sales they offer.
v. Marketing through the use of applications
Marketing apps have also been one of the best practices in digital marketing to create the effective marketing strategies in 2017. It compliments brand’s offline experience, drive online shopping and create deeper relationship with their customers. According to the survey,78% of small business owners believe that these marketing apps can save time and money by providing an effective medium to brands in the arena of food, makeup, clothing, tourism, hotels etc. to catch healthy customer ship. Trello, Yelp, Facebook page manager, AdWords, Fiverr etc. are currently being used but there are some big brands that prefer to avoid being lost in app fog by making their own app. Sephora enhances online shopping with an app that let customers scan all the products.
vi. Social media sites, a great source to grab the attention
Social media is on the rise and has been playing an active role in helping brands and companies to understand their audience. It has gone beyond putting posts and number of likes and followers. Facebook, Instagram, twitter and WhatsApp are actively contributing brands to market themselves in the large frame. It is not just about the brand awareness but nurtures customer care by maintaining conversations with customers about the product. This has become one of the most uprising digital marketing trends in the year 2017.
vii. Digital banners or display advertising
Last but not the least, digital banners or display advertising cannot be overlooked as one of the digital marketing trends of 2017. We can easily witness the gradual replacement of billboards by the digital banners on the roads that can easily grab the attention of the viewer.
This is an attempt to get on board the best practices of 2017 in digital marketing. It is done to consider the changes taking place in the industry and decide what trend to choose and how to allocate the right budget on each trend to get benefit in your business. Actually, it’s all about business as life has become so fast and competitive that stagnation is not an option. If you want to experience difference, run a marathon and win it.