Trends for 2018 (3rd in a series)

The start of a new year is an excellent time to look ahead to major trends affecting your industry and seek out new opportunities to grow your business. As part of our series of trends our teams sees in various aspects of marketing/advertising, here are 5 marketing trends that business leaders should take into consideration as they plan for 2018:

The need for content marketing distribution has never been greater.

As brands and marketers increasingly rely on content marketing as a major part of their marketing strategies and produce more content of their own (as they should), it's becoming harder to cut through the noise and grab your audience's attention before your competitors do.

The solution to that problem isn't to create content at an even faster pace. Instead, you've got to think about how you can distribute your content better than anyone else in your space. This goes beyond social shares, especially as Facebook's organic reach is dropping significantly. Particularly in 2018, it’s going to be crucial to put together a comprehensive content distribution strategy to get your message to the right people when they need it most.

Video content is here to stay.

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a hundred times: Video isn’t going anywhere. 55% of people consume video content thoroughly, and by 2020, online videos will account for more than 80 percent of all consumer internet traffic. Bringing video content into your marketing strategy might seem like a big undertaking, but you can (and probably should) start small. It doesn’t have to be the sole focus of your budget or even the biggest portion of it to be valuable.

Public relations and content marketing are aligning.

In the past, PR and content marketing would have been separate departments with separate budgets based on different goals. If you read some of the recent content marketing books, you'll see that brands are starting to realize that they share goals between the two, and they're making PR and marketing alignment a major objective.

Voice search is on the rise.

Hey, Siri: Is it true that typing a search query is becoming a thing of the past? As a matter of fact, more consumers are going off-screen and relying on voice-activated personal assistants to search for information, with some analysts estimating that as much as 50 percent of all searches will be conducted through voice by 2020. Your marketing messages need to be crafted with voice search in mind, which means targeting long-tail keywords and featured snippets.

Chatbots are emerging to help brands in all industries.

The great news about chatbots is they’re not directing users away from the social platforms they’re already on, such as Facebook Messenger. This enables marketers to meet their audience where they are already consuming content. In fact, brands in different spaces, from National Geographic to Whole Foods, are already implementing this. Plus, the barrier to entry here is low, so consider testing a chatbot with your own team. There are some free tools out there to help you get started, and you can obviously put some budget dollars behind other tools for different experiences. This simple investment can help you quickly engage your audience and nurture a more personalized relationship that keeps them coming back.

In Summary:

As the menu of marketing tactics becomes longer and more diverse, marketers are challenged to consider their budget and strategy from every angle. With these trends in mind, there’s no doubt 2018 will be one of the most interesting years for marketing yet. What new developments have affected your budget for 2018? Let me know your thoughts on the trends that are on your radar.

TRENDS FOR 2018 (2ND IN A SERIES)

In the 2nd post of our series on trends that will influence and impact the creative, advertising and marketing space in 2018, we're looking at trends in "photography".

As with most things “marketing”, the category of “photography” sees change each year… in both technology & equipment as well as how creative pros execute their ideas. Below are some of the trends our research shows will be dominant in the field of photography in 2018.

Real Images (i.e. “unfiltered")

Again, in a world where you can easily fix flaws using filters, people have wanted to trigger their capabilities by doing clean photos that are not filtered, and this is a trend that will show up in 2018 as more photographers look for ways to produce real images that are not passed through editing apps to make adjustments. Doing photos inspired by filters makes many feel as if their capabilities are below par or not within the required standards to guarantee the production of high quality photos, and that’s why photographers are shifting to investing in quality equipment that will help them come up with good raw photos so they will not need to pass them through apps to add filters.

Natural Design

The contrast between digital and real has continued to pick pace, and natural looks are offsetting tech-inspired styles. Many are clamoring for authentic natural design, which comes raw and made with no sharp tech-driven edges. Expect to see more rich patterns that are timeless, including things like tree rings and marble swirls. There is a lot of focus on nature and expressing it as it is through photography.

