The internet has consistently changed how businesses operate and attract customers. Even as businesses struggle to stay at the top of online aspects of the business world, the internet continues to change. Technology drives this constant evolution and because of this, digital marketing changes exceedingly faster than any other industry. To compete and experience success, businesses must stay connected to the current trend in online marketing and keep an eye on future trends. A large number of businesses have a fear of appearing obsolete to their online customers and associates, but these same businesses avoid changes to their digital marketing plans. Keeping a business’s online content fresh and relevant is a daunting task, which requires expertise in the digital marketing arena and excellent trend spotting skills. To assist in this area, here are the top marketing trends for 2017.
Content will become more interactive
One only needs to look at the growth and popularity of interactive web designs to see this is a trend that has been building for several years. Everything from playing games with friends on the other side of the world, to menu planning, and personality quizzes is a hot topic, which will keep getting hotter as 2017 approaches. The digital world constantly bombards consumers with information and options, to keep customers attention, engage them with some form of activity. This can be a simple process or a highly specialized and involved program. Attention is a valuable premium; focus on informing in an entertaining way to keep customers.
Web sites will go responsive
When vying for a consumer base in a competitive digital marketplace, businesses need to rely on every advantage available to them. In 2017, expect to find new websites built responsively and expect to see older websites redesigned responsively. A responsive website is a site, which adjusts to fit the size of the viewer’s browser. This gives a customized experience every time on every device. It may sound like a small detail, but consistent technology improvement has conditioned consumers to expect an optimal experience on every visit to a website. If a website fails to meet expectations, the consumer quickly will move on to the next site on the list.
Video will become a major content platform
Video taking a central part in website design is a predictable response to an already growing trend. The unparalleled success of YouTube® is a prime example of the power of video in the internet age. In 2015, a study was conducted which showed visitors to a web page will stay on that page for an average of two minutes longer if that page has a video. This may not sound like much, but in the instantaneous world of digital commerce, two minutes can make or break a potential business transaction. It is well worth the effort to add related video to website content.
SEO will shift closer to content marketing
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) once had a reputation as an underhanded and divisive way for a website to land a top spot on Google and gain internet traffic. SEO has moved from its questionable origins to what industry insiders call content marketing. The idea of content marketing began in the 1990’s as the internet started to grow. The basis for the idea of content marketing is providing some sort of valuable information (or content) for consumers visiting a website and then promoting it to the consumer. This strategy operates on the psychological idea that individuals feel obligated to repay others, who offer a good or service. This builds loyalty and trust, which typically translate into a lasting business relationship with the customer. The shift in SEO to a content-based entity makes sense because search engine algorithms continually become more advanced, and constantly filter what content is what is actually helpful or pertinent to the user. Because of these advances, older SEO tactics, which helped push websites to the top of search engines, are no longer effective.
Cutting edge design and increased speed are crucial
A trend from 2016 that will still be gaining momentum in 2017 is the redesigning of websites to make the sites more efficient and more attractive to consumers. This goes beyond the quality of the website’s content and looks at the design of the website; evaluating how efficiently the site operates. All aspects of the web page must be fine-tuned to load and play quickly, as visitors will move on to another website rather than wait for one to load. Website content is still important, but businesses now face the task of making the content valuable, eye-catching, and quick to load.
The internet will never be a stagnant place; its evolution will continue as long as there are advances in technology. The challenge for businesses to keep up will continue far into the future.