5 Digital Marketing Trends for 2015

As 2015 gets underway, businesses begin to evaluate their marketing plan and which agencies are best suited to help them achieve their goals. With technology continuously changing at the speed of light, agencies that know how to traverse the digital landscape will be standing in the forefront of 2015. As with every new year, there will undoubtedly come a wave of fads and trends for the marketing community. Below is a list of five digital marketing trends to watch out for in 2015.

Content marketing 2.0
For the past few years, agencies have been telling their clients to get on board with content marketing. Content marketing has become a channel most businesses know they need to invest in. In fact, a recent survey found that 83% of B2B marketers use content marketing.¹ The problem, though, is that many businesses don’t have a documented content marketing strategy. In 2015, the role of content will evolve to focus on areas such as:

• A documented strategy with content marketing as a sustainable and measurable channel
• Attention to ROI
• Integration of content marketing through all channels
• How to distribute content efficiently and more importantly economically
• Looking holistically at the digital experience of distributed content, as well as incorporating more supporting videos, graphics and images

Think mobile first
One area in digital marketing that continues to grow year after year is mobile. Businesses can no longer ignore the mobile marketplace. With more than 61% of adults in the United State owning a smartphone², businesses have to think mobile first in order to remain competitive. Mobile versions of websites are being replaced by responsive websites or mobile apps. Mobile open rates for email have grown 180% in last three years.³ If you’re not creating mobile-optimized emails, you’re not offering an optimized experience for your target audience to engage with.

Evolution of data in digital marketing
More and more consumers expect brands to know who they are when communicating with them. And digital marketers know this. In fact, 78% of marketers today believe that data-driven marketing via digital channels is the path to new growth.⁴ However, it’s not enough to just put a person’s first name in the salutation of an email. This practice has become so standard that it provides little differentiation from a form letter.

Expect to see an evolution in digital marketing of how both quantitative and qualitative data is used to provide a more customizable and personalized experience for a targeted audience. Think triggered emails with customized content based on a user’s previous behavior. Or driving your audience to personalized URLs (PURLs) with variable information based on where they are in the purchase cycle. Collecting data and using it in a relevant, targeted, personalized way will allow marketers to stay competitive in the digital environment.

Meet your marketing technologist
In order to be nimble in the ever-changing digital marketing environment, it is important to have people on your marketing team who understand digital technology. In 2015, expect to see the title “Digital Technologist” pop up. These people are not just thinking about digital marketing. They understand the technologies that are out there to make digital marketing effective. These individuals know about the latest mobile device view port standards, are up to date on banner ad guidelines for social media and mobile, and are testing out the latest iPhone Operating System (iOS) before you get your first cup of coffee. Competitive agencies will incorporate these people seamlessly into their marketing teams.

Video steps up relevancy to content marketing
Video is still one of the most effective ways to reach an audience and create engagement with a brand. Currently YouTube receives more than 1 billion unique visitors a month.⁵ Thanks to HTML video players, Vine, Vimeo and YouTube, it’s never been easier to access video across both mobile and desktop devices. Expect digital marketers to experiment with ways to incorporate video into their content marketing efforts to increase visibility as well as provide context around content.

In a nutshell, exciting things will be happening with digital marketing in 2015, and Jacobs & Clevenger is prepared to embrace the changing digital landscape. Is your marketing plan prepared for next year’s trends? Sign up for our latest Marketing Innovation Seminar to learn even more about new trends and techniques for 2015.

Sources