Smartphones are taking over.
People are spending more time with their mobile devices than ever. At this point you should assume customers are viewing your content from their smartphone, which means your website should be responsive. In fact, if it isn’t, you’re already late in the game! Mobile web traffic has officially taken over desktop, as of 2016. (smartinsights.com)
Get ready for the rise of video.
Remember when YouTube was the major online video source? Most social media platforms now host video and live streaming, likely prompted by the uptick in the popularity of Snapchat. Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and other Twitter-based platforms like Periscope are in vogue. We expect to see more video platforms and content in the coming years.
Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality are changing reality.
The Pokémon Go phenomenon is a great example of what will continue to rise in 2017. While Virtual Reality (VR) is a projection, Augmented Reality (AR) works more like layers on top of the user’s world view, combining your five senses in the real world with the audio/visual experience created by the technology.
Prepare for more messaging apps.
Direct messaging (outside of social platforms) is continuing to increase. Applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, Viber, and many others are just beginning to scratch the surface of their potential. It will be a challenge for marketers to find new ways to reach customers via messaging, but with the advancement of the trend, be assured, the technology will follow.
Artificial Intelligence will supplement customer service.
Chatbot applications have already been adopted by major players in technology, such as Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and IBM. Most of these applications understand conversational language and can provide basic customer service. You can expect to see this technology become more advanced, and more prolific in 2017.
Marketing Automation will become more commonplace.
Manually emailing large quantities of people without some kind of scheduling software for campaigns, is tedious. Marketing automation software helps streamline this process so you can set up and schedule campaigns, nurture prospects, and ideally create conversions in whatever context makes sense for your business.
Programmatic Marketing will proliferate.
Programmatic Marketing is predicted to take over the majority of digital advertising spending by 2018. Programmatic Marketing redefines the current bidding system, where bidding becomes automated, as well as placement and optimization within that bidding system. Using an algorithmic process, the sales of advertising space will function in real time, without the need for human touch. (smartinsights.com)
Predictive analytics will be in demand.
Forecasting is not a new concept, but with the rise of Big Data, more companies will be seeking new ways to extract useful information from these large data sets. By examining patterns and fluctuations in buyer behavior, predictive analytics can help data miners make educated guesses about the future, as well as risk assessments based on historical data processing.
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