Mambo Media’s 2017 Digital Marketing Trends: Part 2

In Part Two of our digital marketing trends blog series, more Mambo team members share their 2017 marketing predictions. Did you miss part 1 of our Marketing Trends blog series? Click here to read it first.

Content Format Takes the Crown

Jana Kopp – Director of Customer Experience

With social media algorithms placing more importance on real-time and consistent engagement, content marketing will shift in three ways. First, marketers will need to become even more creative with new formats of content (live video, GIFs, VR, etc.) that provides an even better, easily digestible, experience for users. Secondly, this shift will require marketers to think more strategically about retention marketing. While most marketers have been successful at leveraging top of the funnel content, they’ll need to step up their game to keep their existing audience engaged and loyal amongst the noise and clutter. Thirdly, as brands continue to spend more money on content creation and transmedia storytelling, there will be a growing focus on calculating the ROI of content marketing.

Silos No More

Kevin Anderson – Operations Manager

Look for businesses to shift their C-Level silos to provide enhanced collaboration and a greater range versatility. For example, imagine the CMO working together with the CIO to combine technology and branding for digital campaigns and across each sub-set of products. Organizations talk about disconnects between IT, Marketing and Sales, but through the alignment and collaboration of the C-Level it will enable better organizational unity.

Get by With a Little Help from Your Friends

Jaime Crist – Digital Marketing Specialist

With so much content hitting the internet and social media every day, catching the attention of consumers is becoming increasingly difficult for brands. Companies are looking to stand out and have learned that they are no longer just competing with other brands, they’re competing with anything and everything that can grab consumers’ attention.

More and more marketers are embracing influencer marketing to build brand awareness, fight through the content clutter, and convert customers. Content shared by trusted influencers and thought leaders has shown to convert 4-12x better than content shared by brands. Through 2017, I believe we’ll see more brands converting to influencer marketing in order to be viewed as authentic and trustworthy. With the rise in popularity of channels like Snapchat and live video, having a trusted voice to speak out for your brand will be a powerful strategy to get through to users.

Real-time Relationship Building Goes to Third Base

Jesse Liebman – Digital Marketing Manager

Technology and connectivity have always run in parallel allowing new market brands and services to become a disruption on an annual basis. Services that were previously unsuccessful (see HomeGrocer.com) have suddenly been revived (see Instacart) and services that appeared unviable (see Airbnb) have become the business case study everyone wishes they created (see Uber). As we look towards the future of digital, experiences will be personalized and everyone will have the insta-ability to become a resource or subject matter expert.

Bulletin board flyers, cold calls, direct mail, and Yellow Page ads all still exist and in some cases are very viable methods to attract and convert leads. However, leveraging data-driven methodologies allows consumers to make buying decisions more quickly and businesses to qualify leads more accurately. Google started off 2016 talking and touting Micro-moments as a methodology for consumer behavior, and the introduction of Facebook Live has put the power of real-time relationship building in the palm of marketers across the globe.

Airing your dirty laundry or publicly disclosing your internal beliefs used to be taboo or poor form. Whether you swipe right, go live, or hangout, the tactics for building a relationship continue to grow in intimacy and seriousness. Building your brand identity and relationships through raw, insightful, and meaningful tactics will continue to be businesses most challenging and necessary line item heading into the New Year. The platform used will always evolve, but relationships will always be the cornerstone for every successful business venture.

Did you miss part 1 of our 2017 prediction blog series? Check it out here, or share your 2017 predictions in the comment section below!.