The document discusses several digital trends for 2017, including the continued development of virtual and augmented reality technologies, cyber security risks and regulations, and the growing importance of mobile technologies and artificial intelligence. Major tech companies are racing to dominate the market for digital assistants and connected home devices using AI. Augmented reality is expected to become more widely adopted for both consumer and business applications. Ransomware and phishing attacks pose ongoing cyber threats, while new EU data protection laws will take effect.

1. Digital Trends 2017
Kate Doodson
@cosmickated
www.cosmic.org.uk

2. Agenda
• Website trends
• Apps and cloud solutions
• Cyber security
• Virtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality
• The rise of Instagram and Pinterest in 2017

3. From Smart Homes to Connected Living Solutions
● In 2016 we saw the emergence of Apple Home
on iPhone home screens, the launch of Google
Home, and a line expansion of Amazon Echo,
bringing together disparate smart home
devices into cohesive ecosystems.
● Partnerships that expand these ecosystems will
be the short-term focus, but the strength of
each company’s AI will ultimately determine the
connected home winner.
● Amazon Echo shows advantage in the short
term, but we’ll be looking for strong
improvements in Google Echo and an Apple
Home device launch.

4. Amazon Go
● Amazon Go is a new
kind of store with no
checkout required. We
created the world’s
most advanced
shopping technology so
you never have to wait
in line.
● With our Just Walk Out
Shopping experience,
simply use the Amazon
Go app to enter the
store, take the products
you want, and go! No
lines, no checkout. (No,
seriously.)

5. AI ‘Personal Assistant’ Race for Dominance
With the launch of Google Assistant, a
cross-device move for Apple’s Siri onto
Macbooks, and an expanded product
line for Amazon Alexa taking place in
2016, we saw the titans of tech laying
the groundwork to gain control of our
emerging primary digital interface
Not just for Google Home – for phone,
car, TV, watch everything
Google Allo Wells Fargo is among the many enterprises that are testing AI
technology, according to Braden More, the bank and financial services
company's head of payment strategy. "We're exploring how AI
technology can enable customers to conduct a banking transaction
while on social media," he says. "We're also exploring AI virtual
assistants that can proactively support customers through alerts,
reminders and contextual suggestions." And AI can be used to detect
bank fraud, Braden says.

6. IoT Pivots to Sentient Tools
As IoT goes mainstream, companies will turn their focus to sentient tools. Sentient
tools are aware of their context, environment, and social interactions.
As technologies such as cloud-based AI, collaborative robots, and ever-more
sophisticated machine-learning algorithms begin to converge, we will start to
see the emergence of these capabilities in smart cars, homes, and
manufacturing.

7. Drone Deliveries Take Off?
A convenience store order
marked the first commercial
drone delivery in 2016.
With Amazon expected to
complete its first drone
delivery in the UK and
Walmart expected to begin
deploying them in the US
next year, 2017 will be a
turning point for the skies.

8. Web trends for 2017

9. Trends for web
THE END OF BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY
Tech–savvy merchants are replacing Black Friday and Cyber Monday with Cyber November.
REAL-TIME CUSTOMISATION
The online AND in-store shopping experience will adapt to each consumer in real-time.
HELLO, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Consumers will interact with A.I… And they'll love it!
BYE-BYE WALLET
The beginning of the end for the wallet and cash – brought to you by mobile, wearables and other
payment-enabled tech.
THE SNAPCHAT-ISATION OF SHOPPING
Real-time commerce for a hyper-local era: how consumers will use mobile to unlock exclusive
retail experiences.
THE UBER-ISATION OF SHIPPING
Smaller shops, the rise of local drop-off points for online orders and same-day delivery.
UNIFIED COMMERCE
The merging of eCommerce and commerce: silos are out (and, possibly for the first time ever,
easily avoided).

10. Mobile-first everything
Content is designed to fit on mobile and smaller screened devices first, then you work up towards the
larger-screened devices.
useful way for brands to really consider what their core content and message is that they want to
communicate.
additional visual bells and whistles for users as they switch up to larger screened devices.

