It’s that time of year again. Prediction time!

What does the future hold for digital marketing in 2017? Here are the top trends the Clicks and Clients team expects to see this year.

Content remains king

A recent survey from SmartInsights polled over 2000 readers to uncover their top 3 techniques for 2017. The big winners? Content marketing and Big Data. Big data is a term for the massive amounts of data that are being created every second online, and smart marketers are harnessing this data for their content marketing campaigns.

At its heart, content marketing is all about delivering value. More data means being able to provide the right insights to the right audience at the right time. Companies who work with us at Clicks and Clients know our favorite phrase is “Let’s test it.” It’s easier than ever to gather data at all points of the customer journey that can improve the user’s experience and increase your advertising ROI.

Getting social on camera

Social media isn’t going anywhere. In fact, it is only going to continue to grow. There are over 2.5 billion active users on social media, and that number is increasing at a rate of 9% per year! If you aren’t leveraging a variety of social media channels, then you could be losing out on big profit.

In 2017, we are predicting a large growth in live streaming. This trend includes Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, YouTube Live, Periscope, Snapchat, and more. It’s not a secret that ‘going live’ has become a big trend in 2016. Athletes, celebrities, and brands have begun using video to reach fans and customers.

However, live video is still in its infancy. Facebook and YouTube have already announced that 360-degree video will become available for all users in 2017. Consumers no longer want to just read or hear about an event. They want to feel as though they are experiencing the event as well. That’s where video can be beneficial. 2017 is definitely going to shift consumers into a more video-focused era of advertising. Live video will help businesses and brands create awareness as well as build a community of consumers.

AMP things up to improve SEO

When AMP first launched in February of last year, the reaction from the SEO community was rather tepid. Many wondered if AMP would be a fad or the future of mobile search.

Today, it’s clear that mobile is a huge focus for Google and the company reports that AMP is central to the company’s plans for the future. If you haven’t already, be sure to make 2017 the year that you start using AMP on your site. AMP pages undoubtedly provide a better user experience for readers on mobile devices, and Google is taking steps to improve AMP for content creators as well.

Move the needle with email

Services like Drip are making email automation more accessible for companies. Email marketing is far from dead, but the spray-and-pray approach of sending broadcast emails may very well be dying. In its place, we’re seeing much more personalization and automation becoming the norm.

Instead of sending out bulk emails and hoping for a sale, you can now create a custom workflow that delivers relevant messaging with pinpoint precision.

Get your company’s marketing off to a great start this year. Contact Clicks and Clients for a free consultation.