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Top Social Media & Digital Marketing Trends for 2017

December 7, 2016

milkbardigital-2017-social-media-trends

With 2016 fast coming to a close, we have taken a look into the digital landscape of the very near future to round up a few of our top picks for what social media will look like next year.

1. Live Video

We started dabbling with live streaming with apps like Periscope and platforms like Facebook Live this year, but next year will be when Live Video really makes it’s mark. A Facebook Live strategy in particular, will be very important for businesses – big and small, of all industries – to look into and consider. Think about what your business does and how you can offer value to your customers and clients through live sessions. For example, if you run a veterinarian clinic, you might want to run weekly pet tips and tricks sessions. Or, if you are in the world of fitness, you may want to run online work-out classes. The options truly are endless!

2. Messaging and Chat Bots

We’ve talked about this before, but next year is when we will really start to see these take off. Businesses will really start to harness the power of the one-to-one communication stream that is Instant Messaging, especially when partnered with Artificial Intelligence. Though it may seem very expensive for a lot of smaller businesses, developing Message Bots will become more cost-effective, especially when you consider the usual cost of customer service. If a Message Bot can give the same time, care and personalisation as a real human, that has to be a long-term saving!

3. Social Video

Not just applicable for live streaming, video in general will continue to dominate content strategies. Why? They’re fast, easy to digest and effective. Plus, social networks like Facebook and Instagram continue to favour them when it comes to the way their algorithms serve content. Hot tip: 99% of social media videos are viewed with the sound turned off on a mobile device, so be sure to include captions and text for maximum effectiveness.

4. Social Commerce

Here at Milkbar Digital, we’ve started playing with the new Shop tab available on Facebook Business Pages. This allows customers to shop via Direct Messaging the page, or via the brand’s own external website. Not only that, but it also allows brands to ‘tag in’ products to their everyday Facebook posts – really integrating social with e-commerce in a way not seen before.

5. Data Driven Analytics

While most businesses are now socially-savvy enough to know that the number of Page Likes or Followers they have isn’t the key to social success – we will continue to leverage data to make all kinds of business decisions from the every day to the massive. As more and more people get connected to social media and share their personal information, online browsing behaviour, and shopping behaviour – it’s never been a better time for marketers to be able to leverage this nitty gritty data. We will start seeing more complicated remarketing techniques, more usage of pixels such as the Facebook Pixel, and really be able to market in a precise, personalised way.

6. Influencers

More and more brands and businesses, big and small, are turning to social media influencers and bloggers to act as brand ambassadors and talk about the products they wish to spruik. Not by any means a ‘new’ way of marketing, trends are showing that paid social and digital marketing is only getting to become more and more popular as the online world gets more competitive. The key to a successful influencer partnership? Identifying clearly from the beginning if the influencer’s audience is the right fit for your brand, establishing key objectives, identifying exactly what deliverables will be exchanged for what cost, and having measurable KPI’s in place for the campaign.

7. Get Creative

Content is, and always will be, king. But with so many brands and businesses fighting for share of voice, and with so much meaningless content being published every second – producing creative and engaging content that stands out, has never been more important. So start getting creative and put yourselves in your customers’ shoes to figure out exactly what is going to get their attention!

 

For help with your 2017 social media and digital marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Milkbar Digital. We are your boutique one-stop shop for all things social media for small businesses in Melbourne.

 

 

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