1.
Each year, we ask the top influencers in digital
marketing and PR to give us their take on what’s
going to shape the industry in the coming year

2.
For 2018, we took these predictions a step further and identified some
emerging trends using social listening.
These trends are discussed in some corners of the industry already, but
we’ll predict they’ll get a lot more airtime next year.

3.
Are you ready?
Here are the top emerging trends for 2018

4.
1Driving word-of-mouth at scale by activating brand champions
like employees, customers and partners
ADVOCACY
MARKETING

5.
Joanne Sweeney-Burke
@tweetsbyJSB
CEO of the Digital Training Institute.
Advocacy marketing is a tactic that will rocket brands into a new digital
stratosphere if they can leverage the power of their online community.
Mobile will continue to dominate search but conversions on mobile will
also increase because of advocacy marketing. You also need to consider
how you are encouraging your customers to advocate for you – are
there review snippets on products on your website, are you managing
reviews on your social networks?
Advocacy marketing is powerful if managed correctly. So, in the era of
increasing social advocacy, ignore this tactic at your peril.

6.
2Ahead of GDPR, brands look to deliver relevant campaigns to
audience segments without exposing individual identities
PERSONIFICATION

7.
Personification is part of a series of trends surrounding
data protection and privacy. As people are starting to
become more conscious of what happens to their data
and more selective about who can use it, expect to see
Personification as part of a bigger conversation about
brands using personal data in 2018.

8.
3The rise of rich media formats enables more immersive
shopping experiences across earned, owned and paid
SHOPPABLE
MEDIA

9.
Adel de Meyer
@AdeldMeyer
New Media Specialist - Author - Mentor - Speaker and Brand Influencer.
Close the gap between engagement and purchase. Lessen
the friction between your content and your products.
Turn your website and marketing channels into a great
digital experience that captures the consumer right at
the moment they were delighted by your content, moving
away from the dull and dated eCommerce environment.
This will make, or could potential break brands in 2018.

10.
4Optimizing content for voice-led search behavior as adoption
of Alexa, Siri and other Intelligent Agents (IAs) is spreading
VOICE
SEARCH

11.
Gini Dietrich
@ginidietrich
CEO of Arment Dietrich and founder and author of Spin Sucks.
With the Facebook algorithm continuing to change—and rumors you
will no longer be able to link to external content—paid social media is
going to be even bigger for distribution in 2018. As well, Alexa, Siri, and
Cortana have created more and more voice search, which will continue
to increase (as we get lazier) in 2018 and beyond.
This means paid search will have to be part of a content marketer’s
toolbox next year. The coveted top three spots in search results will be
the goal for just about every organization. Paid social, paid search, and
paying attention to the search results the personal assistants return
are top of my list!

12.
Just as paid is changing as a result of changing search
behavior, content formats continue to change as well.
Creating experiences that last will be key in 2018.

13.
More Content Creators
Move Towards Shows

14.
Andrew and Pete
@AndrewAndPete
Creative Content Marketing Duo who help solopreneurs and small businesses to create insanely shareable content.
As people’s expectations for high quality content goes up, more creators will
move towards creating ‘shows’. We’re defining shows here as a season or
series of content with an ongoing narrative between episodes.
One-off thought leadership pieces or how-to videos are all well and good but
there’s no reason to come back, there’s no reason to subscribe for more, and
there’s not enough time to let people into your journey and get behind you
with a strong sense of loyalty.
In a world overwhelmed with content, trust and attention are your two most
valuable assets, and ‘shows’ allow you to build buckets of that over time -
creating loyal fans who will keep coming back to you and talking about you.

15.
5Paid media is at a crossroads as big brands demand transparency
and threaten to slash digital ad budgets
AD FRAUD &
FAKE NEWS

16.
Sarah Hall
@Hallmeister
Founder of #FuturePRoof, agency owner and President-Elect of the CIPR.
Scrutiny of the social media platforms is set to increase in 2018 and
we’ll see greater pressure on the major players to monitor content
for relevance and suitability. Public relations practitioners MUST
factor in the potential negative impact on reputation where brand
misplacement occurs.
Fake news will remain a constant on the media agenda, especially
where the dissemination of propaganda is concerned, and those in the
industry will increasingly face calls to find a way to slow the rate of
growth in contentious content online. Expect a lot more on this to come.

