Here we are at Part three of the Digital Marketing trend predictions series – Don’t miss Part One – Remarketing and Data and Part Two – MicroInfluencers.

As you may already know, we were super lucky to attend the Digital Marketing World Forum conference in New York City! There are some exciting things happening in the digital marketing space which are set to shape the way we market to our customers in 2017.

To recap, we had the pleasure of seeing various digital leaders speak live at the #DMWF this year, including marketing executives from global brands like Trivago, Pepsi Co, National Geographic, Reebok, Wrigley, Intel Security and Buzzfeed. In addition, to industry experts from companies like Sprout Social and The Social Chain and Glen Gilmore and Sean Gardener from the Forbes Top 20 Social Media Influencer’s list!

So much valuable info came out of the conference that we decided to make a series of blogs discussing the top trends for 2017.

So, here’s what trend predictions are going to be big in digital in 2017, Part Three – Private Social Media.

Private social media

Ok so we’ve spoken about data and how important this is to brands but how important is data to consumers?

With almost every activity we partake in these days, from catching an Uber, to buying groceries, to checking in on Facebook, being tracked how are consumers feeling about their privacy on the web?

Well, the simple answer is, not great. Gary Davis, Vice President of Global Consumer Marketing at Intel Security says, in 2016 28% of people didn’t complete an online transaction due to privacy concerns and further 74% of people limited their online activity.

With personal data now being worth 10 x more than credit card data on the black market it is no surprise that people are very concerned about their privacy. This coupled with that innate fear that our reputation in our business and personal lives could be tainted by our online profile, has seen an increase in passive Internet and social media usage and the rising trend of private social media.

Which, ironically could also explain in part, the psychology behind the huge growth of SnapChat. On the one hand, SnapChat is a very intimate channel, allowing users to expose a behind the scenes view into their personal and professional lives. However, the personalised direct ‘snapping’ component of the platform, as well as the disposable nature of the content allows it to also be a very controlled and private platform.

We are now seeing more demand for private social media with other platforms adapting their channels to cater for this need for private social media. In November of 2016 Instagram updated its Stories feature to allow users to now send stories directly to followers which disappear after the user has watched them.

2017 is sure to see an increase in closed group social media usage such as private Facebook groups, private forums or member’s blogs as well as messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

These trend predictions represent a shift towards new challenges for marketers but also potentially great opportunities to build trust and stronger relationships with consumers.

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Chronicle Republic Communications is a boutique Sydney marketing consultancy for real estate agents, property and interior design professionals. We specialise in social media, content marketing, email marketing, blogging, search engine optimisation, social media advertising and much more!

We help our clients tell their brand’s story through engaging and meaningful marketing that captures attention.