If you ever get a chance to peep into the mind of a CMO of a firm, you will find him chanting ‘GO DIGITAL’. According to internet sources, digital marketing spending averages 2.5% of a company’s revenue and it is expected to rise up to 9%. Apparently, ‘Go Digital’ is the latest mantra to catch the attention of your online audience.

Online world is changing faster than ever and proliferating at an enormous speed. With so many options at hand, it is imperative for you to think strategically to enjoy success in your marketing initiatives. Marketing professionals must keep track of the emerging trends out there, what’s working for others, and what might work for them. Standing still is extraordinarily risky, but simply taking action just to take action is also not a solution! So, let’s take a look at the top 10 digital marketing trends of 2014 to devise strategies and reap the maximum benefits for your company:

1.     Content domination

Content will become even bigger and a better contributor to online marketing.  Make sure, that the content is peppy enough to bring out the verve in the company executives and the dedication of the human resource to serve the best. It definitely must not indicate content to be a desperate attention-seeking gimmick. It typically contains concise information about the consumer solution the company is providing, maybe a little more about the industry as a whole and a whole lot of amusement for the audience tactfully synchronizing the message you want to convey.

2.     Rest in peace Desktop!

According to Mary Meeker’s Annual Internet Trends report for 2013, mobile phones make 15% of all internet traffic. The growth of mobile internet users has risen from 1.1 billion to 1.5 billion in 2013, an astounding 30% growth. It is expected that mobile internet traffic will soon surpass the traffic created by desktops. Hence, it is high time to set up your websites compatible for phones and tablets.
Also you need to alter your advertising techniques since it is observed that the needs, requirements and purpose of mobile internet users are significantly different from that of desktop users. They have more specific demands, localised searches and want precise results.

3.       Real-Time Marketing

Wikipedia defines Real-time marketing as ‘marketing performed “on-the-fly” to determine an appropriate or optimal approach to a particular customer at a particular time and place.’ If you happen to be a newspaper reader, then you must have noticed the witty cartoons of Amul. It consists of one-liners that capture relevant day-to-day events that have caught the fancy of the nation. Or when Al Roker overslept for The Today Show, McDonald’s tweeted him a picture of their McCafe latte with the message, “Stick with us @AlRoker, we’ll help you wake up for the next 39 years #McCafe“. This is Real-time marketing! You have to anticipate what the audience is going to talk about, and also become a part of that conversation. This requires you to be in the ‘ready, set, go’ position as your timing must be perfect. The approach must be humorous so that you can playfully manoeuvre the reader towards your brand.

4.       Visual appeal

Now social media has been bombarded with content from all over the world and getting the attention of your target audience has become an even more challenging task. People have so much to do when they log onto internet that they just spend only a few seconds on one page or site. Hence content writers have to prevent their readers’ eyeballs from wandering by using mind-boggling and vivid visuals along with inspiring content. That’s the secret behind the growing popularity behind visually stimulating social media platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. It is imperative to use images to reflect your ideas that the audience pays attention to. Using engaging video advertorial has also been seen as a new trend to publicise yourself as it gives you a chance to be more creative and express yourself in a better way.

5.       Subtle approach to Advertising

Have you ever been enraged by those annoying ads that pop-up when you’re in the middle of some important work? Or the fact that half of your screen is full of ads that you don’t ever wish to open? Yes, marketers have finally realised that people are more than often put off by the ads they spend huge dollars on, than actually pushing up their sales. Big brands often focus on simplicity and quality rather making ‘noise’ that has been viewed as disturbing by the audience. This is the age where marketers must scrap the selling concept that focuses on mass publicity and must use holistic marketing concept that focuses on building strong relationships with the customer. 

6.       Targeting via Analytics

Many a times, businesses have to rethink their targeting strategy in terms of how to reach the target audience. Your customer might be anywhere, so how do you find him and eventually make him buy your products? Businesses have started using analytics to address the issue. They are trying to find a pattern, their customers share based on similar interests and behaviour. Once marketers understand this pattern, they can then streamline their activities and achieve highest levels of Conversion Rate Optimization. Returns come not from extravagant spending but from smart strategies backed by reasoning.

7.       Online Community Marketing

There are so many lifestyle related communities on the web. You name it and you will find one. With so many people at one place, online communities are giving marketers the ideal platform to reach the target audience effortlessly. For instance, if you sell bicycles, you only need to find a community interested in adventure sports, reach the admin and take his permission to advertise on that page. Once it is done, the rest is a duck’s soup.

8.       Remarketing and Retargeting

Conversion rate of first time visitors is estimated to be only 2%. Remarketing allows marketers to target those who have already visited your website. Moreover, it allows marketers to cross and up-sell their products to the existing customers. By keeping them coming back to your website, marketers are able to occupy a greater mind share of customers which eventually leads to better conversion rates. With the landscape getting even more competitive, we expect this strategy to be followed widely.

9.       Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is one of the tactics that businesses are following to include their customers in formulating marketing strategies. It is your regular customers who know more about your brand than your sales team. How do customers perceive your products, how do they use your products and what do they want your products to do? Answers to these questions would give a direction and the much needed impetus to your innovation team which would help you stay one step ahead of the competition. Many companies have tasted success with the strategy and we expect many to do the same in the coming years.

10.   Integration of Marketing Channels

Your customers might be anywhere and multi-channel presence gives marketers multiple touch points to reach and influence potential customers. However, cognizance shall be given to the decision-making life cycle because bombarding customers with too many ads may make customers turn a blind eye to your offerings. With the proliferation of media channels, companies cannot afford to ignore integrating their marketing channels in a way that it has a positive influence on customers.

So, this is how your marketing orientation has to be this year to take you towards your goals. As we have previously mentioned, in this ever changing world of digital media, you have to keep a track on the latest developments in digital marketing arena. There is so much more to cover on this topic and we would love to hear your thoughts on this!

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