It’s almost 2015 and we’ve seen huge advancements in the world of marketing over the last 12 months. They say the only certainty in life is change and guess what? There’s going to be even bigger changes in the next 12 months – 2015 is going to be another game changing year. So, read on and you’ll know what’s going on when you feel the ground shift beneath your feet.
Mobile Optimisation will Continue to be Important
Optimising for the world of mobile search has been something we’ve advised people to do now for a number of years, however if you’ve not completed it, it’s set to become an even greater priority to do so in 2015.
If you have a responsive site great, however it’s only the beginning. You may have seen Google added a new Webmaster Tools option known as Mobile Usability to its tools and it looks like it’s going to be important to stay on top of this.
If you want to thrive in the mobile sphere in 2015 then you’re going to need to incorporate a holistic strategy that includes a responsive site, mobile ads and content that works on this sort of a platform – something very important if you wish to improve your mobile social media presence.
Content Marketing will grow – A Big Online Marketing Predictions for 2015
People are seeing the benefits of content marketing and as we all know success leads to more success. According to B2B Content Marketing Bench Report 93% of marketers used marketing in 2014. More importantly 42% claim the strategy had a positive impact on their business, a 6% rise year on year.
In turn, this means more money will be allocated to content marketing and people will spend more time creating better content and crafting better content marketing techniques.
- In tandem with the previous mobile optimisation point, we’ll see a lot more money invested in short form content and content that works better on mobile i.e. video and visual content. This will all be intertwined with social media and SEO and we’re going to see the boundaries between content marketing and these to become increasingly slim. We might even see the return of Google+ Authorship?
Newsletters are Bigger than Ever
Social media sites will continue to go down the paid route, leading to many looking for other options for exposure. Many will realise they’ve large lists of emails and decide to use them. This will result in a renewed focus on the email marketing area.
Businesses without lists will try to build them, which will mean a lot of repurposing of existing content and also creation of plenty of new whitepapers and eBooks. We’ll also see a number of other creative strategies implied to encourage people to opt-in and provide emails.
Wearable Tech
We’re going to see a lot of merging between online and offline technologies. Apple’s iBeacon was the first signifier that this was going to be the next step and it’s been introduced on a slow and steady basis into the retail sphere in the last year or so.
Of course, iBeacon is only the tip of the ice berg and 2015 is going to be the year when wearable tech truly emerges and begins to take over. The Internet of Things is here and here to stay and marketers are going to start utilising it in all sorts of wacky and interesting ways in the next few years.
Analytics
The rise and rise of big data means we as marketers will have more information than ever before. We can get data in two ways, by either finding it ourselves or buying it. Either way we expect to see a large growth in spending on analytics, which in turn allows us to make smarter, faster and more informed decisions about consumers and the way we market.
Marketing automation will also become more prevalent because of this and this will allow marketers time to focus on other processes.
The next 12 months are looking like more of the same, but at an increased pace. In order for us to stay on top of things in 2015 we need to read, act and learn. The next few years are going to see big changes and plenty of excitement and I for one can’t wait.
