Social media has come to dominate the marketing landscape:  83% of marketers say they’ve used online platforms to boost the perception of their organisations. Here are eight trends to watch for as social media continues to mature in 2017:

• Live-streaming video
• Chatbots becoming more common
• More short-lived social content
• Merging of social platforms
• Less organic traffic from social
• Virtual and augmented reality applications
• More personalised and relevant content
• Increased reliance on social media influencers

Emotion can be very powerful when trying to reach an audience, and it can be boosted by linking it with the way memory affects human behaviour. It’s not easy to be effective with the ever-increasing mobile audience, but emotion (building trust) can contribute to a more meaningful relationship between a brand and a consumer. Read more about the ways to activate brains in a mobile world.

Ad blocking is a rising trend  and over the last year (in particular) the conversation around ad blocking has increased significantly. That is largely due to the fact that ad blocking has moved away from a fringe practice, adopted by only tech-savvy individuals, to the mainstream, where it is easily accessible and readily adopted. What do marketers need to know about ad blocking in order to ensure that marketing efforts and, equally importantly, their ad spend are not wasted?

Marketers are increasingly turning to social media networks. But what impact do tweets and other recommendations have on sales, and how can companies get a bigger return on their investments in these important channels? Research shows that consumers who use search engines to gain some initial knowledge of a product are also more likely to tune in to social media before a purchase. Companies that spend effectively on search-engine optimization can expect to benefit from a greater social-media impact, as well.

It’s important that you weigh your goals against the reason why you’re buying traffic. What are the pros and cons of this? Does it negatively affect your SEO? Will it drive any conversions? Read on for some insight.

Trending hashtags present a real opportunity for marketers and can work out brilliantly with a bit of cleverness and creativity. However, using the wrong hashtag for the wrong reason, i.e. for the purposes of marketing, can backfire spectacularly and result in harm to the brand’s reputation.  Here’s Jimmy Fallon’s take for fun!

Marketing can easily get stuck in the weeds of executing plans, fire-fighting unexpected dilemmas, and jumping on new ideas. “Strategic” simply means something is directly aimed at achieving what a whole organization, system, or venture depends upon. It’s steering the ship, future-oriented, and widely empowering. Read more about the ways that Marketing can increase strategic impact in your company.

Above The Line (ATL) and Below The Line (BTL) advertising are two terms that are bandied around a lot in the advertising world and often have the lay person confused as to what they stand for.

Above The Line (ATL) advertising is where mass media is used to promote brands and reach out to the target consumers. These include conventional media: television and radio advertising, print as well as internet. This is communication that is targeted to a wider spread of audience, and is not specific to individual consumers.

Below the line (BTL) advertising is more one to one, and involves the distribution of pamphlets, handbills, stickers, promotions, brochures placed at point of sale, on the roads through banners and placards. It could also involve product demos and samplings at busy places like malls and market places or residential complexes.

Your landing pages are designed to drive conversions. But with so much noise, and what can sometimes feel like guesswork, your landing page conversions might not be as strong as you had hoped. Keep these  best practices  in mind next time you create a landing page that drives new conversions from a campaign.

Customers’ expectations around speed have changed enormously since social media first emerged 14 years ago, enabling instant, global interconnectivity.  Read how this trend impacts the way we shape our social media strategy.