Marketing Trends 2017

Summary of 19 Industry Expert Predictions

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The year 2017 is almost here and the Internet is filling

with guides and predictions on what the biggest and
most important focus areas are going to be next year.
To save you the trouble of reading all the myriad of
articles yourself, our dear marketing experts, we
decided to scavenge through the most shared and
read articles.

We plowed through all the variety of marketing arenas from

content and social marketing to marketing technology,
analytics and organisational transformation, to find and
establish the ultimate summary for marketing trends 2017.
All in all, 21 marketing trends articles from 19 different
authors and experts were read, dissected, analysed and
summarized for your convenience. You can call it our little
data-backed way of wishing you a Happy New Year!

Here are, in order, the top 10 marketing trends for next year
as rated by the number of times they were mentioned in
the best rated articles by Google (altogether, 26 trends
were identified – see the end of the article for a full list and
sources).
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TOP10 Marketing Trends for 2017

Based on the number of times they were mentioned in the best Google ranking articles of
2017 marketing trends in the areas of advertising, marketing technology, analytics and
organisational transformation. All together 26 different marketing trends were identified.
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Trend Nr 1.
The Rise of Marketing Cloud, Automation and
Predictive Analytics
The Rise of Marketing Cloud, Automation and 5

Predictive Analytics
Different marketing technologies and tools continue to play a
huge role in 2017 and they will also be applied more
holistically. For instance, predictive analytics may act as a
crystal ball to forecast sales and trends, but also help in
determining the best marketing mix (such as content,
promotions and channels).

Marketing automation also continues to extend beyond

sending automated e-mails. Marketing cloud solutions (e.g. by
Adobe, Salesforce or Oracle) further help to manage the array
of these different tools and their gathered data in one place.

Our own 2017 will start with a blast in the predictive analytics
arena as well, with our new proprietary conversion
modelling engine launch at Superweek 2017 conference
in January.

Total mentions: 11
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Trend Nr 2.
Shorter Messages and More Focus on Video
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Shorter Messages and More Focus on Video

Our short attentions spans are not expected to grow in
2017 either (so great job on making it to this second
point!). Quickly digestible messages and information
continue to rule. Additionally, messages that are
available for a short period such as live content or
content in Snap create “in the moment” experiences for
consumers also in 2017.

Live, even interactive, video streaming is also predicted

to become more significant, and all in all, video appears
to be the go-to medium of 2017 for many marketers. 360
videos, Snap vertical videos, vlogs, 99% of younger
Finnish consumers watching YouTube… loads of
fascinating possibilities for video marketing in 2017!

Total mentions: 9
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Trend Nr 3.
Larger and Faster Focus on Marketing ROI
(MMM, Attribution, Multi-touch Attribution,
Conversion Optimisation)
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Larger and Faster Focus on Marketing ROI (MMM,
Attribution, Multi-touch Attribution, Conversion
Optimisation)
The year 2017 also more strongly connects marketing to
measurable business objectives and takes the factors of “intuition”
or “gut feeling” out of the equation. For instance, attribution or
Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) help to tie the effect of different
marketing initiatives, touch points or channels to e.g. sales or
conversions. This type of data-focused view on determining
marketing’s effectiveness is a must for knowing what works and
what doesn’t.

Finland is still a relative backwater in advanced marketing

measurement usage by companies (the penetration is lowest in
Nordics), even though our recent research on the main
challenges of CEOs and CMOs in Finland in data driven
marketing lists measuring marketing as the Nr 1 challenge they
have. There are thankfully trailblazers the like of McDonald’s
whose CMO’s thoughts on using Marketing Mix Modelling as a
tool you can read and see here.

Total mentions: 8
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Trend Nr 4.
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Chat-
bots and Voice
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Chat- 11

bots and Voice

As human-like robots have been the TV
sensation of 2016, it makes sense that machine
learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are also one
of the hot topics for 2017.

Machine learning and AI continue to make systems

smarter leading to e.g. more accurate predictions –
and eventually even autonomous behaviour and
adaptation. In 2017, chatbots and other virtual
assistants are also expected to become more
popular e.g. in offering better customer service.

With the help of AI and/or machine learning,

chatbots may know the customer’s personal
preferences and engage in one-to-one interactions.
In addition to chat-based communication, voice
activation is also predicted to become more
prominent in 2017.

Total mentions: 7
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Trend Nr 5.
Big Data and Marketing Analytics
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Big Data and Marketing Analytics

Big data continues to be a buzz word in 2017. Big
data skills and the abilities to draw insights from
the huge amounts of available data through
marketing analytics to solve business challenges
and optimize marketing efforts is what makes or
breaks the success of a marketer.

