In all digital industries, a lot can change over 12 months. 2016 saw the rise of Instagram adverts, fake news and live streaming. Here’s our predictions for the coming year.
1. Big data for small successes
As big data becomes more and more accessible, we predict this year will see the rise of big data interpretation tools as brands learn what big data actually is and its value. Think about it – if a business knows the characteristics of their customers and big data can track what certain types of people do online and on their phones, it’s a match made in heaven.
If you’re interested in tipping your toe in this huge ocean, we suggest starting with Google Trends, remembering to refine searches for your chosen marketplace i.e. country.
2. Social algorithms & fake news
The whispers amongst digital marketers regarding last year’s changes to Facebook and Instagram algorithms caused much distress. With the clarity of a new year, the confusion around algorithms can be distilled down to one sweeping goal for both the Facebook and Instagram team – making the content people want to see the first they see. Social platforms will be upping their game here with international calls for a cull of untrue news reports after, well, 2016…
Remember the primary goal of these social platforms is always to retain users, therefore reducing spam-like content on your newsfeed is key. So what does this mean for marketing? Yes, paid ads will get better, targeted results. But for small brands, they need to be prepared to make epic content that people actively share. So what’s so game-changing? The rise of HD video content, the value placed on shared content and the reduced value in frequency. Get ready for platform-specific strategies focused on quality over quantity.
For an update on social algorithms, go digging in Facebook/Instagram’s business section.
3. Keyword Clusters will be all the rage
Gone are they days where ‘specialists’ would ram your website with one keyword over, and over. Keyword clustersrefer to groups of keywords with similar attributes. They’ve been around for a long-time and make up an important component to Google’s search algorithms. Simplified, these recognised groups allow Google to analyse pages by topics, not individual search terms.
We predict 2017 will see an increase in knowledge about keyword clusters. This will be aided by new tools aimed to simplify the SEO analysis process. These tools allow people without expert knowledge to understand how their brand is, and could be, viewed on Google organically.
Our favourite keyword cluster-buster tool is TopVisor
