Closing the Books on 2017
With less than a month left of 2017, it’s possible that you’re taking some time to reflect on the year that has passed and muse on your company’s accomplishments as well as set goals for the upcoming new year. At ConceptDrop, we interact with your daily design and marketing needs, so we decided to rank some of our favorite, continually popular marketing strategies along with their pros and cons:
Interactive Marketing Reigns
These days, consumers want to see more than just text. They want to communicate with messages and information. Interactive marketing has been a general trend in the marketing scene due to the obvious rise of smartphone technology and the internet. After all, why read about something when you can take a quiz or follow an infographic? A positive side effect of this kind of branding is that users are more engaged with the information with which they are receiving. On the other hand, users may have less of an in-depth take away of what they’re looking at. Interactive marketing, while certainly beneficial to get points across quickly, could lead to miscommunications or fleeting attention.
Promoting the “Why’s”
According to Content Marketing Institute, purpose-driven marketing asks, “What is your why? Why do you create your content? Does it have a real impact on your customers and prospects? Is there a deeper purpose behind what you do, instead of just creating content as part of your sales and marketing machine?” While this is a continuing trend in 21st century marketing, it’s important to remember the why’s of a business, the core causes, in any case (as a marketer or as a customer). However, a negative aspect of purpose-driven marketing is it can be difficult to brand something with just the cause in mind. Why someone would want to pay for premium services over basic services, for example, may be difficult to showcase through the vehicle of purpose-driven marketing.
Mobile Marketing Growth Spurt
The ability to live-stream content and to publish it instantly has been a more popular trend than ever before. In particular, mobile videotaping and publishing abilities have gone viral because it is easier to produce content than ever before. According to Forbes, “mobile views grew six times faster than desktop views in 2015.” Watching videos on one’s cellphone has become a massive way to circulate ads and information. Forbes continues discussing this current trend, claiming, “If you’re not catering your content, ads and online experience to a mobile user, then you are missing a massive opportunity. And remember: it’s not just about ‘optimizing’ for mobile; it’s also about making sure that piece of content gets integrated with a user’s lifestyle on the go.”
Artificial Intelligence Emergence
Machine technology is on trend for both small and large businesses alike and certainly changes the ways consumers interact with materials. Huffington Post has this to say about AI: “Users can expect highly-customized content delivery, automated based on their persona and lifestyle. Starting an AI strategy can be costly and require specific skill that are often hard to come by as the role is in such high demand. However, the large upfront investment shows promising results for those willing to take the plunge.” Although setting up AI can be risky, it seems that it will have monumental impacts in years to come. Even though AI is still progressing, we consider it to be a big trend of 2017 and one that we’ve utilized ourselves to make sure you are paired with a perfect designer for your own company’s needs. As AI goes mainstream, it will be utilized in marketing and business functions instead of being associated with robotics and machinery.
While this is just a short, reflective list of 2017 trends, what possible trends do you think will continue or shift in 2018? What do you think will be taking over the marketing scene of the future? Comment below.
