10 Predictions for 2017 Digital Marketing Trends

Wondering what will drive digital sales in the coming year? Ready to make decisions about what to spend 2017 marketing dollars on for the best return on investment? I’ve outlined my 10 predictions for 2017 digital marketing trends and the reasons I chose them. Before starting my predictions for 2017, I wanted to look back at what I predicted last year to see how well I foresaw the future. Last year I suggested investing in:
Overall, if brands followed this outline, they should have done very well last year. This year, many of these same tends continue, and I think companies can safely continue with these marketing strategies with a few exceptions and additions.
I had the privilege of speaking with two West Chester University marketing classes last week on the topic of preparing our digital marketing strategies for 2017 and farther into the future. These “Gen Z” students expressed frustration with advertisements when they are searching the web, and led me to really think about the impact Ad Blockers will continue to have next year.
I also looked at my 2016 predictions (most of which did come about and can be seen here https://www.boomtownig.com/blog/8-guidelines-planning-2016-marketing-budget/) to see if these will carry forward into 2017, and I reviewed our many client’s analytics and sales data. I reviewed industry surveys and conducted some informal surveys of our clients. The results are as follows:
Marketing spend was down last year on average to 7.5% of company revenue, although for BtoC companies it was 10.2% of revenue. Marketing spend will flatten or even increase a bit continuing into 2017 with BtoC marketing spend leading the rest of companies. This is due to more competition for advertising real estate, a larger focus on mobile reach, and the increased cost of tracking marketing return on investment.
According to a Forester Research Survey showing the estimated allocation of marketing dollars across channels, in 2016 companies allocated 30% of their marketing budget to online and this is expected to increase to 35% by 2019. This includes SEO, display advertising, search advertising, social media, and mobile marketing. For the first time, in 2017 online advertising will exceed television advertising spend, according to eMarketer.
This makes sense, as more and more people are consuming video on their mobile or tables instead of from network television. According to Neilson’s comparable metrics report between 2011 and 2016, traditional TV viewing by 18-24-year-olds decreased over 9 hours per week, falling 38% since 2011. Advertisers are moving money out of traditional television, print and radio and into digital.
Companies should pay attention to digital media consumption and the following 2017 digital marketing trends, so that they can position their 2017 marketing dollars to the greatest advantage.
The customer is always right, even when the customer is virtual. Customer experience is the heart of marketing for every industry. The only way to compete is to nurture, sustain and foster the relationship you build with your customers, but getting a slice of their attention is becoming harder day-by-day. For example we see people demanding a better online experience when shopping. In 2017 companies should invest in their website info structure so that they can provide:
Companies are demanding that marketers show them a return on investment, in order to make budgeting decisions about how best to engage with customers. To do this they need to accurately measure marketing data.
Measuring marketing is tough. With more channels and different devices how do marketers measure attribution? Google analytics and other tagging tools allow for attribution reports but ad blockers and an increase in people who delete cookies can skew data from these reports.
In 2017, companies will spend a lot of money on data reporting in order to try to tie business objectives to profit, revenue, customer retention, and customer satisfaction (a difficult metric to measure).
Businesses will collect ROI data from email, social media, paid advertising, direct, search, referral and affiliate, and print, radio, video, etc. in order to get a clear picture of where to invest their marketing dollars. They need technology like a tag manager to analyze the complex relationships of multiple marketing channels on customer data.
Showing in the top position is optimal, and more than half of our eCommerce clients’ conversions are from Pay-Per-Click advertising. For these reasons, in 2017 companies will spend more on advertising on Apps, on Amazon, and on search.
It’s been very difficult to justify social media marketing, but most companies feel that they still need to do it in 2017. Companies should use social media to sell and personalize ads because this is a proven tactic.
Companies should plan to use social media to engage with customers – personally – and to make questions on social media much more personal.
Data from the Internet of Things will start to play a part in marketing in 2017. There will be billions of connected devices telling marketers when to push a out a product or service.
As marketers over the last 10 or 15 years we have become accustomed to the impact of technology on consumer buying habits. Smart TVs, connected devices, virtual reality, and continuous connectivity have moved away from science fiction and now influence the way companies market. What new changes will 2017 bring? I invite your comments about 2017 digital marketing trends.
Works Cited:
1. The CMO Report.org
2. Forester Research 2016 Digital Marketing Predictions
3. eMarketer
4. eConsultancy/Adobe
5. Marketing Profs