By now, I think everyone is aware of how significantly the internet has altered the way consumers and companies share information. No one can deny that the internet has had a profound impact on marketing.
While many outbound marketing tactics have become antiquated, there has been a consistently growing increase toward inbound techniques. To this end, it is more important than ever to develop digital marketing strategies that provide consumers with original content that will offer additional benefits such as branding and audience growth.Below are the top online marketing trends that businesses need to consider in order to prosper in 2014.
1. Content Marketing Is More Important Than Ever
If you want to establish authority and gain trust with your consumers, you must consistently create valuable content through a variety of channels such as: social media, case studies, videos, website articles or blogs, eNewsletters, emails and articles or blogs on other websites.
Content is crucial for a business to steadily build rapport with its target audience and build a loyal following. Most of the time, content should include relevant industry information that provides awareness or entertainment to a company’s target marketing.
2. Diversity in Social Media Marketing Is a Necessity
I will never forget a management meeting I attended many, many moons ago – back when MySpace ruled the world. One of my team members asked whether or not we should incorporate Facebook into our marketing strategy. Most of my teammates had never heard of Facebook; the conclusion was that Facebook was a fad that would never replace MySpace and would be out of sight – out of mind within a year. I don’t think it’s necessary to mention how wrong we were.
The reality is that every day new Social Media platforms come to market and it is necessary to be aware of the trending platforms so we know where are consumers can be found. It wasn’t long ago that businesses were limited in the social media networks they could implement into their marketing campaigns. For the most part, the choices were Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Today the choices marketers have are much more vast. In fact, even though many social media sites don’t get off the ground, there are new ones appearing all the time. Once in a while these social media sites grab the attention and time of the consumer base. Some of the more recent social media sites that have surged in popularity include: Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and Google+.
3. Image-Centric Content Is Necessary For Success
The more consumers become bombarded with advertisements, the more important it is for companies to make content easy to be quickly digested. Referring to the social media sites I mentioned above that are becoming more popular, you will notice that three of the four place an emphasis on images. The rapid increase in popularity of these social media channels are testaments to the power and viral potential of image-based content.
A/B tests in regards to characteristics of successful emails and blogs also have common characteristics – well-placed pictures that separate and break up content to emphasize certain points. My final example that supports the necessity of image-centric content is infographics. This piece of content, combines images with minimal text to explain a topic or provide information.
I must caution you that all three of these trends will require a lot of time and effort. In order to be most successful, you will need to do a lot of research and develop a thorough strategy. If you do not have the internal resources or skill sets that are needed to be successful, you should consider hiring an online digital marketing agency to assist.
Contact DirectiveGroup today for a free high-level assessment of your online landscape. We will be happy to help you better understand your competitive landscape and where your opportunities can be found.