White Texture

The clamor for this kind of photography has seen an increase of searches by 482 percent since early last year. When a 3D-effect is added to the trend, it can be sharp and intricate, reflecting the patterns seen most in nature. It comes as the embodiment of minimalism and offers us a bold backdrop to other designs. It comes as a useful way to add calm backgrounds while creating interfaces that require less noise both in the background and on other task areas.

Vivid Color

Vivid color is as well expected to make a significant comeback. Early signs have shown a shift in photography to focus on smartphone photography that comes with photo editing software. It is now easier to use different filters while personalizing snapshots. Expect bold and colorful tones laced with high contrast in 2018.

Global View

With the world getting more connected, it has become smaller and now people can share and borrow ideas from each other regardless of where they are situated across the world. Content creators can now capture scenes and share with a wider audience, and this has seen the networking among photographers across the world broaden. It is expected this trend will proceed to offer a wider allowance for up-and-coming photographers to have expert mentoring more than ever before, which could lead to a huge improvement in quality as more people will readily access the support they need to polish their skills at the art of photography.

Trends for 2018 (1st in a series)

As we start a new year, our team has been researching trends that will influence and impact the creative, advertising and marketing space in 2018. In the coming weeks, we'll introduce these trends in a series of blog posts.

In the first post of this series, we're looking at trends in "design and graphics".

Trends in Design & Graphics

In the era of digital art, graphic design trends can evaporate as quickly as they emerged. What has been modern for the past few years may look entirely outdated in 2018. While some trends have stood the test of time, others have vanished in the blink of an eye only to make room for new, more modern looks. So let’s take a look at what some are saying will be the hottest graphic design trends in 2018.

The “Glitch” Effect

The corrupted image, i.e. the glitch effect, has been one of the most popular trends in the digital world lately. Apparently, what was once annoying for the viewer has now been turned into a truly wanted effect. Obviously, horror movie fans have been familiar with this one for ages.

The “Ruined” Effect

As far as we can tell, contemporary graphic designers have been obsessed with the “art of destroying”. Everything that includes splashing, scratching, ripping off, breaking or any other form of ruining the aesthetics of a composition is considered modern for 2018.

“Color Channels” Effects

Playing with color channels has been widely popular among designers. The technique allows designers to create great illusional effects. A holograph, a hallucination, a distorted reality... all of these are highly influential on the viewer which makes “color channels” one of the top graphic design trends in 2018. The holographic design trend, which has been a huge hit for several years, is now falling behind in comparison with the other futuristic trends. While it’s still glamorous and mesmerizing, we’ll see less of holographic designs in 2018.

Double Exposure

Double exposure has been a thing for several years now. Despite the fact that some designers have put this technique aside for a while, we definitely see a rise of double exposure designs which amaze the viewer. Variations include "Double Exposure Duotone” and "Double Light”.

Cropped Typography

Cropped typography was a hot trend for 2017 and is still hot for 2018. The art of erasing parts of the letters while still keeping their readability requires a lot of creativity and professionalism. The effect is 100% worth the effort.

Negative Space Designs

We named negative space a positive trend not because negative and positive attract each other in physics, but because in graphic aesthetics negative space techniques evoke quite positive emotions. In its nature negative space is an “empty” space in the design which forms a certain distinctive shape. The technique is one of the most popular ones lately and it still holds the leading positions.

Colorful 3D Substance

Bright colors plus a 3D composition is an absolute winning combo for 2018. With so many graphic design trends fighting for the leading positions in 2018, bright colors are certainly on the top of the charts. And how can they not be when all clients say is “Make it pop!” And yes, bright colors can certainly make a design pop. In our opinion this will be one of the strongest graphic design trends for 2018. 

Metallic Elements

As an addition to bright colors, metallic elements enter the world of graphic design to create the “Wow” effect. Often combined with other hot trends such as 3D compositions and creative typography, this trend brings the effect of a real-life composition.

