What’s new with small business and digital marketing? I’m glad you asked! Here are a few things people are talking about this week.

Skyword Predicts 2017 Content Marketing Trends

Each year, content marketing platform Skyword, predicts the up-and-coming trends that marketers should plan for in their budget for the following year. This past Monday they published the 2017 edition of their analysis.

The #1 trend Skyword noted? Live stream video. They cited consumers’ increasing demands for authenticity from brands and businesses. When scripted content begins to become stale and corporate, live streaming video can help to recapture some of that genuine transparency.

Also making this year’s list are email newsletters, native advertising, and virtual reality.

Google Introduces Live Coverage Search Option

If you’re familiar with how Google crawls and indexes new web pages, then you know it doesn’t happen right away. So how does that work when you’re publishing breaking information in real-time? Not well.

That’s why Google has just announced the new “search live coverage carousel.” When publishers put out new, breaking information, they can submit content to Google for inclusion in the live coverage carousel. They note that live sports, elections, and other breaking news are a good fit here.

There are still some restrictions on the new feature, but it looks poised to help Google searches compete with the real-time news breaking of social media.

Are Small Businesses at Risk for Cyber Attacks?

We’ve all seen news about large brands falling victim to cyber security attacks, but should small businesses be worried about cyber attacks, too? According to internet security firm Symantec, yes.

Symantec released a report finding nearly half (43%) of all cyber attacks around the world are committed against small businesses. With most SMBs being rather lax about information security, they can be seen as easy targets.

The fix? Invest in anti-spam and firewall security solutions up-front — before a crisis hits. And be alert to email phishing scams, the most common type of cyber attack.

What do you think of the week’s news? Has your brand explored any live stream video tactics?