2017 Will Be A Great Year For Premium Domains

Three important digital trends that will drive the value of premium domains higher

Premium domain valuations will continue to increase in 2017. For most of the corporate world marketing plans and budgets are roughly in place for the next 12 months. Once again, we see several key themes and trends emerging for marketing and branding. The shift to digital marketing and investments continue to dominate these trends for obvious reasons.

The average marketing budget for most companies is between 8%-12% of their gross revenue. Digital marketing can be anywhere from 10% to 50% on average of the total marketing spend. Emarketer.com estimates that 35.8% of marketing dollars were spent on digital tactics in 2016. Estimates put digital ad spending around $75B to $80B in 2017.

This trend will continue to increase thru 2020 and beyond as everything moves digital. Having worked in corporate American for 17 years, I can tell you that digital strategies are only starting to be developed.  This is particularly the case for mid-size legacy brands that built their business heavily on traditional marketing methods.

As digital spending increases, it also means that companies will need to develop deeper digital strategies. Acquiring the perfect domain will be crucial to being successful in 2017.

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Three important digital trends that will impact domains in 2017

• Digital advertising will increase and become more expensive as budgets shift away from traditional advertising
• Mobile will continue to grow in importance over desktop
• E-commerce will become more competitive

What are the experts saying about business trends in 2017?

I compiled what I thought were relevant trends for 2017 that will impact domain name valuations and use.  Mobile will continue to be a big theme and consumer use shift in 2017.  Online advertising will become more expensive which will force companies to look for ways to optimize their spending (domain names will be a part of this optimization).  As search algorithms change businesses will understand the importance of driving consumers to their sites and off the restrictions placed by third parties (FB, Google, etc…). Businessnewsdaily.com

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Business trends predictions

• Entrepreneurial confidence in the economy could spur new investments**.
• Niche companies will find success**
• E-commerce will become more competitive**
• Hackers will test security of the digital wallet**
• Digital advertising prices will increase**.
• The importance of video will grow**
• Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Brands Focused on Offline Marketing and Selling**

Shoutmeloud.com – 2017 digital marketing trends

• Mobile will completely dominate desktop**
• Search algorithm will change. And change again**
• Online advertising will become more expensive**

Gartner.com

• 65 percent of marketing leaders surveyed said that they plan to increase their spending in digital marketing

ChiefMarketer.com

• According to eMarketer, digital advertising in the US in 2017 will exceed $82 billion, up 14% from 2016, making it the most expensive marketing channel.

Emarketer.com estimates that by 2020 digital media ad spending will approach 45% of the total marketing budget.

Increased focus on digital marketing will drive advertising prices higher.

Most companies will start out focusing on the 3 large channels (Google, Facebook, YouTube). This will drive prices higher and force business to go deeper with their strategies.

Digital strategies will get more complex as companies need to differentiate themselves online and find stronger returns. Having a YouTube channel and advertising on Facebook is not a digital strategy. For businesses to be successful, they will need to examine all online touch points that interact with their consumers and marketing efforts. This will lead to a global demand for premium domains and domains that can be used for marketing campaigns. This will be a good trend for the domain industry.

Domains are inseparable from branding and marketing. What does this mean for premium domain name values? Global demand will continue to increase the value of premium domain names. Businesses will continue to re-evaluate their domain strategies because they will need to increase the return on investment from their digital spending. Every letter closer a domain is to the brand the exponential impact it has on marketing. Brands that don’t have their branded domain will have more incentive to acquire this before it is taken.

Most domains once acquired will never be made available again because they become strategic marketing assets. The global trend toward digital advertising will also increase the use of domains for marketing campaigns. For example, I am a big fan of ClickFunnels because of how easy it is to create an awesome looking website.  Although their main brand is ClickFunnels.com, they also utilize several other domains including AffiliateBootCamp.com for training.  This is an example of how quality domains will be used for marketing campaigns.

This next year should be an exciting year for the domain industry. An increase in entrepreneur and consumer confidence could play a big factor in our economy as companies look to increase their investments and start new projects. Either way, we will see an increase in spending and expanding of digital strategies. Digital advertising will grow and become more expensive as budgets shift away from traditional advertising.

Mobile strategies will continue to grow in importance over desktop strategies. E-commerce will become more competitive this year. Quality domains are an integral part of these key trends in 2017. Premium domains for branding and marketing campaigns will increase in value as the global demand for quality domains increases. Acquiring the perfect domain will become more important to ensure a higher ROI on marketing and branding efforts.

Businesses will need to act quickly and acquire premium positioning for their brands.  The longer they wait, the greater the risk that another company will buy their domain and force them to either rebrand or accept an inferior online position. Remember that domains are assets that grow in value and can be resold if strategies change. We think 2017 will be a great year for domain valuations.