Top 5 Online Business Predictions in 2017

Top 5 Online Business Predictions in 2017
Business owners need to move at the speed of technology to keep up with the forever changing landscape of web, mobile and social media trends. Doing business online in 2017, makes this a very exciting time to be alive. These top 5 online business predictions in 2017 will help to guide your business down the correct path.

Online advertising alone has made the TV of today look like the radio of yesterday. Not since Google AdWords in 2005 has online advertising been so incredibly cheap, while also offering the largest target audiences, and metrics to trend the success of your campaigns. TV can’t touch this! Not to mention, why be stuck into a costly 30 second commercial, when you can push out endless video content that gains huge influencers at little to no cost. Depending on who your target audience is… Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and/or LinkedIn are where you need to be. But this is something that I will unpack into much greater detail in future articles. So, for now….

Let’s check out the top 5 online business predictions in 2017:

1.) By 2020, 100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality – Gartner predicts that by the end of 2017, one in five leading global retail brands, or 20%, will be using augmented reality (AR) as an integral technology supporting the shopping experience. The potential to significantly improve up-sell and cross-sell rates are evident, as is the opportunity to provide customers with the option of trying on clothing or sampling makeup virtually before buying.

2.) Super fast mobile browsing via AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) – The AMP Project is an open-source initiative aiming to make the web better for all. The project enables the creation of websites and ads that are consistently fast, beautiful and high-performing across devices and distribution platforms. Web pages and ads published in the AMP open-source format load near instantly, giving users a smooth, more engaging experience on mobile and desktop.

3.) Mobile will continue to outpace desktop usageMobile and desktop web use reached 51.72 to 48.28 in December 2016 according to StatCounter. It took a little longer than many predicted, but mobile growth will not stop. The primary reason is mobile devices have become a disruptive technology in places where the PC revolution never took place. Billions of people in Asia and Africa for example are trading on smartphones in ways which are implausible in the Western world. Mobile use will be close to 60% by the end of 2017.

4.) Investment in mobile customer experience (CX) will increase – In 2016, the customer experience gap grew. It’s expected that by 2020 customer experience will take the place of price and product as they key brand differentiator. As companies try to create a CX that sets them apart from the competition, 2017 is only going to see the CX trend continue.

Why? Because great customer experiences drive revenue and retention.

According to a Walker study, 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience.

Customer experience on mobile will be of particular interest to companies this year. Mobile is arguably the centerpiece to all CX strategies, because it is where the customer journey starts.

5.) Live streaming on social media – Video content is sent online in a compressed format and in real-time to viewers. The applications are practically endless! A true online marketers dream. Live streaming allows anyone with a smartphone and a data connection to become their own broadcasting network. Use it as a window to give your customers a glimpse into your business and the people working there. Launch new products with exclusive offers to platform viewers. Broadcast from a conference or other big event so that others can share in the experience. And the list goes on….

Live Streaming Platforms:

The most notable live streaming features and services today are Periscope, Meerkat, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live.

Periscope

Twitter-owned and run, this platform is standalone but integrates very seamlessly with Twitter. It has more than 10 million users, more than two million of which log in daily. There have been 200 million hours of broadcasted video to date with roughly 350,000 hours per day. The service lets users live stream from their mobile devices and push out those streams on Twitter.

Facebook Live

Facebook offering a live streaming feature is really not surprising at all. The company is notorious for trying just about anything to get more users and generate more revenue. However, it’s what Facebook can do to continue that success that will make the real difference in the long run.

What started as a feature in Facebook Mentions has now been opened up to everyone on Facebook, including brand’s Pages. Facebook Pages can now use their own equipment and encoders to broadcast live right into the page’s stream and to all its users.

By establishing an easy to find and use “Go Live” button on new posts and Snapchat live functions to style it just so you like it and the ability to save what’s streamed for all time, Facebook Live has combined all the best of other social media networks and brought it to its more than one billion users in one place.

Instagram Live

Since Instagram announced its live streaming feature in November 2016, Instagram has slowly been rolling out the service to its users in various parts of the world. As of late January this year, Instagrammers around the world have begun to use the feature.

Starting a broadcast from Instagram is easy enough. Just swipe right from the home page, or tap the camera icon on the top left. Then swipe right again to go into Live mode, or press “Start Live Video.” To see what people are recording at any time, go to the Explore panel by tapping the magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen. Popular videos will be shown in the top row with badges that say “Live.”

YouTube Live

The birthplace of video, YouTube has continued its quest to bring video of all kinds to its more than one billion users. With YouTube Live, the company can utilize its expansive creator and advertising network to generate even more video to be hosted and monetized. YouTube makes it incredibly easy to aim, shoot and post.

In addition, the network is targeting broadcasting deals that were once reserved only for major TV networks. In 2016 YouTube signed a deal to live stream the UEFA Champions League finals. Last month YouTube announced it’s new live TV service, YouTube TV. The service is fairly low-cost, with a family of six accounts available for $35 per month, and no long-term contract required.

Final Thoughts

Will these 5 predictions hold true and continue to drive the future of what businesses will do online through out 2017? I truly believe so, but only time will tell. It’s safe to say though, that until VR (Virtual Reality) technology matures and officially becomes mainstream – the smartphone in your pocket is going to continue driving the future innovations of how we communicate, buy, sell, grow our businesses, game, and so much more.

 

 

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