Color Transitions & Gradients

When Instagram changed its logo back in 2016 into a colorful gradient, nobody thought this trend was going to become so huge. It was just the beginning of its rise. Despite the fact that many weren’t sure about this design technique, we are seeing more and more of these colorful gradients.

Stay tuned for the next in this series, appearing on our blog soon!

Kick Off The New Year The Right Way!

As corny as this may sound, a new year can really be the start of a brand new you (or a fresh, new look for your brand!). Nothing feels as fresh as starting the new year with a new attitude. That being said, as we embark headlong into 2018, we wanted to take the time to encourage our clients and associates to enter the new year with an open mind when it comes to their visual content creation.

The new year is not only a time for personal resolutions, but also for professional ones. One of the most important aspects to focus on is how you can attract new customers and keep your existing ones loyal to your brand. This is best achieved by a solid visual content strategy, which means that NOW is the perfect time to consider ways to improve those efforts.

What's Important to You & Your Business in 2018?

It’s always a great exercise at the start of a new year to give thoughtful examination to the business year that just finished, and to assess how to improve and what directional changes (if any) to make. Here are some questions to ask yourself about the year we just ended:

• Which social media platforms and/or websites brought the most visitors to your site?
• Did we make sure that our website is optimized for mobile so as to not lose rankings in Google?
• What content received the most consumer interactions? Was it text, image or video?
• Do you have a plan to deliver visual content to your audience on a regular basis?

Finding out answers to these questions will allow you to decide on a course of action for 2018 so you can maximize efforts to work on the visual content strategies that will be the most fruitful. At Curtis Newborn Photographic, we have helped clients solve challenges ranging from branding and packaging to visual content marketing.

Work On Your Brand

We are bombarded by content from so many different online and offline platforms these days, that customers have a hard time recalling the individual messages that they see from various companies. The brands that have been able to cut through the clutter are the ones that are able to regularly tell a single story, thereby creating a consistent brand image.

This is not a simple effort to undertake, and it requires reviewing your website content, social media posts, advertising, press releases, packaging and other visual content to make sure there is a consistent “image” being portrayed, and that all are relaying the same message.

In Closing

An effort like reworking your visual content strategy is never a simple undertaking. But with some planning, collaboration among your team, and a truly honest assessment of past successes and failures, you can elevate your brand even higher and develop paths to increased sales and revenue. We’re always excited to discuss visual content strategies with our clients and associates alike, so don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule a chat!

Putting Marketing in Motion!

Video is no longer optional for savvy digital marketers. B2B and B2C audiences are begging for more video. This trend toward video has been happening for a while now, but it has only recently reached the point where if you are not including video in your digital marketing strategy you could be derailing your efforts while at the same time leaving your audience uninspired.

I have been delivering “marketing in motion" to my clients for years. You name it, I’ve shot it at some point! What's different about our new focus on “motion” and the process to properly execute these projects is that it’s less focused on supplementing your content marketing strategy with an occasional video, but rather using video to drive results across all channels making high quality video a key component of social, web, email and nurturing campaigns.

Examples of how we’re putting it all in motion include:

Let’s examine some key data points:

• Social media buttons on mobile video ads increase engagement 36%
• Over half of consumers are more confident in an online purchase when there is a product video
• Video in email can boost open rates by 20% and increase click-through rates 2X
• Email subject lines that have the word “Video” in them have 19% more opens and 65% more click-throughs
• 75% of consumers (and 65% of executives!) visit a website after watching a video
• An increase of 20% in conversion rates on home pages that feature a video

Finally, 70% of marketers say video converts better than any other content they use. That last point is key into why we are providing greater emphasis on putting “marketing in motion” and executing these projects to be better, faster, bolder, more fun and more creative – it’s what will make our clients more successful and profitable.

We’d love to hear from you! How are you putting your marketing “in motion"? What challenges are you facing? What successes have you had? Let’s get together and figure out how to make your video content marketing tactics amazing. Contact us today!