The top 3 digital marketing trends in 2017

Which are the biggest trend that digital marketers need to know before 2017? How to make the best digital marketing campaign flowing this rule from Tom Fishburne- ‘’The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing’’. Big data, live streaming tool and personalized content utilized from machine learning are three main trends to follow and adapt for entrepreneurs and especially marketers in 2017.

Big data

Exactly like author of different marketing books- Dan Zarrella said: ’Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed.’ Big data is still one of the main digital marketing trends in the next 12 months. Regarding digital marketing field, the term ‘’Big data’’ includes market or customers’ insight and predictive analytics.

There are a number of ways marketer can utilize Big Data, for example, take advantage of Google Trends. This tools indicates hot topics across countries by quantifying frequency of various search-term relative to total search-volume. Hence, digital marketers can be updated about the coolest topic relevant to their market or buyers. Below is a screen-shot of Google Trends Website regarding top search globally.

Picture 1: Google Trends’ result on Finland and global’ s top search. (Source: Google Trends Website)

What’s more, the tool provides digital marketers with ‘’Explore topics’’ search box, from where they can examine or even compare trends in a specific market or region. If you are a truly special unicorn marketer, it is essential to be familiar with Google trends in order to stay informed about your market on a regular basis.

Live video streaming or video marketing

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat… all have livestreaming tool, then why should a digital marketing team ignore live streaming video in 2017? There is no rule about Live streaming video marketing campaign, it does not have to be short or long but it does require an authentic, relevant content and especially a natural flow of ideas and engagement. Views must enjoy a live stream video and get involved easily.

Some lessons can be learned from BuzzFeed Live stream campaign on Facebook in March, 2016- ”Dance Craze Battle: Live”. As a social news and entertainment company focusing on digital media and digital technology, BuzzFeed brand created an interactive competition while audiences are able to vote and also submit dance moves’ suggestions. Accordingly, viewers can see their ideas used in short time and BuzzFeed can humanize their brand effectively by showing their real team. The campaign is all about level of interaction between a brand with its users. Even though live streaming videos requires clear plan to increase engagement, scripts should happen in its most natural form.

Personalized and relevant content powered by hot technology trends

The world was shocked by how Donald Trump won in the United States President Selection; however, due to his personal approach from a digital marketing view, this is not really a huge surprise. His campaign targeted individuals by showing advertisement matching a person’s political views and personal type. For instance, an ad about father and son’s hunting was shown only for a nostalgic gun owner in the United States during Trump’s campaign. At the same time, he spoke his authentic language on social media platform, which attracted more traffics and conversation in his platforms and social channels.

Therefore, it is expected that a large number of big firms are going to design a much more personal approach for communication in digital marketing 2017 and such technology like augmented reality (AG) or virtual reality (VR) would help to shape these campaigns. Tim O’Neill – managing director of Accenture Interactive agreed that VR would become ‘’ a more common part of brand marketing toolkit’’ (Tim, 2016). It is admitted that machine learning technology helps brands to build deeper and more meaningful relationship with consumers as it provides exact right message to that right type of personality.

To end up, Augmented Reality has proven its potency by Pokemon Go. This has opened a totally new world powered by the hottest technology bringing opportunities for entrepreneurs and marketers in the new year. What marketers need to do is sitting back, look at the whole picture and tell an authentic story with the help of big data, video streaming tool and also machine learning because digital marketing is always about engagement and creativity.

The writer Vu Khanh is a 3rd year Marketing degree program student at Haaga-Helia Porvoo campus.