11. Mobile-First = Content-First
Set your content priorities
1. The newest model bike
2. The best-selling bike
3. “Find your perfect ride” CTA
4. Company name and hero image
5. Navigation
6. Search
7. The second-best-selling bike
8. Gift certificates
9. A testimonial
10. The latest blog post

12. Google’s mobile friendly test

13. Other hints
Avoid App Download Interstitials. Many people
promote their business’ native apps to their mobile
website visitors. If not done with care, this can
cause indexing issues, and disrupt the visitor’s
usage of the site.
Make sure your mobile site loads quickly. Users can
become very frustrated if they have to wait a long
time to see your content. Make your mobile pages
render in under one second and test using Google
PageSpeed Insights
Avoid setting the font size too small to be legible
on a mobile device, forcing those visitors to “pinch
to zoom” in order to read. Use Legible Font Sizes.
Avoid setting touch elements such as buttons and
links so close to each other Size Tap Targets
Appropriately

14. ‘Samey’ web experience
UI and UX patterns emerge across the web
where many sites look and function in very
similar ways as they learn from one another
to hone their user’s experience.
Material design
https://material.google.com/

15. SSL Certificates
● SSL is an electronic protocol that helps make
communications over computer networks secure;
● Essential for building trust with your customers;
concerned about identity theft and online security
● Operate an e-commerce site? Must ensure payment
transctions are secure;
From Google:
“Over the past few months we’ve been running tests
taking into account whether sites use secure, encrypted
connections as a signal in our search-ranking algorithms.
We’ve seen positive results, so we’re starting to use
HTTPS as a ranking signal.”

16. Cyber security for 2017

17. The rise of ransomware - Ransomware has now become the most profitable
malware type in history
Increased regulations
Attacks on public figures
Positive change driven by legislative change
“New legislation will be coming into force in 2018 which will raise the bar for
businesses in terms of protecting EU citizens’ data.

18. Latest figures
74% of small businesses, and 90% of major businesses, had a cyber breach of
security in the last year.
Cyber crime cost the UK £27 billion and costs small businesses on average
between £35k and £65k
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-businesses-urged-to-protect-themselves-from-growing-
cyber-threat

19. National Cyber Security Alliance
found that 60% of small
companies are unable to sustain
their business within six months
of a cyber crime attack.
Why? Loss of reputation, trust, intellectual property,
customer data

20. PwC Global Economic Crime Survey 2016

21. Types of Cyber Crime

23. Phishing is now the no.1 delivery vehicle for ransomware
and other malware
Often not aimed at the organisation, random, revenue generating
More organisations reported experiencing attacks that were targeted and
personalised (spear phishing attacks), up 22% from the year before.
30% of phishing emails get opened
Wombat Security
The Global State of Information Security® Survey 2017
Verizon 2016 DBIR

24. Ransomware
“Malicious software that sneaks onto your computer, encrypts
your data so you can’t access it and demands payment for
unlocking the information”
Nearly 50% of organizations have been hit with ransomware
The average ransom demand is now £525
Less than half of ransomware victims fully recover their data, even
with backup
Osterman Research June 2016
Source: CNN
https://blog.barkly.com/ransomware-statistics-2016

25. Web vulnerabilities
55% of websites have one or more high-severity vulnerabilities
84% of web applications were found to have medium-severity
vulnerabilities
acunetix.com/blog/news/web-app-security-report-2016

26. Start of GDPR regulations
● The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a Regulation by which the European
Commission intends to strengthen and unify data protection for individuals within the
European Union (EU). It also addresses export of personal data outside the EU.
● Comes into force on 28 May 2018;
● Larger fines - €20m or up to four per cent of a company's global annual turnover, which ever
is higher;
● Firms of over 250 staff must employ a data protection officer;
● Rapid notification of breaches - notify data protection authorities, such as the ICO in the
UK, of any data loss incidents as soon as possible, which the EC suggests should be within
24 hours “when feasible”.
● Right to move data or have it deleted - people to have their data removed from a database
if there is no legitimate reason to keep it.

27. 4%

28. Augmented Reality and Virtual reality for 2017

29. The Mainstreaming of Augmented Reality and
Virtual Reality
Not only will we see new devices hit the
stands from Razer and FOVE, we’ll also
witness a widescale adoption of the
Google Daydream View. And we believe
this will prompt those more ‘established’
names in the world of VR to respond with
a second generation of headsets to
compete. Namely, Oculus Rift with ‘Santa
Cruz’ and the HTC Vive 2, both of which
will offer better immersive experience at
(hopefully) lower prices.
In a word, yes. Intel, with Project Alloy
(more on that shortly), is already muscling
its way in, while Apple continue to recruit
VR & AR experts; clearly someone has
something up their sleeve in Cupertino.

