Finding the right trends in marketing is all about discovering new and exciting ways to attract customers. As we move more and more into a digital world it’s important to adapt with the markets and position your marketing campaigns accordingly. The businesses that are able to identify and execute on these trends are the ones that will make more money. Here are five marketing trends you must follow in 2017.
Chatbots and AI
Being able to engage with your customers in real-time 24 hours a day is a huge plus for any business. However, hiring and maintaining a 24/7 support team can be both time consuming and quite expensive. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, chatbots are becoming sophisticated enough to effectively communicate with customers.
Chatbots are essentially programmed to make responses similar to how a human would. Deep learning algorithms and intricate data sets are engrained in the chatbot’s core. Chatbot’s are a fantastic way to engage with customers beyond support. They can act as a sales associate that provides your customers with around the clock, personalized suggestions and engagement.
Native Advertising
It’s estimated that spending on native advertisements will reach a whopping $7.9 billion this year and $21 billion by 2018. With multiple applications across numerous platforms, native advertising is one of the most popular marketing trends of the modern world.
So what makes this form of advertising so popular? These ads don’t interfere with the user experience and are very difficult to distinguish from “native” content already on the site. The common consensus around platforms plagued with advertisements is overwhelmingly negative. That’s why marketers love native advertising so much.
Native advertisements usually come in the form of content targeted at a specific audience. In addition the content is typically structured in a way that it will benefit the end-user. For example, you could create a product called “The 30-Day Weight Loss Challenge” and sell it on fitness blogs and websites. The product fits their target audience so the users won’t necessarily view your product as an ad, making it exponentially more effective in engaging the users.
Content Marketing
While it’s quite similar to native advertising, content marketing is a strategy used to create and distribute relevant information to an audience. Native ads are a one and done deal, after the ad is placed there isn’t much more to it. Content marketing is an ongoing process that is baked into a companies overarching marketing strategy.
The key to content marketing is to create meaningful content for your users. Make sure you are posting consistently and try to produce content relevant to your industry. Make sure to mix in content other than just written posts. Videos are a great way to engage your audience and can be easily embedded into a blog post.
Make sure you stay within “character” when creating your content because you want to give your brand a voice. The more consistent and likable your brand’s voice the higher your engagement will be. At Due, we mostly focus on payments solutions and other FinTech related topics. Despite being rather boring topics we are able to produce creative and clever posts that engage our readers.
Influencer Marketing
In an arguably over connected world, influencer marketing has solidified itself as one of the most powerful marketing tools of 2017. Brands can create an instant word of mouth buzz around their products using personalities that consumers already idolize. When used effectively, an influencer can effectively engage their followers to push your brand.
The best places to find these influencers is on social media. Instagram is one of the most popular platforms as pictures tend to get more engagement than other posts. When identifying an influencer, make sure you look beyond their number of followers. An account with a million followers may appear to be influential, but if their engagement is low it’s not worth your while. Pay attention to the average number of likes and shares they receive per post, an account with less followers and more engagement is more powerful than the latter.
Livestreaming
Videos are an extremely powerful tool when looking to engage an audience. What’s even more effective than a video? A live video. Livestreaming allows you to engage and connect with your users in real time. Whether you’re debuting a new product launch, promoting an event, or even just checking in on your customers, a live video is a perfect strategy to use. Your users can even leave comments and ask questions as you stream the video. Nothing beats real time engagement.
As a marketer you need to continually devise unique strategies to entice your customers. It’s estimated that a millennial has an attention span of about eight seconds, so if you aren’t constantly engaging them, you can consider them a goner. Follow and embrace these five marketing trends so you can grow your business in the new year!
