There’s one thing that remains the same when it comes to digital marketing — it’s that digital marketing is always changing. Kind of confusing, right? But that’s just the way things are and it’s going to continue to happen at lighting speed. If anything, change in digital marketing is only going to speed up, so staying ahead of the curve is essential to creating a successful digital marketing campaign.
So how can you stay ahead of the curve and predict what is going to happen? That’s the million dollar question. It’s impossible to know everything that is going to happen in the new year, but what you can do is take a look at what was beginning to take shape near the end of 2014 and use that to gauge what might happen in 2015. Here’s our top 4 list of new things to come.
Content Marketing: To Infinity and Beyond!
It’s no surprise that the popularity of content marketing is only gaining steam heading into the new year. Marketers and businesses are ditching the old ways of using tested solutions and relying more and more on customer experience. And why wouldn’t they?
Your customers and their experience with your brand and content is what should be No. 1 on your priority list. And it’s not only customers who are jumping on the content marketing train. B2B companies with blogs are expected to generate 67% more leads per month than organizations without blogs. Ramp up your efforts to create top-notch, relevant content. It’s what every other successful digital marketer will be doing in 2015.
The Need to Know and Not Guess
No longer are digital marketers left in the dark on whether or not their marketing efforts are successful. That’s because the rise in analytics. The advantage of being able to see how your customers are interacting with your digital marketing plan is huge, and everyone now knows it. In 2015, spending on analytics is expected to rise by 60%.
The ability to use and see marketing data on your digital marketing plan will become an everyday strategy for most, if not all digital marketers in the new year. Even better, the acquisition of these statistics will only become quicker and more accessible to marketers.
Wearable Technologies
The big trend in 2014 was mobile marketing strategy, which many of you are probably still trying to dissect. But as I said before, digital marketing never slows down, it only speeds up. So let’s welcome wearable technologies!
These are the new gadgets that we will begin seeing more often in 2015. A perfect example of a wearable technology is Google Glass. Or perhaps you’ve got one of those watches that measures your daily activity, letting you know how many miles you’ve walked and calories you’ve burned. This very well could be the next big thing in technology, and digital marketing will certainly take a turn and head straight for these little gadgets. Thankfully, you should have some time to get a grasp on these little buggers as tech gurus don’t expect a heavy dosage of these gadgets to start hitting the floor until midway through 2015.
Transparency
One of the biggest changes we’ve seen the last 5 years is the shift of power from the business to consumers. The internet has given everyone a voice, and with the ability to sit behind a screen and type away with no one watching, the people are not shying away from using their voice.
This puts businesses in a sticky spot. The concept of being transparent is something that many businesses are still fighting, but that is going to change. Consumers are only going to continue to exert their power and influence more in the new year. How does this change things for digital marketing?
Well, it’s quite simple. Businesses are beginning to catch on that it’s time to step out from the shadows and let consumers see the inner workings of their company. If you don’t, your business will be gobbled up by negative attention from consumers. Making your company transparent and allowing consumers to see a real time picture of what it is you’re doing is what most companies will be doing by the end of next year.
Be Ready!!
As you can see, there’s a lot to look forward to in 2015 and this is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s important to keep any eye on trends and continue to move forward and try new things with your digital marketing plan. Becoming complacent will only leave you in the dust of your competitors. Be the trend setter and your business will be the one leading the way in 2015.
