Looking Ahead to Marketing Trends in 2017

It’s that time of year again, when we start looking ahead to what the new year will bring. We saw changes in 2016 in our approach to marketing, social media, and design. It was a year that focused on the consumer: consumer-centric marketing, consumer experience, consumer insights, and ways of tracking and analyzing those perceptions.

As we look at what’s to come for digital marketing—a medium that seems to be in a state of constant fluctuation—we will need to rise to the challenge of staying ahead of emerging technologies and find strategies that emphasize targeted marketing.

Here are some key things to focus on as we ring in the new year:

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation – the software used to automate repetitive marketing actions such as email, social media and other website actions – is growing at an astounding rate. There are now nearly eleven times as many B2B organizations utilizing marketing automation as there were in 2011. As of December 2016, more than half of current B2B companies (55 percent) have already adopted this technology. But now the question is—are you using marketing automation to its fullest potential? Some strategists believe that most companies are using only about ten percent of the functionality behind marketing automation. So if you’re gearing up your digital strategy for 2017, there are a few things you will want to make sure you have in place.

Dynamic content: Dynamic content is content that “talks” to your subscribers. It puts a personal spin on your messaging—and the more personal you are, the more likely you’ll convert subscribers into customers. As this strategy becomes more the norm, consumers will expect email to have more relevant content. But beware of over-personalized content—studies are showing that consumers have less tolerance for advertising that crosses the line into creepy.

For example, there are two forms of personalization: personal – it involves facts related to an individual person; and intimate – most people would feel hesitant about sharing the information in a professional setting. There’s a good chance that your marketing might feel creepy for your audience if your marketing personalization is based on information that is both personal and intimate. Basing your marketing around personal facts like what city or community they live in, how many children they have, or what they do for work are good examples, although privacy limits are always subjective. By contrast, if it’s intimate, and you’re basing your marketing display around intimate details like you overheard them talking on the phone about troubles with their wife and you start showing them ads to purchase flowers in their city, you may be crossing the line into creepy.

Drip campaigns: Drip campaigns are a set of marketing emails that will be sent out automatically on a schedule. These can be essential for businesses with long sales cycles. A drip campaign can help your team stay in contact with prospective leads and provide multiple touch points that help in closing a sale. Setting up a drip campaign is the most efficient way to run a campaign without having to constantly monitor it, as it does the hard work for you.

Nurture campaigns: Just like dynamic content that changes depending on who you are contacting, a nurture campaign will segment your audience based on interaction. A nurturing campaign can be particularly effective with leads who are on the fence and need a little nudge.