31 Jan Marketing Trends 2017

The TGM Team knows how important it is to create meaningful content for your business. And as your local brand and marketing experts we thought we’d share some insights into where marketing and brand trends are heading this year.

Influencer

Influencer marketing is the act of using a prominent social media personality, celebrity or thought leader to promote or use a product. 2016 saw the rise of influencer marketing and it looks to be a continued trend for 2017. A great example of this can be seen with the rise of the Youtube make-up artist, who, if they have a large enough following, will be sent free products to test and use online. Social media has been a massive host for influencers to show off their favourite brands, and with thousands of followers emulating their style and purchases, marketers will be looking to find the perfect personality to endorse their product. 

Mobile content

One trend that isn’t going away in 2017 is mobile content. More people are accessing the Internet from their mobile device, and marketers would benefit from placing their website along multiple platforms and considering advertisements created specifically for mobile devices. All of our TGM websites are designed alongside a mobile-friendly version.

Storytelling

By storytelling, brands are showing customers how their product fits in with their lives, values and actions. This creates a greater source of connection, being more personal and emotive in order to generate repeated sales and brand loyalty. This has longer lasting, more meaningful effect as opposed to shouty Harvey-Normanesque ads that strike no chord with human experiences. Check out this beautifully directed ad from Burberry to get an idea of how storytelling can draw you in.

Sensory products

Technology is becoming more capable, faster, powerful and high functioning. In the coming year marketers and designers will be focusing not only on performance but how technology makes us feel when we use it. Car companies are looking to focus on posture, lighting and even scent to create a greater sensory experience, while other manufacturers turn to using more natural materials to give technology a more personal, human feel.

Video

Video is the hottest upcoming trend. People are already consuming larger amounts of video content and if you have a look at your Facebook feed, it would be hard to deny that the content is becoming increasingly video based. It’s proven that video is more attention capturing and makes content easier for the audience to understand and retain. It has been predicted that Facebook may turn into an entirely video based experience.

Live streaming

In addition, real-time video is a recent Facebook feature, which allows people to view and experience video content from all over the world, as it is happening. This gives viewers an even greater opportunity to connect and participate with video content. This will enable brands to interact and engage even more closely with their target audience.

Personalisation

As technology is becoming known for causing disparity and disconnectedness within society, marketers are looking towards creating more personal experiences. With systems such as Netflix and Pinterest that are increasingly customised to user preference, advertisers and marketers now have more in-depth information allowing more personal targeted, collateral. Other online services will need to look to creating tailored experiences for their audiences.

Interactive content

BuzzFeed has nailed the art of interactive content. Producing Interactive content can be described as content that isn’t scrolled past on Facebook, but taken as a quiz or a poll or incited comments by asking for opinions. As Facebook and social media marketing grow, creating engaging content becomes more difficult and also increasingly more valuable. Brands will be looking for more ways to create engaging content in 2017.