30. PlayStation VR Changes the Game

31. AR and VR used for B2B
2016 ushered in the mainstreaming of
augmented reality, epitomized by the
runaway success of Pokémon GO. This
year, we expect to see that success
translate into the mainstreaming of
augmented reality for business-to-business
applications. Businesses will increasingly
take advantage of off-the-shelf products,
improvements in industrial accuracy
capabilities, and the learnings of early
adopting industries. Expect to see the
largest scale adoption in organizations with
skilled workforces
Transforming the way individuals interact
with each other; creating an immersive
environment;
Can be used for training
experiences/remote experiences;
Blending of the real and virtual worlds.

32. Cinema goes VR
The world’s first ever Virtual Reality cinema sprang
to life in Amsterdam this year.
We expect this will be the first of many similar
cinemas around Europe and indeed the world that
will come into being in 2017.
Hollywood are well aware of the potential that VR
represents (as this interview with director Seth
Gordon attests) and you can bet your bottom
dollar that more and more resource will be
dedicated to cracking that potential.
Special effects and first person storytelling will
come on leaps and bounds as movies seek to
challenge video games as the champion of VR
content.

34. Virgin Virtual Tour
Occupy waiting customers with a virtual tour of Virgin
Holidays’ destinations, allowing them to ‘try before they
buy’.
putting the consumer first, finding a way to keep
customers engaged and informed even during busy
sale periods.
https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/how-virgin-
holidays-boosting-sales-virtual-reality

35. VR as an art tool?
Tilt Brush lets you paint in 3D space with virtual
reality.
Your room is your canvas. Your palette is your
imagination. The possibilities are endless.
Paint life-size three-dimensional brush strokes,
stars, light, and even fire. Experience painting
as you have never before.
https://www.tiltbrush.com/

36. Project Tango
Google Project
Measure using Augmented
Reality
Play games and view
immersive experiences
Learning tools, navigation,
directions etc

37. SOLS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSGsFTCypgg

38. Apps and Cloud for 2017

39. Cloud trends
• Continue to grow
• ‘No Business will operate without Cloud by 2020’ – Gartner
• More integration between suppliers
• SaaS bundles
• Increased security

40. Google Photos
• Google Photos is an overall better solution
to Apple's built-in iCloud Photo Library for
backing up and managing your iPhone's
photo collection. You get free unlimited
storage with optional paid plans for storing
ultra hi-res images.
• The app has fancy image recognition that
lets you search for things like dogs, food,
or a particular mountain range and find
relevant photos. You can share albums
with others and create fun GIFs too.
• A recent update to the iPhone app added
collaborative albums and the ability
to scan your photo library and delete
photos off your camera roll that are
already backup up in the cloud

41. Dark Sky
• Most weather apps give you a
basic forecast. But Dark Sky
takes it a step further with
notifications that warn you
when it's about to rain or snow
in your exact location. It’s also
an excellent app with a
beautiful, minimalist design
and access to weather radar.
• It’s like having a weather
psychic in your pocket, and
you’ll be glad you bought it the
next time you almost get
caught in the rain.
• £2.99

42. Livescribe App

43. VSCO to upgrade your photo editing skills
If you want to make your photos
look better, one of VSCO's dozens
of retro film filters should do the
trick. The app offers more
extensive editing capabilities than
Instagram, and each filter preset is
designed to emulate the effect of
an old-school film camera.
VSCO offers free cloud syncing
and uploads to a personalized
VSCO Grid account, which is
essentially a hi-res, ultra minimalist
version of Instagram that has less
of a focus on social networking and
more of a focus on sharing
pretty pictures.

44. Spark
If you're on the hunt for
the perfect email app,
you need to give Spark
a try. It's completely
free, highly
customizable, and has
features like email
snoozing for reading
messages later.

45. Pocket
bookmarking App
• A bookmarking app may sound lame,
but just wait until you try Pocket. The
service lets you save any webpage you
come across and read it later in
a beautifully minimalist reading
environment.
• Lots of apps integrate directly with
Pocket, including the iPhone's built-in
Safari browser, to let you save articles
and videos. The Pocket app itself can
download stories for offline reading. It
even reads text to you with a Siri-like
voice. You can also share (with
comments) articles with other Pocket
users, and the service learns what you
like and recommends more articles
you might find interesting.

46. Sworkit
Sworkit uses a combination of aerobic,
strength, resistance, and flexibility
workouts to create routines that work for
all kinds of different fitness goals.
The app has been scientifically proven to
work, too. A recent analysis of 30 popular
free fitness apps by a team of sports
scientists found that Sworkit Lite was the
most closely aligned with the American
College of Sports Medicine’s training
guidelines. Tech Insider science writer
Kevin Loria swears by it.
Sworkit has a “Lite” version that’s free to
use with ads and a “Pro” version that
costs $3.99 to remove ads and unlock
features, like the ability to save and build
multiple custom workouts.