Making sense of data through data

visualization is also predicted to become a norm
in 2017. What remains a hurdle for a wider
scale data analytics are data silos, or the back
end, unless fixing the basics is a part of your
process.

Total mentions: 7
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Trend Nr 6.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
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Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

The summer of 2016 will go down in history as

the wild summer of Pokémon chasing. Although
the biggest hype on Pokémon Go has passed,
its success demonstrated a huge consumer
interest towards augmented reality as well as its
potential to marketers.

In 2017, virtual and augmented reality are

expected to bring even more immersive
experiences and be embraced by more and
more brands.

Total mentions: 7
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Trend Nr 7.
A New Degree of Personalisation
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A New Degree of Personalisation

Consumers are increasingly starting to assume
that companies know them and expect
personalised service.

Marketing automation tools help to collect

data from different customer touchpoints and
create a coherent, single view of the customer –
although this is often easier said than done.

Targeting consumers (with personalized

messages) at the exact right moment e.g. based
on their location or real-time online
behaviour is also significant in 2017.

Total mentions: 6
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Trend Nr 8.
Democratisation of Analytics and Analytical
Tools
Democratisation of Analytics and Analytical 19

Tools
In 2017 there will be more and more analytical tools available for companies and marketers of all sizes e.g. due to lower
prices and easier integrations. Some examples for (smaller) businesses include using analytical tools for identifying sales
leads or cost-efficiently experimenting with A/B testing, or in the context of retails as seen in this retail technology research
report (behind the bump).

We have written previously on what we see as one of the most important trend for companies to act on in order for them to
take a full advantage of the potential data, analytics and technology bring to their grasp. The democratisation of analytics for
wider organisational use is that. You can read our thoughts on the topic from e.g. here and here.

Total mentions: 5
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Trend Nr 9.
Omni-channel and Cross-device Marketing
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Omni-channel and Cross-device Marketing

Creating seamless customer experiences (and measuring
their impact!) between different devices and customer
touchpoints interest marketers also in 2017.

For instance, in-store mobile use is frequent as people look

for product reviews or try to decide what to cook for dinner
while in the supermarket, and e.g. location-based alerts
may be used to aid or influence these in-store decision-
making processes.

In the future, omni-channel and cross-device marketing will

most likely become even more important due to wearable
devices and IoT.

Total mentions: 5
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Trend Nr 10.
Acquisition of New Skillsets – War on Talent
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Acquisition of New Skillsets – War on Talent

As the past nine marketing trends for 2017 have
shown, being a marketer is not a cakewalk. Finding
competent talents who know how to make the most
of the available data and technologies as well as
turn marketing strategies into reality are the key that
unlocks success.

Predictions for 2017 also suggest that marketing

and HR departments will collaborate more together
e.g. through employer branding to attract the best
people.

Annalect’s range of specialists is also here to help

you tackle any marketing challenges for 2017 – our
solutions are from marketers to marketers.

Total mentions: 5
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Altogether, We Found 26 Marketing Trends

Mentioned More Than Once
After analysis of the marketing trends articles, we clustered the predicted marketing
trends into groups that have enough similarities in their content. This resulted in a
list of 26 marketing trends for 2017.

All 26 Marketing Trends For 2017 We Identified
Artificial intelligence, machine
learning, chatbots and voice
Ads focus into Google and Facebook
platforms
Data visualization becomes the norm
Increased investment in location-
based marketing (shopper/instore,
ecommerce platform)
Marketing cloud, automation and
predictive analytics
Omni-channel and cross-device
Virtual reality, augmented reality
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Acquisition of new skillsets – war on
Account-based marketing Ad blockers become more popular
talent
Convergence of organizational
Agile marketing / growth hacking
Big data and marketing analytics functions (IT, marketing, development,
becomes more widespread
HR)
Dedicated apps Democratisation of analytical tools Explosion of programmatic
Larger and faster focus on marketing
IoT driven data applications ROI (MMM, attribution, multi-touch Livestreaming on social
attribution, conversion optimization)
Maturing content marketing programs Mobile ad revenue increases
New degree of personalisation
+ native advertising exponentially
Shorter messages and more focus on
Rapid innovation and experimentation User experience in focus
video
Wearable tech
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Trend Sources:

Smart Insights,Aj Agraval /Forbes,The Drum,EditorEye / Catalyst Tracking,Marketing Land,Digital Transformation / Futurum Research,Marketing Trends / Futurum
Research,Tech Target,Gartner,KPCB, DMA,Click Rain,Circle S Studio,Walker Sands,Econsultancy,Content Marketing Institute,Social Trends / AudienceBloom,Online
Trends /AudienceBloom,Search Engine Watch,Shout Me Loud,Jun Group.

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