2017 Spicy Tips & Trends

Start 2017 off with a bang by using these spicy tips and trends to better your business! Here at Spicy Broccoli we are here to help with everything extending from web development, graphic design and social media marketing. It’s important to recognise that an increasingly digitalised society means that businesses must always be on their toes to recognise new trends and changes. In this current era; if you’re too slow, somebody else already reaped the benefits!

Web Design/Development Tips & Trends for 2017

  • Mobile Friendly

Since the dawn of mobile devices and the increasing usability of them to browse the Internet, it has been paramount for many years to update your site to be mobile friendly in order to maximise website conversions. If your website is not mobile friendly, there’s a lot of users that cannot view your site and a lot of potential clients or customers that you lose!

NEWS FLASH! Over 70% of website sessions are from mobile device (Spicy Fact, Jan 2017).

Top Tips to keep your website fabulously mobile:

  •  The 3 lined navigation or as we like to call it ‘the hamburger’ is a great way to save space on mobile device screens. It’s great for functionality, providing a neat spot for your drop down menu. It also aesthetically pleasing, what more could you want?
  • Resizable text to fit the screen and still be easy to read: By integrating resizable text into your website, users are able to view your website on their mobile device as if they were viewing it on the computer, without any drastic change to the web design.
  • Usable fields e.g. big fields and buttons that are easy to select and press
  • Reduced content tailored for mobile users. For example, a pub on the mobile site could have a ‘find us’ or ‘call us’ at the top of the mobile site as these are the most needed items for a mobile user.


Graphic Design Tips & Trends for 2017

  • Bold Photography and Sleek Text

The mix of these mediums captivate viewers, exuding class and style. With audience attention spans shortening exponentially (Time, 2015), it is important to have eye catching material, making information as accessible as possible and easy to take in.

  • Responsive Logos

According to The Design Range, a good logo will respond to its environment and still be functional (Bailey, 2016). Responsive logos are simple and malleable to their environment, making the need for them even more relevant in 2o17.

  • Preach Consistency

Once you’ve created a brand identity, stick to it! The key to creating trust with your clients is consistency and making sure that your company is recognisable no matter what medium – whether it be a range of social media platforms or print.

Social Media Marketing Tips & Trends for 2017

  • Instagram Analytics!

Late 2016 saw the inclusion of weekly insights into our beloved photo sharing forum. Not only does it showcase your business profile’s reach/impressions, profile views and website clicks BUT it also indicates your followers’ demographics and the best times to post! The Instagram Insights allows business owners to follow weekly progress directly from the source. Unsure how to change your Insta page to a business profile? Click here!

  • Sponsored Ads and Boosted Posts

Hootsuite confirms this ‘smart investment’ ideology. ‘They can be highly targeted, are shareable and it’s easy to track the return on your purchase in terms of views and clicks’ (Holmes, 2017).

  • We’re coming at you live- real-time social

In early 2016, Facebook launched Facebook Live videos across all platforms. Appropriately enough, Mark Zuckerberg announced the new feature using the live video feature. According to Facebook statistics, users watch live videos three times longer than the same videos they aren’t live. It’s apparent that live-streaming social content is going to thrive throughout 2017, and marketers will need to find new and exciting ways to use this video format.

Want to see the 2018 social media trends? Click here!

Want to add that extra spice? 

Say hello today!

We look forward to speaking to you soon.

Until next time,

The Broccoli Army