Earlier this month, we took a look at some of the most important social media moments of 2016. But now that the month is coming to a close, it’s time to look forward to 2017.
With so many changes in technology this past year, 2017 will see the implementation of these changes across digital marketing avenues. We’re expecting some large shifts in how people use the internet to both spend money and advertise.
Our Predictions for Digital Marketing Trends in 2017
Voice search
Siri and Cortana have been around for a while, but 2016 also saw the growing popularity of other voice assistants on both mobile devices and laptops. Now more than ever, people are talking to their phones to perform internet searches instead of typing in keywords. This completely new way of searching means there will be changes in long tail keyword searches and probably in PPC as well. It will be interesting to see how search engines adjust their algorithms, and how digital marketers have to adjust their strategies, in both SEO and PPC.
Augmented Reality
One of the biggest trends of 2016 was definitely Pokemon Go. This app catapulted the widespread popularity of augmented reality – a mix of digital images with real life. This trend will only continue to increase in apps, as well as advertising, social media, and campaigns.
Augmented reality is just one aspect of ‘immersive content’ that will explode in 2017. Another example is the 360 degree pictures used in Facebook advertising. Users can use their mobile device to move the picture to see different angles and a much wider view than a regular picture allows. It gives marketers a much better opportunity to use images in advertising campaigns and create engagement.
Dense Content
Our attention spans shortened in 2016. We skim articles, watch videos on mute, and often only read headlines. Digital marketers will have to respond to this in 2017 but making content dense with information in a very small space. Packing as much information as possible into a headline and description will be the best way to communicate messages, as people are less likely to read an entire article or watch an entire video.
Social Media Conversion
Until now, social media marketing has largely been used as a tool to increase brand awareness and engagement. However, because of changes in social media advertising to include easier methods for purchasing products directly, we may see social media being a larger player for conversion in 2017. This will change the way social media marketing is performed and likely the amounts spent – if you can increase conversion, it makes sense to increase your social media budget! This social media trend in 2017 will lead to a change in how advertisers use social media to market.
Flat Colours & Grids
Web design trends in 2017 are also going to continue to simplify. Solid colours, simple animations, and short text will continue to dominate web design. The days of complicated sliders and huge Flash players are falling behind us. These solid colours and simple trends are indicative of the ever-growing shift to mobile. It’s much easier for these to load and look good on a mobile device than a complicated, text-heavy website.
Grids are another web design trend that we will continue to see. It’s evident on many news sites like Buzzfeed. Having large grids with articles or information makes for easy clicking on mobile and helps make the page seem organized.
Mobile, mobile, mobile
Every year, digital marketers say ‘This is the year of mobile!’. Every year, this becomes more and more true. The shift towards mobile will continue over all aspects – browsing, shopping, spending, watching, ordering, and more. Marketers need to know how to appeal to mobile users with mobile-friendly websites and more in 2017 or risk falling behind.
Contact VivosWeb to Get Ahead of the Game in 2017
VivosWeb knows how to respond to the changes and trends expected in 2017 in search engines, social marketing, web design, and more. Contact us to get started on your digital marketing strategy to keep up with digital marketing trends in 2017!
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