2017 Success Is Your Choice
What was 2016 for you? Based on what we have read or viewed, it appears to have been a mixed bag for most Americans. For us, it was a time of origin as it was the year we officially began as a business. Exciting times, for sure. But that is all part of the past and now we look ahead to 2017, a year that is sure to go down in history as an interesting one at the very least.
Why is that, you ask? Well, one example is that it will be our first year with a new president and we have an interesting set of dynamics that come with Donald Trump that haven’t existed before in the modern era. Good or bad, we anticipate it to at least be an intriguing year on that front.
From a public relations perspective, it can be equally as difficult to project ahead as to what the upcoming year is going to look like. So, we have to look at what we know and try to determine what the trends for businesses might turn out to be. Social media, for example, is something that seems locked in with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram historically leading the charge. However, Snapchat is seeking to become a business-friendly platform and LinkedIn is attempting to become more active in engaging users in a productive manner.
In terms of marketing, 2017 could be a difficult year for businesses seeking to appeal to a general audience. Tensions seem to still be running high following the elections and it may be more difficult to get people to focus their resources toward your particular product or service. People are doing their homework nowadays. They care about what you represent and they use it as an influence into how they make their decision. As popular as Chick-Fil-A is, do you really believe there would be so many other successful chicken outlets (Raising Canes, Chicken Express, Zaxby’s, Golden Chick, for example) popping up if the consumers didn’t still resent the marriage purity statements made by the now-deceased CEO a few years back?
On the marketing side, it is important to just focus on the positives and stay away from hot-button issues. For every company willing to drag politics and religion into a marketing campaign, there are millions of potential consumers out there who are more than willing to distance themselves from that particular product or service. Or even worse – spend money with the competitor.
We don’t have a history of success with crystal balls or tarot cards, and Jupiter Promotions doesn’t have a fortune teller on staff. What we do have is a proven track record of making good decisions on consumer responses to marketing and public relations campaigns. We anticipate 2017 being a good year for some and a rough year for others. You get to choose which of those you want for your company.
