2015 Digital Marketing Trends - #infographic

This is a guest contribution from Julie Rasco.

Digital marketing has never stood still, and 2015 will be no exception. Here are some of the important trends to look for this year:

Content Marketing: From Fad to Fine Tuning

Over the last few years, content marketing has been the shiny new object most marketers are chasing. Content marketing is thought to be the digital marketing solution for SEO (search engine optimization), branding, credibility building, customer engagement and retention — you name it.

However, with millions of companies publishing content fast and furiously, consumers are becoming overwhelmed and growing very particular in what they choose to read. In 2015, content quality will become more important — far more important — than content quantity.

It’s not only humans who are driving this focus, but GoogleTM as well. Google defines valuable content as being useful, relatively and absolutely informative, credible, high quality and engaging. It’s a tall order, but this is what people and search engines will be demanding. It’s time to boost creative content production capabilities.

Real-time Marketing Gets Real Important

With the rise of social media and mobile Internet access (more on that in a minute), real-time marketing figures will become more popular and effective this year. When a news story breaks, companies begin tweeting about it and building mini-campaigns about it virtually on the fly. Many of these efforts have been successful because people — especially people connected to social media and mobile devices — crave news and discussions of “what’s hot.”

Companies will be forced to approach marketing more spontaneously, with a degree of flexibility and delegation that will give many corporate executives more than a little heartburn. Whether it’s tweeting about the latest sporting event or displaying real-time news and weather in lobby signage, people will regard a company as out of date if its information is the same. It’s time to rethink marketing execution processes, not only strategy.

Mobile Marketing Takes the Driver’s Seat

In 2014, mobile PC Internet usage surpassed PC access for the first time. PCs are in the rearview mirror: mobile Internet use figures will likely take off like a Bugatti Veyron this year. This rapid shift to mobile has several important implications for digital marketers:

First, SEO will be affected in a big way. Google has announced a major algorithm update to put more emphasis on mobile starting April 21. This means organizations with websites that deliver a poor mobile user experience will lose ground in organic search. More broadly, organizations with a poor mobile Web presence will lose greater and greater shares of the digital market.

Local businesses, in particular, have a great deal to lose by not delivering a solid mobile experience. More and more people are using smartphones to find local products and services, book appointments and make purchases. For many companies, mobile marketing priorities will take precedence over the PC, especially in terms of Web page design, offers and promotions, paid search marketing and SEO — as already mentioned.

Omni-channel Marketing: Stovepipes Go Up in Smoke

Get used to hearing “omni-channel marketing” — it will be a big buzzword in 2015. The idea behind omni-channel is that companies must now deliver a seamless user experience to customers and prospects, as these people shift from the company website to its social media sites, physical locations, print catalogs and mobile apps. Branding, communication, value proposition and conversion funnels must now be consistent, integrated and easy (if not enjoyable) for users to experience and understand.

Returning to an earlier example, if a company generates exciting conversation about breaking news on Twitter, but their lobby digital experience is a TV showing HGTV reruns, and their website looks as if it were designed in 2005 — customers and prospects will be confused by and perhaps concerned about the company’s overall message.

Digital marketing can no longer be rigidly divided into SEO, social media, Web development, sales collateral, email marketing, etc. There must be a unifying direction in terms of content, design, messaging and metrics. This, with the growing need for a large, internal content marketing function, will make 2015 a year of organizational transition for forward thinking organizations.



infographic courtesy of: Salesforce.

Author Bio

Julie Rasco is Director of Marketing for RMG Networks, an industry leader in intelligent visual communications, where she is responsible for all global marketing initiatives. RMG Networks provides visual solutions to enterprise businesses, including 70% of the Fortune 100. Julie has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and sales, and holds a BS in Marketing and an MBA from Louisiana Tech University.