47. Instagram & Pinterest 2017

50. Recent changes to Instagram
#1 Video length increased from 15 to 60 seconds in April 2016;
#2 You can see how many views your video has had;
#3 A tap on a photo ad reveals the call to action;
#4 News Feed Visibility Shifts With new Algorithm;
#5 Introduces Stories;
#6 Business profiles starting to roll out.
#7 Live Video

51. Instagram is changing comments in a big way
▪ The company is updating its comments
so users can like each other's
comments on posts, the Facebook-
owned company announced on
Tuesday. The app is also adding the
ability to turn off commenting on
specific posts and remove followers
from private accounts without using the
block button.
▪ Just as you would "like" a regular post
on Instagram, you can like a
comment by tapping the heart next to
it. Like counts are displayed
underneath the comments as well.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram says
"liking" a comment won't impact where
it appears on a particular post, though
the addition of likes certainly opens the
possibility of ranked comments in the
future

52. Building your Instagram brand
Look at your whole strategy – can Instagram fit with that?
How?
What do you want your audience to feel?
Brand consistency
Personalisation
Data Measurement

53. Business profile
• Mirrors Facebook’s business profiles, complete with a huge “contact’
call-to-action, allowing users to email, call or text the business.
• Ability to promote posts
• Access to insights where you can see impressions and engagements;
• Analytics and insights built into the app.

54. Do you want to convert from Personal to Business?
Remember what happened to Facebook Pages?
2007 = a page was a page
2007 onwards = started to roll out Business Pages
June 2016 = changed its algorithm to send less traffic to content sites
Meaning you have to pay to have your content seen…….your Organic
reach is pretty much non existent!
In a Blog post on March 2016 Instagram announced:
“your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will
care about the most”

56. Benefits of not converting just yet to a business profile
You will keep your Organic Reach;
Do you want to be labelled as sponsored?
The brands that perform the best on Instagram create an emotional connection
with their followers -- one that triggers a human feeling.
Advertising removes the human factor;
“People want to believe that a really awesome person who is similar to them (or
someone they aspire to be) is behind these brands. When we see a sponsored
post from a brand, the robotic features of automatic posting arise, and the
human features of transparency and authenticity are lost”
MADELINE POPELKA; Marketer, Founder of Digi

57. 2017 is all about themes.
Choose how you want your followers to feel, and describe your account’s
personality
Choose a colour scheme
Use just one filter
Use similar editing settings on all your photos
Use the same lighting
Use 1-3 backgrounds
Choose 1-2 fonts
Resist the urge to post things that won’t fit in!

64. Colour themes

65. Giant Square app

66. Zoom
Announced in September
that we are now able to
zoom in on images and
videos in our feed.

67. Share more video content in 2017
Share more video content, especially if you like to repurpose content from other networks, such as
downloading your Snapchat story video to Instagram;
Click on the number of views & you will see who has liked your video; option to follow those who
have liked;
Are your videos resonating with your audience? What is your reach versus engagement?

68. Live Video #Instago is coming

69. What should I video about?
Be creative and fun;
Eye- catching enough to draw attention; with or without sounds;
Know your customer and what they like;
Are you videos shareable? Are your videos light-hearted?
Use of memes?
Brand personality?

70. Instagram Stories
• Quicker, less composed
• More of a glimpse into behind the scenes
• Keep audience engaged
• Like snapchat
• As many or as little as you like; Lasts for 24 hours
What can you snapshot??

71. Instagram tools

72. Later.com – paid service
Schedule Instagram Posts From Any Device
Later allows you to schedule Instagram posts at future times. Once it reaches the scheduled time,
you get a simple notification asking you to approve the post.
Key Features:
Plan & Schedule Posts - Efficiently schedule photos and videos with customized captions from
any device.
Search & Repost - Simply search and post content from the web.
Add Team Members - Add your whole team to later and make managing posts a breeze.
Later is as close as it gets to automating your Instagram posts.

74. Repost - Free
Ideal for sharing UGC – easily repost another users post on your own feed
Key Features:
Bookmark Photos - Save photos and videos to quickly repost them later.
Search - Find amazing photos and videos by user or hashtag
One Tap Repost - Repost and automatically credit the content creator with a single tap.

