What Pros Say About 2017.
Did you know that 2016 had the worst start to a year ever? Yet, the stock market surged to new highs during the year, with all the major indexes rebounding to records and defying the doomsday forecasts that preceded events like Brexit and President-elect Donald Trump’s election. For this year, no strategist at a top Wall Street firm forecasts that the bull market will end. Many expect America’s largest companies to return to earnings growth, and to see other benefits from Trump’s promises to cut taxes and ease regulations.
Here’s what some of the pros are saying about 2017:
Emergence of Hybrid Cloud and Multi-Platform
As users need more and more access to their data on the go, cloud will emerge as the primary model with an accelerated move. Organizations will use a hybrid approach of cloud and on-premises data and not keep their data in just one location anymore.
Cybersecurity
With the growth of financial and budget planning applications, hackers will get more chances to test security of the digital wallet. There will be increased attacks against applications, digital wallets, plugins, and the companies holding authentication data allowing access to these digital currency streams. There will be increased pervasiveness of new payment methodologies such as Apple Pay, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. With increased adoption of each of these technologies, the potential windfall from a dedicated attacker will also increase. Soon, it will be more than enough to attract organized criminals who previously flocked to the banking Trojans of the past
Social Media Marketing
With the rise of Google’s AI learning and a shift towards user experience, you can expect changes to web design and the way webpages are ranked in search engines. How a user interacts and experiences your web page can either halt a transaction or create momentum to push your business past your competitors. Think in terms of adaptability and do just that: adapt. Study heat maps and evaluate and improve your areas of weak interaction.
Video
2017 will have video everywhere and businesses need to keep up. This includes Facebook Live, Snapchat, YouTube, video series and more.
Social Media for Sales
You can now buy and sell through your own website, Facebook and even Instagram through third party apps. This is great for start-ups and those who don’t have the resources for an ecommerce store. Utilize this to your benefit. Understand the importance of having your own website. Read this post for more information.
Offline Marketing and Selling
We’ve reached the point where traditional retailers and landlords are designing spaces specifically for brands that want to continue to own this direct experience with the customer. Direct to Consumer brands will continue to move offline both in terms of marketing and physical selling in order to create omni-channel experiences. Expect to see major innovation in the physical retail model largely driven by this need.
Start-Ups
On-demand services will improve access to new start-ups, and this is a good chance for you to benefit from the opportunity. The small business of 2017 will take total advantage of the path paved by other small businesses and start-ups to make them more efficient and be able to go from idea to job with a small, but mighty team. Because of the ease of getting your business started, with everything from on-demand legal services, website creation, automated financial software, marketing tips and tools and more, businesses will be more easily able to be operated by just one or two people.
Targeted Spending
Algorithms are increasingly limiting the percentage of your own audience that sees your posts. Reaching users the old-fashioned way on social media is no longer going to make the cut. In 2017, businesses should start investing a portion of their marketing budgets into native ads and promoted posts to successfully reach audiences. It can be highly targeted, plus it’s easy to track return on investment in terms of views and clicks.
Digital Advertising
One major trend is the surge in digital ad prices, which can be particularly straining on small companies that may not have the money or resources to invest in digital advertising. Enrol for our free one hour session to understand this and know how to save money.
