2017 is coming — What trends do you need to put on your watch list?

Before he shifted his career to helping brands manage and promote their programs, from start ups to billion-dollar enterprises, Pete Wiltjer started as a newspaper reporter covering local and state government in Indiana.

His experiences taught him the extreme power of communication. Throughout his career, he has carried these lessons with him, crafting a career as a marketing leader with a story to tell. As founder and president of PWMG, Wiltjer specializes in helping companies engage their prospects by communicating in a valuable way.

As he tells his clients, it's about rising above the noise. That's why he believes that the need for a powerful message and the ability to effectively communicate that message through a variety of channels is at the forefront of marketing and branding success today.

We asked Wiltjer to share some of insights on what to expect as we slide into 2017 and what you can set your sights on keeping an eye on:

What is top of mind for every marketer heading into 2017?
For printers, the opportunity is to figure out how to become a bigger part of the content marketing equation. Shifting from design and direct mail to leveraging email marketing, sales nurturing campaigns and marketing automation turns a printer into a marketing solution provider. This is especially true for those serving B2B audiences, as B2B customers prefer learning about products and services through content, as opposed to paid advertising.

What three trends will help shape every marketing budget today?
Data-driven marketing decisions are top of mind. ROI is required from marketing investments. Digital ad blockers are helping enhance the value of print. It is up to printers to find a way to leverage this. And marketing plans that include a strategic approach, a data management component and demand generation will continue to grow in popularity.

How will marketers boost the play for customer engagement moving forward?
When marketers stop focusing on what their companies do, and shift their focus to what their customers care about, they will be on the path to better customer engagement.

What is the most important trend that marketers should prepare for?
B2B buyers are already nearly 60 percent of the way through the purchase decision-making process, on average, before reaching out to vendors' sales representatives. This means that if you aren't putting out an effective, strategic message about your capabilities, then your sales team won't have the opportunity to get in front of your best prospective customers in time.

What is the key to identifying new customers?
Call it inbound marketing. Call it pull marketing. The ability to have meaningful discussions with your customers at the right stage of their research and buying process can only happen if you are putting yourself in the right place, i.e., regular email marketing, blogging, social media publishing), with the right targeted content.