the 7 major marketing trends of 2014
TRANSCRIPT
The 7 Major Marketing Trends of
Happy New Year, Marketers!
Cheers! By all accounts, 2013 was a very good year for digital marketing. From short-form video to mobile everything, savvy marketers have more opportunities than ever to win the hearts of consumers…
…but just wait! The best is yet to come.
2014 promises even more exciting new trends and technologies to help marketers delight, inspire, and awe their audiences and look like rockstars to their bosses. Get ready, because there’s a lot to look forward to!
To help you gain a head start in the new year, here seven major marketing trends you can’t a!ord to ignore.
1. The Second Screen
Fact: A full 88 percent of consumers use their mobile phones while watching television*, and savvy marketers are already designing campaigns with this second screen in mind. *source: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-majority-uses-mobile-as-second-screen-2013-5
1. The Second Screen
Prediction: As new technologies make it easier to synchronize television ads with social media ads, 2014 will be the year the second screen comes into its own.
Takeaways for 2014 Now that consumers are likely seeing multiple ads on multiple devices at the same time, it’s more important than ever to tell an integrated story across all your advertising channels. If you have the budget, leverage technology that helps you synchronize TV commercials with social ads. Shameless plug: we can help with that. Email us at [email protected] to learn more.
2. All Hail the Image
Fact: 2013 was the year of the image. Between Facebook’s redesigned News Feed ads and the emergence of Instagram and Pinterest ads, it’s clear that highly visual content is driving the future of digital advertising.
2. All Hail the Image
Prediction: 2014 will be the year images take center stage in social advertising. Facebook's new image specs allow for large, high-res images, while Twitter's move to add images to the feed shows that they won’t be left behind. The first ads on Instagram point to yet another highly engaged audience that marketers will soon be able to tap at scale.
Takeaways for 2014 Images matter! Use eye-catching, high resolution images for both organic and paid posts across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and all your social advertising channels. This will lead to higher engagement, more clickthroughs, and better response rates across all your social channels.
3. Video Is the New King
Fact: The number of online video watchers is expected to double to 1.5 billion by 2016, yet just 24 percent of national brands are using video to market to consumers.* *source: http://digiday.com/brands/celtra-15-must-know-stats-for-online-video/
3. Video Is the New King
Prediction: With Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all making serious investments in video, especially short-form, it’s safe to say that 2014 will be a watershed year for online video advertising.
Takeaways for 2014 Short-form video ads only last a few seconds, so don’t try to do too much with one video. Consider a series of video ads around the same theme, and make sure they’re well-integrated into your broader marketing story. Create video ads that dazzle your customers and wow your bosses- email us at [email protected].
4. The Rise of the Feed
Fact: Social media now accounts for the majority of time spent on the internet, with 60 percent of that time being spent on mobile devices.* The primary format for engaging on these social networks? The news feed. source: http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-engagement-statistics-2013-12
4. The Rise of the Feed
Prediction: The culture of personalization will only grow in 2014, making relevant content and precise targeting more important than ever, and not just on Facebook. We can already see this trend taking hold across the board on social networks, in personalized search engines, on hyper-relevant e-commerce sites, and even traditional news media.
Takeaways for 2014 It’s simple – to succeed in the era of personalization, you must know your customer. Demographic information alone won’t cut it. Analyze customer data and buying behavior to understand what’s important to your customers. Use retargeting, email, and marketing automation to deliver relevant o!ers at exactly the right time.
5. Small Data Is the New Big Data
Fact: Unlike big data, small data is timely, meaningful, and actionable without a lot of in-depth analysis. It’s comprised of all the bits of information that consumers send out both online and o#ine, such as search tra$c, shopping habits, and social media interactions.* Source: http://www.zdnet.com/10-reasons-2014-will-be-the-year-of-small-data-7000023667/
5. Small Data Is the New Big Data
Prediction: In 2014, new technologies will allow marketers to leverage and act on this small data in real-time. You’ll be able to micro-target campaigns that are relevant, responsive, and interesting on a dime. Think personalization on steroids.
Takeaways for 2014 It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the possibilities to collect small data. So start, well, small. Remember that small data doesn’t necessarily mean new data. It means finding opportunities to take action on signals that your customers are already sending. Retargeting website visitors is an easy example. Purchase history is another. When you’re ready to play bigger, drop us a line at [email protected] – we have technology that can help.
6. Go Hyperlocal or Go Home
Fact: Small businesses have relied on hyperlocal for years to pull in tra$c and consumer dollars. But with Facebook* and Twitter** both stepping into the game, larger companies are starting to pay attention, too. *source: http://searchengineland.com/facebook-nearby-is-now-facebook-local-search-154507 **source: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/customer-experience/twitter-nearby-could-create-new-options-for-local-advertisers-023489.php
6. Go Hyperlocal or Go Home
Prediction: The ability to run hyperlocal campaigns on Facebook and Twitter will create major opportunities for brands in 2014 – especially for retail, consumer packaged goods, and travel. In particular, the marriage of hyperlocal with small data and mobile will add another layer of personalization to advertising.
Takeaways for 2014 As with small data, hyperlocal is really about finding opportunities to take action on data that already exists. Focus your advertising strategy around data points that are specific to each region you operate in, such as local buying behavior, sports teams, events, breaking news, even the weather.
7. Mobile Still Matters
Fact: By the end of 2013, the number of mobile broadband connections worldwide is expected to hit 2.1 billion, nearly three times the total of fixed-line subscriptions.* source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/developing-countries-surge-in-mobile-broadband-u-n-finds/?_r=1
7. Mobile Still Matters
Prediction: Okay, okay. This probably isn’t the first time you’ve seen mobile on a social trends list. But mobile is now set to amplify all of the trends listed above in big ways. Count on Facebook, Twitter and other major social players to hone in on the power of mobile to spread their messages far and wide in 2014.
Takeaways for 2014 Mobile isn’t a separate strategy anymore. As you’re planning your goals and campaigns for 2014, make sure to integrate the mobile user’s experience into everything you do, from responsive design to images that look great on small screens. We can help you create an awesome mobile experience for your customers. Email us at [email protected] to learn more.
Are you ready to capitalize on the biggest marketing trends of the year? Download our 2014 Marketing Checklist to make sure your campaigns don’t miss a beat!
Next Steps
Let’s chat! Email [email protected] to learn how we can help you kick your marketing campaigns into high gear in 2014.
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From all of us at Brand Networks,
Happy New Year!!