78. Instagram campaigns
Get involved in current campaigns
Create your own
Build engagement with others
What is trending and current in your industry
Who is similar to you?
Who has the same interests?
How can you attract them?

83. Build follower base
Engage with followers
What can you ask?
Encourage their support by offering free gift?
What can you give?
What can you do with their information?
Build community through users
Helps build your UGC

86. 79.3 million users
50 billion pins
1 billion boards
500,000 business accounts
86% of users are women, but...
30% of new sign ups are men
67% of content pinned on Pinterest is from a business website
96% of pinners have used Pinterest to research and gather information
72% of brands use ‘pin it’ button on their product pages
47% of US online shoppers bought something as a result of a Pinterest recommendation

87. The Visual Search engine of Discovery
“Nearly 9 in 10 users on Pinterest use it to help decide what to
purchase.” That’s a pretty remarkable number. It’s almost as if
Pinterest has become its own type of search engine”

88. Build your Brand
Consistent pinning of relevant products & images helps to build
your brand image;
Pin multiple times but space your pinning;
Create boards to match your customers interest; have knowledge
& understanding of your customers;
Follow influencers and build your relationships.

89. Pinterest Business Account
Create a business account from your personal account or from scratch
Go to https://business.pinterest.com - either convert or create
Select your business type and business name, plus a username
Username can only be 3-15 characters long
This becomes your url, eg: https://www.pinterest.com/cosmic_UK
You then have to verify your website which creates a link between your Pinterest account and your
website – enables you to see Pinterest analytics
If you have your own website then add a pinterest button – makes it easy for people to pin your
images

90. Allows you to see
Top pins & boards
How many people view your profile weekly
Where you audience is from
What they are interested in
Helps you measure & tailor your content
Keep tracking data

91. Can you add what you do to your profile name? Keywords - will
come up in searches
How can you help?
Call to action

92. Your Pinterest boards
Stick to theme / your niche
Your boards should be there for your audience, not you
Keep boards secret if you need personal ones
You will then attract the right people
What do they want to know?
How can you help them?
15-20 categories – name them well – keywords – what will your audience be searching for?

93. Use the same pin on different boards
Users get board recommendations rather than account
Boards should be appealing and organised

94. Board descriptions
Make sure keywords are included
No robotic – speak to your audience, ask questions
What will they search for?

95. Optimise your Pins
Use high quality images, well composed and in focus - ideally 800x1200 pixels
Go for tall pins - vertically oriented pins look better on mobile screens
On brand colours & fonts – stay consistent
Use text, but limited. Get a good hook - why should people click?
Add website link or logo (but small)
If you have anything to give, mention it (free download etc)

97. The image should be indicative of what's at the pin's link;
Make sure that people know what's inside the pin so they feel enticed to
click.
Remember to add text to the pin if required – it could make the difference
between someone clicking on your pin or not.
Make sure the pin takes you to the correct place

98. Focus on your descriptions
Provide a specific and thoughtful description, one that helps the users find the
image they are looking for when performing a search. Add all the details that
describe your image and create a natural flow of text that will favour your pin’s
discovery towards others.
“Don’t just drop in keywords or hashtags. The description is an important part of
captivating Pinners. Set a scene that incorporates the right search words, and
you’ll help Pinners imagine themselves with your Pin”

99. Think keywords
But make it conversational
Call to action – click through to read full post eg
By not adding keywords your pin won’t appear in searches
SEO
• Name
• Bio
• Boards
• Pins
• Targeting your audience

100. Add pin it button to your website

101. UGC Boards

102. Rich Pins

103. Rich Pins are Pins that include extra information right on the Pin itself. There are 6 types of Rich
Pins: app, movie, recipe, article, product and place.
Depending on your website platform you can create them yourself or speak to your web developer
First, you’ll need to add metadata to the content on your site
Second, apply for Rich Pins – need to be validated (You only need to validate 1 URL to apply
for Rich Pins on your entire domain)

104. Promoted video
Being rolled out slowly to brands
Starts automatically in feed

105. Creating private content boards

107. Every time you create a pin
What will your audience get out of reading this?
Give them a clear benefit for clicking
Helps you to know what to blog about
Get straight to the point in your title
• How to do/Make/Become
• 5 ways to…
• Why you should…
• 7 steps to…
More detail in the pin description
Clear imagery

108. What we have covered today
• Website trends
• Apps and cloud solutions
• Cyber security
• Virtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality
• The rise of Instagram and Pinterest in 2017