How to keep up with these 5 major trends:
Mobile Everything
There is absolutely no question that the market is exponentially moving to mobile-everything. In 2012 approximately 11% of retail sales occurred on mobile devices. Fast forward to 2016 and 48% of consumers are reporting that they prefer to shop on their mobile phones. In 2017, site traffic from phones increased 21% from 2016, while revenue generated from phones increased 41%. If you’re not offering customer-centric, fluid, cross-platform experiences for your customers, you are sure to lose. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and has easy ways for customers to complete transactions. Enable ApplePay, Square and PayPal so customers can buy, buy, buy.
Fractured Social Media
As many different social media platforms begin to resemble each other more closely, they also start to reach different demographics. An example of this is the schism between Snapchat and Instagram users: The recent addition of Stories and face filters from Instagram has drawn some users away from Snapchat. To make the most out of your time and resources, plan on committing to two or three key social media sites by creating relevant content and interacting with followers. Social media requires a lot of resources in terms of time and strategy so be sure to get the most ROI by developing effective and targeted campaigns. Over 85% of social media users read words embedded in graphic images and not frames around images, so consider narrating your posts with a tool like MoodClue markers and display tags to get your message across.
Customer Contact By Text and Chatbots
Increasingly customers are reaching out to customer service teams by text. Whether on the Facebook app, by iMessage or on Whatsapp, customers want immediate answers and a more informal means of communication. This will result in a shift in the tone and immediacy of what our customers are expecting. Chatbots are also becoming more and more prevalent. Customers want to work with companies that deliver 24/7 customer service through chat. They don’t want to be on hold for 30 minutes to talk to someone; they would rather open up another browser window if they have to hold. Chatbots may even help with Google rankings as visitors will stay on the site longer, decreasing your bounce rate. For businesses that are accustomed to having customer service calls or help tickets, chatbots will require a change in process and new training. Some well-known Chatbot service providers include: Bold360, Helpshift and LivePerson, LiveChat.
Live Video
Live streaming videos are already gaining popularity and interest from brands. With the digital era being so instant and saturated nowadays with content and apps, live video will help you stand out as a brand. People already expect to see events and performances as they occur and on-demand. Incorporating live product demonstrations and user-oriented content into your digital media strategy will soon be an important way to connect to shoppers and convert them to buyers. There are lots of players in this nascent field like Topbox, Inxpo, and LiveStream.
Voice Search-Based Ad Personalization
The ways in which people are interacting with voice search are only going to keep growing, and that is creating new opportunities and avenues for potential ad strategies. Once the platforms are available, we suspect that this will have a major impact on how brands interact with people. This is definitely a trend to watch!