A year ago, we m
ade some predictions for the marketing trends we expected to see in 2016, and we feel we did well enough to give it another shot for 2017. Here are some of the trends we expect to see this year.
More and More Content Marketing
It’s already a huge industry, but we see even more growth in content marketing, with a heightened focus both on quality and metrics to indicate success. We’re looking towards a growing demand for high quality content creators, whether copy, design, video or audio. This heightened demand for concept can be challenging for marketers, but we’d offer one key tip: don’t overlook content you already have on hand!
Growth in Direct Mail
It’s easy to be dismissive of “snail mail” when we have so many means to deliver content virtually instantaneously. However, we see a strong potential for growth in traditional direct mail to address the clutter in email inboxes. (I’ve been saying this since I wrote Direct Mail in the Digital Age in 2011.)
Increased Caution with Contributed Content
Based on the buzz over “fake news” after the election, we would expect there to be more pushback against “contributed content” that appears in reputable publications like Forbes. Google just about any business topic and a top result is likely to be a Forbes piece written by a “contributor” which is not a Forbes writer. Other publications do this too. From a PR/marketing standpoint we love it and have worked with some clients to get this kind of coverage; from a journalism standpoint…well, potentially concerning. There is a definite risk of bias in these types of pieces and they’re often not vetted by editorial staff. As such, they can frequently be very misleading to readers who don’t necessarily know the dynamic between publication and author.
Increased Focus on Social Media and Social Media Metrics
We foresee a greater adoption and use of social media by organizations and thought leaders as a means of connecting directly with their audiences vs. relying on the media gatekeepers to share their content. Donald Trump is a prime example of how doing this can generate shocking results, and we think others will emulate his practices in 2017. Additionally, we predict a greater focus on measurable results. There are a lot of people tweeting and posting these days, but to what end? We believe that organizations and individuals will be taking a closer look at the measurable impacts of their social media activities and eliminating, or cutting back, on those activities that are not generating real results.
We feel we did pretty well with our predictions for 2016, so hopefully that success will continue with this year’s predictions. As a marketing strategy firm, we have a very strong interest in being able to identify, and leverage, trends on the horizon. Once again, we’ll review our predictions in a year and see how we did!
What do you see as the emerging opportunities, and challenges, in marketing for 2017? Share here!
A year ago, we made some predictions for the marketing trends we expected to see in 2016, and we feel we did well enough to give it another shot for 2017. Here are some of the trends we expect to see this year.
More and More Content Marketing
It’s already a huge industry, but we see even more growth in content marketing, with a heightened focus both on quality and metrics to indicate success. We’re looking towards a growing demand for high quality content creators, whether copy, design, video or audio. This heightened demand for concept can be challenging for marketers, but we’d offer one key tip: don’t overlook content you already have on hand!
Growth in Direct Mail
It’s easy to be dismissive of “snail mail” when we have so many means to deliver content virtually instantaneously. However, we see a strong potential for growth in traditional direct mail to address the clutter in email inboxes. (I’ve been saying this since I wrote Direct Mail in the Digital Age in 2011.)
Increased Caution with Contributed Content
Based on the buzz over “fake news” after the election, we would expect there to be more pushback against “contributed content” that appears in reputable publications like Forbes. Google just about any business topic and a top result is likely to be a Forbes piece written by a “contributor” which is not a Forbes writer. Other publications do this too. From a PR/marketing standpoint we love it and have worked with some clients to get this kind of coverage; from a journalism standpoint…well, potentially concerning. There is a definite risk of bias in these types of pieces and they’re often not vetted by editorial staff. As such, they can frequently be very misleading to readers who don’t necessarily know the dynamic between publication and author.
Increased Focus on Social Media and Social Media Metrics
We foresee a greater adoption and use of social media by organizations and thought leaders as a means of connecting directly with their audiences vs. relying on the media gatekeepers to share their content. Donald Trump is a prime example of how doing this can generate shocking results, and we think others will emulate his practices in 2017. Additionally, we predict a greater focus on measurable results. There are a lot of people tweeting and posting these days, but to what end? We believe that organizations and individuals will be taking a closer look at the measurable impacts of their social media activities and eliminating, or cutting back, on those activities that are not generating real results.
We feel we did pretty well with our predictions for 2016, so hopefully that success will continue with this year’s predictions. As a marketing strategy firm, we have a very strong interest in being able to identify, and leverage, trends on the horizon. Once again, we’ll review our predictions in a year and see how we did!
What do you see as the emerging opportunities, and challenges, in marketing for 2017? Share here!
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Tags: 2017 predictions, Brand Management, content management, content marketing in 2017, digital marketing, marketing in 2017, marketing predictions, SEO