2017 has been a year full of growth and change in Digital Marketing. While we have greatly enjoyed what 2017 has had to offer, our experts are beginning to gear up for what could be a very impactful 2018. Our industry experts share their thoughts and predictions across SEO, PPC & Social for the coming year.
SEO
SEO is ever evolving and moving even closer to being an answer engine then ever before. Through AI and machine learning we are seeing search engines put more emphasis on semantics and user experience. As we move into 2018 our SEO team foresees the biggest impact to SEO coming in the form of the mobile-first algorithm update. Simply put, Google’s search index will prioritize mobile sites over desktop versions. The movement to prioritize mobile ahead of desktop is because we live in the mobile era.
Over recent years, and with the growing popularity of smart phones, users are more apt to search on a mobile device than a desktop. This changes the way information is displayed, and the way users digest and interact with content.
Our SEO team also points to the increased use of voice search, and the demand for AI products such as Alexa and Google Assistant, as further support for their prediction. The popularity of voice search directly points to the growing use of mobile devices to complete queries in Google.
PPC
As Adwords evolves several members of our Paid Search team believe that the new beta interface will become the new functioning Adwords platform in 2018. Currently, the new beta platform allows for the use of new features for marketers to take advantage of. In using several of them, including the new promotion extension, we have found some of the new features to be rather effective however; our team believes there is more to come.
This correlates with the roll out of in-market audience for search campaigns. Using this, we are able better target users based on purchase intent. The ability to provide more granular targeting of audiences showing the purchase intent allows for the capture of additional leads.
Social Media
Social Media is going to focus more on the story of brands. The social media team predicts that advertising will involve the evolution of sharing content to sharing content that tells a message through story. This prediction has stemmed from the change in ways users engage with content. As users become more knowledgeable about paid advertisement, marketers are challenged with creating innovative ways to connect through social media.
To demonstrate the way social media marketing is evolving into storytelling, smartinsights.com highlights the strategy used by National Geographic. With 81.7 million followers on Instagram, NatGeo has been changing the way they create compelling content by using gripping hook sentences, instilling a “wow factor”, and ultimately using an image to tell a broader story.
The social media team at Aronson Advertising has begun testing this theory in the way we utilize social to engage with our client’s audiences. By creating content that tells a relatable story that solicits an emotion, we predict users will be more likely to engage.
If you want to hear more about how we at Aronson Advertising are preparing for 2018, connect with us and we’ll share with you how we can better prepare your business for the future of Search.
