2017 MARKETING BUDGET:

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1 2017 MARKETING BUDGET: 4 Hot Marketing Trends You Should Know About As the end of 2016 fast approaches, it s time to start thinking about the most effective ways to market your business in the coming year, and how much you should set aside for your marketing budget. Regardless of how recognizable you might think your brand is, even the most recognized brands in the world know that they have to continuously market their products and services to stay ahead of the competition. It s true: successful companies never stop marketing. So, how much should you devote to your marketing budget? According to a recent Gartner Research survey, companies spend on average about 10.4% of their annual revenues on marketing. This is just an average, of course, and some companies spend less, while others spend much more. For example START THINKING ABOUT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS IT S TRUE: SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES NEVER STOP MARKETING Apple: 7% Microsoft: 18% Oracle: 20% Twitter: 44% Salesforce: 53% Regardless of how much you plan to devote to your 2017 marketing budget, we have identified 4 hot marketing trends that you need to be aware of as you make your marketing plans for the new year. Give one or more a try we think you ll be very pleased with the results! $

2 TREND 1: STORYTELLING WITH YOUR BRAND Everyone loves a good story, and this is definitely the case for consumers. They want to know why you do what you do, and they want to be inspired and entertained by your story and your brand. People want content faster, shorter, and more engaging, and storytelling with your brand can accomplish all this and more. Storytelling is quickly becoming the heart of social media (Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter have all recently launched storytelling features), and analysts expect sponsored brand storytelling to experience tremendous growth in the future. There is, of course, a right way and a wrong way to do this. Here are some quick tips: DON T BE annoying be fun! Avoid using pop-up ads, YouTube ads, and wait to read this article ads that annoy people instead of engaging them. BE authentic and transparent. BE your brand, and people will talk about you. LISTEN to your customers. What do they want from you? What are they already doing with your brand?(creating memes, for example.) PEOPLE WANT CONTENT FASTER, SHORTER AND MORE ENGAGING, AND STORYTELLING WITH YOUR BRAND CAN ACCOMPLISH ALL THIS AND MORE

3 TREND 2: STORYTELLING WITH YOUR WEBSITE While you may devote a significant part of your marketing budget to storytelling with your brand via social media, don t forget that your website is the perfect place to engage with customers. Many companies both large and small are finding interesting, new ways to bring storytelling to their websites. French automaker Peugeot, for example, has incorporated an interactive graphic novel (telling the story of its HYbrid4 technology) into its website, and Lighthouse Brewing features custom/hand-drawn illustrations in its website that tell the story of its handcrafted beer. Here are some quick tips for storytelling with your website: TELL your unique story starting with your Why. Don t list your merits or accomplishments here save that for your FAQ. THINK about the user experience. When someone first visits your site, what might they be looking for? What questions will they have? Use those questions as links or headers. You ll make them feel heard and like you re in their head. DESIGN for your audience. If you re an art school, your site might use a quirky, illustrated style. If you re a law firm, the style should be buttoned down. What other functions will your user need? Consider adding contact forms, a quoting tool, resource guides, or more. Don t go overboard here keep it simple. DON T FORGET THAT YOUR WEBSITE IS THE PERFECT PLACE TO ENGAGE WITH CUSTOMERS

4 TREND 3: MOBILE OPTIMIZATION According to a recent report, 1.2 billion people access the web from their mobile devices, and 80 percent of all internet users use a smartphone. Not only that, but Mobile users spend more per transaction than people who access the web with their desktop computers. Google search engine results page (SERP) rankings favormobile friendliness. Mobile advertising is underutilized providing smart marketers with an advantage. Because of this shift in online behavior, optimizing your website for mobile ensuring that visitors who access your site from mobile devices have a seamless experience can no longer be ignored or put on the back burner. 1.2 BILLION PEOPLE ACCESS THE WEB FROM THEIR MOBILE DEVICES, AND 80 PERCENT OF ALL INTERNET USERS USE A SMARTPHONE

5 TREND 3 Continued: MOBILE OPTIMIZATION If, however, you re trying to fit way too much into your website about a specific service or product, then it may be time to consider creating a dedicated app for it. In fact, recent studies show that more than half of all the time Americans spend online is done in apps the majority through mobile devices such as smartphones tablets. When optimizing for mobile, make sure that The site is designed for mobile. Consider the sizes of buttons and links, alternatives to hover mode, and other mobilefriendly changes. Pages load quickly. You don t use pop-ups. You don t use Flash. (Instead, consider using HTML5) Titles and meta descriptions are optimized for search. RECENT STUDIES SHOW THAT MORE THAN HALF OF ALL THE TIME AMERICANS SPEND ONLINE IS DONE IN APPS

6 TREND 4: CONTENT MARKETING An increasing number of consumers are becoming skilled at ignoring advertising or, when given the option, they re turning it off altogether. So, how do you market to customers who don t want to be marketed to? Enter content marketing. Content marketing is delivering relevant information to customers that provides them with real value. Instead of selling your customers, you re providing them with a valuable service. According to the Content Marketing Institute, companies on average devoted 28% of their marketing budgets to content marketing. Here are some of the major content marketing trends for 2017: Purpose-driven marketing (your Why). Explain to your customers Why you create your content the deeper purpose of what you do and how it can have a positive effect on them. Video and visual. We are visual creatures, and building a strategy and organization to regularly deliver valuable information to customers through video is key to your content marketing success. Return on Investment (ROI) and measurement. You ve got to know which of your content marketing initiatives are paying off and which aren t. The only way to know is by measuring their ROI. and marketing automation. is still an important tool for content marketing, and Marketing automation is coming on strong. But avoid the temptation to send spam disguised as valuable information.

7 CONCLUSION It s never too early to start planning for the next year. While the amount that companies devote to their marketing budget varies widely, the average is 10.4% of annual revenues. Regardless of how large or small your company is, marketing is a key element for your ongoing growth and success. Storytelling both with your brand and your website is a major marketing trend for 2017, as are mobile optimization and content marketing. As you map out your 2017 marketing budget, make sure that these trends are accounted If you have questions about these and other trends in marketing, contact the advantages team at. We pride ourselves on being on the leading edge of the latest marketing trends, and putting them to work for our clients. $