Rock Socials Top 5 Marketing Predictions for 2018

2017 has come and gone, it has been a massive year for the marketing industry with some huge revolutions, and ground breaking statistics… In 2017, every minute, 4.1 million videos are viewed on YouTube, 1.8 million Snaps are created, and 15,000 GIFs are sent via Messenger.  WOAH!

More than ever, customer centric thinking is no.1 on a brands path to success, and now underlines all marketing micro strategies by brands (think Facebook messenger, tailored product offerings, CRM, virtual reality). We don’t think this way of thinking is going anywhere… 2018 will be about moving the customer relationship to an even deeper and more dynamic level of personalised engagement.

So what does 2018 hold for digital marketing?

1. Mobile’s role will continue grow (yep even more)  

It is estimated that by 2019, nearly will be spent on mobile first marketing tactics (apps and mobile first digital designs)

Why? The time consumers spend on mobile is increasing, and consumers are increasing willing to purchase on mobile. Moreover,  SMS has a higher open rate then email (making them more beneficial from an EDM point of view), and lastly mobile penetration across demographics is on the rise meaning brands can reach a broad audience through a mobile first strategy.

2. Establishing trust with consumers will be a driving goal of marketing campaigns

Never before has the consumer held so much power. With social and mobile technology at fingertips of consumers, reviews and customer satisfaction can make or break a brand, everyday people can voice their opinions to wide audiences, and rally communities to do the same. The power of the consumers has never been higher. The challenge for brands in 2018 will be using  the voice of consumers to their advantage. What’s the secret here? Trust. After all – a once trick wonder marketing campaign may have worked in the 90s, but those days are over…. forming long term relationships with consumers is now instrumental to your brands success.

3. Story telling will be at an all-time high

Think – Do brands create stories? Or do stories create brands? Or is the power of storytelling for brands and branding simply so powerful we can’t even begin to see the end and the beginning? Combine this with the plethora of platforms and technologies brands now have their disposal – think go pro, virtual reality, 360 video, all magnified through viral social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. The bottom line – good stories compel change from consumers. Change in the way they feel, think, act, behave…. And the way they CONSUME ($$$$).

4. Bye bye Pop Ups

Let’s face it, nobody likes pop up ads. While yes –  an eyeball is an eyeball, and increased brand reach is increased brand reach, THEY ARE WAY TOO ANNOYING TO BE WORTH IT. They may be cheap but they come at far greater cost to consumer experience and brands are no longer willing to sell there soul! We can expect the pop-ups to be gradually replaced by better designed and less intrusive cross-device responsive native advertisements

5. The rise of the influencer

Let’s face it, the organic window that brands play in is narrowing, and how are brands responding? Influencer marketing. So why is influencer marketing so successful? Bottom line – it is easier for a brand to spend $15,000 to get in front of a major influences audience in a seemingly native looking way,  then to compete in the ever-growing, ultra competitive, sea of noise of today’s newsfeeds.

2017 was a massive year for digital marketing, and it does not look like the digital marketing landscape is slowing down anytime soon! Above are our top 5 picks for trends we can expect to see in 2018! Who else is as excited as we are to see what pans out? He your fathered twenty children, but only seven survived infancy