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It is the time of the year when organisations and brands are looking at a fresh start for their marketing campaigns, taking learnings from the previous year/s and planning for the year ahead to make it better than the last. Marketing Budgets will be in the process of getting their due allocations to ATL, BTL and Digital Marketing activities to be executed through the year. Like every year the digital media has undergone innumerable changes and this is why we decided to share with you our views / predictions for Digital Marketing Trends for 2017. Happy reading!

Influencer Marketing & Native Advertising

With individuals becoming publishers and garnering huge follower-base, it’s no wonder that brands are finally looking at these web identities as possible marketing channels. Gone are the days when only popular faces (read actors and models) could endorse a brand or become a brand ambassador. YouTube Stars, Fashion Bloggers, Travel Instagrammers, Facebook Chefs & Twitter Journalists will be the driving forces behind successful execution of digital marketing strategies in the coming times.
Other challenges faced by marketers being sophisticated and efficient ad-blockers, constant search algorithm changes and social newsfeed changes, general reflexive behavior of blocking out in your face and loud commercials; brands today are being forced to realize the importance of subtle and harmonious message placements. Native advertising has already become a trend with brand-sponsored content being created everyday, but given a new phase of innovation driven competition, publishers and advertisers are going to get more creative and entertaining.

Live Video & Video Advertising
With Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – all major social platforms providing live video features, brands no longer need to delay the message delivery process. They can now reach out to their audience instantly, from their exact location, not only giving the brand a sense of legitimacy but also making their consumers a part of the big change/announcement.

Facebook recently announced revenue model for publishers creating video content on Facebook. OTT and VOD models finally made their presence felt in the country last year with Netflix and Amazon investing big in creating regional content. All these are indicators of video marketing becoming the next big ROI driver for Digital Marketers.

Chatbots
Most of our time on phones is spent on messaging or emailing, and it is these hangout zones that companies want to target now by offering us live and personalized conversations with bots. Bots can be built for any number of functions or services and major social and messaging platforms have not only adopted chatbots but are also offering custom solutions for brands willing to go a step further. How Artificial Intelligence can lead to innovation & improved customer service is something companies have only just started to realize. The trend is all set to rise to new & unseen highs this year.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
2016 was a year of mobile revolution with technologies like AR and VR finally becoming a more affordable and implementable reality. It has already started garnering a niche market for itself as more programmers and developers are focusing on creating and offering VR and AR based solutions. Pokemon Go has probably been the most popular application of AR, but what we have experienced so far is only scratching the surface. With technology being used to build sleek and efficient hardware, immersive and engaging games being developed, new content being created by media creators, brands focusing on building unique retail shopping experiences based on VR and AR, the following year is going to be an interesting one for all things in VR and AR.

Apps and Internet of Things
When it comes to digital platforms for marketing, mobile rules. According to eMarketer, of the total digital ad spends, mobile ad spend is likely to see a 30% increase this year as compared to last year. That will be a whopping increase, no doubt.
As of June 2016, Android Play Store had 2.2 million apps while Apple’s App Store had 2 million apps for download. Add to it the Internet of Things and these numbers are only expected to go up. The challenges faced by app marketers have been difficulty in organic discovery on App stores and difficulty preventing uninstalls. However, with the launch of Android Instant Apps that enables users to run an app without even downloading or installing it, the lifespan of an app will become a critical feature. In an already thriving and highly competitive app market, this will no doubt drive the programmers and developers to come up with creative retention based features within the apps, which makes us believe 2017 is going to be the year of innovative applications.