Our Predictions for Marketing in 2017

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Recently, brands are starting to experiment with experiences like virtual and augmented reality. Virtual reality creates an entirely new world for a user, for example in VR headsets, whereas augmented reality aims to enhance real life, for example in gaming apps like Pokemon GO. You can expect more brands to be launching more virtual or augmented reality games, ads and apps in 2017 to give users an immersive experience that will enable them to feel as though they truly are part of the action. This could also include things like 360 videos and live webinars, which are becoming increasingly popular.

Data Visualisation

Data is the lifeblood of marketing. In recent years, technology is catching up with our brains and helping us to visualise data in an easier way, through infographics and visualisation tools. 2017 is set to bring these tools to the forefront with more sophisticated technology that could leave people without it behind.

A Shorter Attention Span

That’s right, our attention spans as human beings surfing the web are getting shorter and shorter. From endlessly scrolling through 6-second clips on Vine (which has recently become the Vine Camera), Snapchat stories and Facebook video, 2017 calls for faster, better, and more attention-grabbing content than ever. This means that marketers will have to think outside the box in order to stand out from the crowd.

Buzzfeed’s Nifty and Tasty Facebook pages are a great example of fresh, fast and snappy content that is short, simple and easily consumable.

Chatbots

Artificial intelligence is upon us. Technology like Siri and Cortana are assisting people with their daily lives, and this is set to expand further in 2017. Many people will probably be familiar with chatbots from the days of MSN Messenger, but in recent years, Messenger apps like Facebook and WhatsApp are planning to introduce chat bots to their services, to help with things like booking and customer service.

The Guardian has implemented a chatbot that delivers morning news to those who message for it.

Video and Visual Content

Video content exploded in 2016, meaning that this year, there is an opportunity for marketers to catch up on this ever-evolving trend. In 2016, research has shown that 43 percent of people wanted to see more video content from marketers.

Social media has assisted the growth of video, including platforms like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. Videos have been shown to drive much more engagement than other forms of content, with 1.81% of people more likely to buy if they watch a video.

Even with the explosion of video, visual content like images and infographics are still a great way of helping drive more engagement for your business, because they are easy to digest quickly. This means that in 2017 we are likely to see more use of visual content in marketing.

So, what’s next?

It’s always important to look to the future so you can stay at the top of the game when it comes to new trends in marketing.

In the meantime, if you’d like to find out more about how your business can stand above the competition, why not get in touch today!