With 2014 rapidly chugging along, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of the trends remarked to dominate the year. At the close of 2013, I read an article titled “The Top 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2014,” written by Jayson DeMers. He came up with 7 predictions of marketing trends to take off in 2014.
I wanted to address each of his predictions with thoughts of my own now that the year is more than halfway done. How do his predictions compare to the reality of today’s marketing strategies? I’d say pretty well. So let’s dive in, shall we?
- “Content Marketing Will be Bigger Than Ever” He really hit the nail on the head with this one, huh? How many times have I said content is king? Probably more than I can count. In today’s society of instant gratification, we crave knowledge. We crave knowing exactly what we want when we want it. The key to a successful marketing strategy is to provide that knowledge to our followers. It gives them a reason to trust us; it makes them want to turn to us for all the answers about a certain topic. Great content provides us with a positive reputation. This was a great prediction seeing as we use content marketing in our day-to-day lives. I mean, what else is a blog for, right?
- “Social Media Marketing Will Require More Diversity” Again, how true is this? We now have tons of social media platforms with more coming out all the time. And we’ve turned almost every single one into a way to get the word out about our business. We already knew about Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but now we’re utilizing Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr, and many others for our marketing needs. It seems silly to only use one site nowadays when you could use them all.
- “Image-Centric Content Will Rule” Most of us, including myself, are very visual people. We like looking at pictures to tell us things. I’m definitely guilty of looking at the pictures of an instruction manual more than actually reading the words. DeMers mentions Buzzfeed and its rapidly gained popularity. Companies are now using this image-based site to promote themselves. Using the rather well known format of top ten lists and accompanying pictures has become a great source for a marketing campaign.
- “Less Will be More” It’s true that as a society we like simplicity. I think he’s right about this one too. We like products that simplify our lives just as we like ads to be straightforward and simple.
- “Mobile-Friendly Content Will Be Necessary” I’ve talked about how mobile devices and great products have made working from home easy and efficient. DeMers is absolutely right is stating that mobile-friendly content is a must. Throughout the year, content has become more and more accessible on mobile devices.
- “Ad Retargeting Will Grow in Effectiveness” I would say that this has definitely become increasingly popular this year. A lot of times, people need to stare at something for a while before they make the commitment of purchase. With ad retargeting, you will keep seeing that product you viewed, constantly keeping it in your brain. It’s a good way to weasel your way into someone’s subconscious mind.
- “SEO and Social Signals Will Become Even More Intertwined” In an age of social media, this seems quite true. It makes sense that Google and other search engines would rank things with more social shares higher on the page. People want what other people are using—it shows that it’s a good and recognized product.
I would say that Jayson DeMers did a pretty good job with his predictions! Wouldn’t you?
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