2017 is going to be an extraordinary year for technology. And that’s going to make it an incredible year for new forms of marketing. Five platforms will move increasingly into the mainstream over the next twelve months, and each one of them promises a revolution in engagement, reach and market-building.
The challenge for businesses and brands won’t be whether to use them but which of them to use first, and how to make the most of them. Fortunately, there are number of experts who are already experimenting, testing, and helping others to find their way to peak effectiveness fast.
1. Live Video Marketing
After rolling out Facebook Live to everyone at the start of last April and after Twitter’s purchase of Periscope the year before, live video experienced a sudden explosion at the end of 2016. Twitter finally made Periscope a part of its mobile app, allowing anyone to broadcast from their phones directly to their Twitter audiences. At the same time, Instagram introduced its own version of live video, offering audiences immediate content that lasts only as long as the broadcast.
Brands now have three ways to deliver live video, a format with the kind of built-in urgency and two-way communication that other content just can’t match. Marketers need to know what to broadcast, for how long, using which tools and the best ways to engage audiences.
The leading expert in live video marketing is Joel Comm. He’s been using live video since 2008 and teaches brands, businesses and associations how to increase sales and grow a customer base using all the main platforms. As a guy who has been building businesses online since selling a site to Yahoo! In 1998, Joel’s keynotes and workshops are packed with content and his unique brand of engagingly authentic humor.
2. Snapchat
Snapchat didn’t have the most promising start for marketers. A platform whose biggest feature was the ability for teenagers to send each other rude pictures without their parents knowing would always have limited appeal to marketers. But since cleaning up its image, and introducing Stories, a feature that knits posts together and keeps them available for longer, brands have taken notice.
The platform promises access to a young audience that has an incentive to stop by daily to en sure that they never miss content from their favorite producer. It’s engaging, rewarding and urgent, but it takes time to master and understand. Carlos Gil, a former Senior Social Marketing Manager for LinkedIn, is the guy to guide you through it.
3. Instagram
In 2016, Instagram felt like a giant coming out of a long sleep. After spending too long resting on its Facebook resources and its status as the most popular image-sharing platform, it finally realized that Snapchat had been quietly munching its lunch. In one year, Facebook’s property added Stories, enhanced them with links, mentions and Boomerang, and introduced live video. What used to be a pretty good place for users to share pictures of their lunch — and retail brands to show pictures of their products — has become a real platform for telling stories, building urgency and creating interaction. It’s a whole new Instagram.
Marketing veteran Chris Kubbernus walks the walk in his own use of Instagram and is fully qualified to lead you through the platform’s transformation.
4. 360-Degree Video
While Twitter and Instagram were launching their live video features, Facebook was already launching the next wave: live 360-degree video. As audiences watch a video, they’re able to look around them, dragging the image with a mouse or turning while holding their device. It’s a whole new level of immersion.
For businesses who want to deepen their audiences’ experiences, that extra level brings real value. Behind-the-scenes shoots can become “behind-you” shoots as well. Viewers no longer need to sit and watch; they can stand and use. Ryan Steinolfson, the CEO and founder of Accelerate Marketing, built his name with Periscope but he’s now teaching brands to show audiences what’s happening all around them.
5. Virtual Reality
What all these improvements are aiming for is deeper and deeper immersion. Whether they’re broadcasting to an audience live, in 360 degrees, sharing temporary posts on Snapchat or building stories on Instagram, brands want audiences to feel as though they’re right there with them. Nothing does that more than virtual reality.
With the increasing take-up of Facebook’s own Oculus Rift, of HTC Vive, Sony Playstation VR and even Google Cardboard, virtual reality is going to drop audiences right in the middle of experiences created by smart marketers. It’s a whole new world, and Ryan Anderson Bell is your guide. Founder of the Summit.live annual events focused on the live video community, Ryan now works with VRScout to help the creator community get the most out of virtual reality.