17.
6Augmented reality ads on social pave the way for brands to create
immersive engagement and experiences
AR ADS
ON SOCIAL

18.
AR has been booming for years.
Apple is giving developers new tools to facilitate AR app experiences,
Instagram has released 3D filters and Snapchat’s dancing 3D hot dog
has been viewed over two billion times. Networks are developing new AR
features at lightning speed.
In 2018, ads that stand out will incorporate augmented reality.

19.
7Direct interaction with automated bots helps brands build
a more tailored experience based on customer needs
CHATBOTS

20.
Sam Hurley
@Sam___Hurley
Owner of Optim-eyez branding and influencer marketing agency and leading marketing influencer.
Conversational commerce is still relatively primal — yet with the constant
advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), 2018 is set to be a year of greater
uptake. Chatbots will be launched by many brands, large and small.
I believe this technology will rapidly develop to be widespread in all other
key social platforms, as automated (yet intelligent) chat becomes a staple in
business efficiency and engagement.
Remember: Chatbots aren’t just for e-commerce purposes. Next year, more
B2B brands will follow this trend to maximize their operational effectiveness.
Chatbots are the missing link between scalable social, lead nurturing and
sales.

21.
Dave Chaffey
@DaveChaffey
Co-founder and Content Director, SmartInsights.com
It will be interesting to see how many more brands use chatbots to
enhance engagement, service and encourage sales via social media.
Chatbots are an example of a broader trend which Forrester and
Gartner call Conversational UX (User Experience), which includes
the increasing adoption of the different Home appliances starting
with Amazon Echo/Alexa and followed this year by Apple, Google
and Microsoft all launching solutions. We’ll see how these are used
to support more social interactions and perhaps Facebook will
launch a competing solution.

22.
8AI is promising to deliver more contextual and personalized
content and campaigns, but adoption takes time
AI & MACHINE
LEARNING

23.
AI has been the talk of the town for quite a while now. But while there’s a lot
(a lot!) to be excited about, AI is changing marketing fundamentally - and
that takes time.
Many marketers are still unsure where to start, but 2018 is the year that will
make it easier for teams to start reaping the benefits of this hot trend.

24.
9Content formats will evolve further, as video is expected to account
for more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic in 2021
VIDEO

25.
Michael Stelzner
@Mike_Stelzner
CEO and Founder of Social Media Examiner.
Facebook becomes MAJOR player in video. Facebook will become a major
competitor to YouTube.
In 2017, Facebook kicked off the Facebook Watch rollout for select creators (their
TV-like option within Facebook). In 2018, we’ll see that program expand to all
people and pages on Facebook. We’ll also likely see Facebook roll out new features
for video creators that’ll make it far easier to get exposure and be discovered.
This could include preferential Facebook News Feed exposure for original native
video, generous revenue share deals, and the eventual roll out of a dedicated video
app. We also might see Facebook negotiate traditional television deals or even start
its own cable television network. If you’re a video creator, watch this space closely!

26.
10A combination of real time analytics and marketing automation means
brands can connect faster with buyers on social
REAL TIME
MARKETING

27.
Joanne Sweeney-Burke
@tweetsbyJSB
CEO of the Digital Training Institute.
A successful news-jacking campaign can produce enormous results
in terms of increased website traffic and brand positioning. But social
monitoring is required to ensure you have your index finger on the
pulse of what’s making news and what’s captivating the interest of the
Internet nation.
Choose your news-jacking opportunities wisely and always ask
yourself, ‘is it right for my brand to step into this conversation and
right now?’ You don’t want to damage your brand with a misjudged
news-jacking that backfires!

28.
In a profession that continues to reinvent itself,
trends are an essential part of marketing.
We hope you enjoyed our 2018 trends predictions and would
love to hear what you have to say in the comments!

29.
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it with your colleagues or your networks.
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30.
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