This idea – that the customer experience is the first, last, and primary consideration, and that all strategies and tactics serve their (the customer's) priorities – is the premise of most of the trends we'll mention here. Take mobile, for example. example. A major trend, certainly. But it's vitally important because people are simply using mobile devices more than desktops these days. Making your messaging and services mobile-friendly (if not mobile-first) is smart because it better meets customer needs. Then there's the trend toward personalization – again, another symptom of customer-centric marketing. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Customization clearly prioritizes the customer's needs and preferences. The same goes for account-based marketing. This is simply another aspect of customer-centric marketing, i.e. “customer first”. This again applies to video. It's a trend because – you guessed it – people love watching videos. We'll look at each of these trends individually of course, but this may be the only question you need to ask yourself if you want to be on the cutting edge in 2018. :Is this tactic/channel/campaign meeting the needs first of the customer?Of course, while we want to put the customer's needs first, we also need to stay in business. But often, business initiatives or practices have been put in place for the benefit of the company, while keeping customers “satisfied enough.” We may all need to reverse course in the coming year and years to come. It may become necessary to do things that delight customers, while keeping the needs of the business (profit primarily) “fairly satisfied.” This reminds me a little of Amazon in earlier years...like around 2000. Remember when people joked about "Amazon". .org” because Bezos continued to invest in making Amazon better and better, profits be damned? Most of his investors were tearing their hair out, but Bezos kept building his platform...kept building for the customer.