2015 Marketing trends: what do experts say?
In the last few years, values like simplification and customization have already been core to marketing, both from a theoretical and practical point of view. On 2015, all experts agree these values are consolidating, but they are also confirming some new trends.
Avi Dan, contributor to Forbes online, points out that transparency and agility will also become essential, being content marketing, procurement and internal communications the three areas that marketing managemers will have to focus more. Furthermore, I totally agree with him on the emerge of marketing technologists. We are already in a new world with SEO Executives and Content Managers, but now companies need hybrids between marketing and software.
“We will witness the emergence of the marketing technologists. Too many companies think in terms of digital marketing. Instead, they should be thinking in terms of marketing in a digital world. The best marketer in a digital world would be the marketing technologists, people with heavy digital DNA and technology acumen. They will be integrated seamlessly with the marketing groups and will play an important role in how marketing strategies are developed and applied. “
Indeed, digital marketing is an essential nowadays. Do you remember when internet did not exist and how marketing was done then? Then keep it in your memories, because today without digital marketing nobody goes anywhere...
As you can see from the chart above, Content Marketing is consolidating as an area of work that truly provides reslults, mostly due to the obvious customization of content per target segment. But let's not forget other indispensable areas like:
Data Bases, enlarge, filter and integrate with all applications in your system
Marketing automation tools will change the way you play
Social media marketing
Mobile marketing
On the other hand, it must be mentioned that mass marketing is only for the B2C scope. In B2B another important trend will be micro-targeting: find those partners, vendors or distributors who can truly become an added value in your network and totally appreciate the potential cooperation. LinkedIn is an effective tool to develop B2B networks without moving out of your office. Though eventually networking events will be necessary to meet face-to-face. According to the Content Marketing Institute's 2015 B2B benchmark report, "94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content, making it the social media platform used most often (they also say it's the most effective social media platform)".
From my humble point of view, all these trends are good and right for this moment in history. However most organizations will not be capable of covering all fronts, unless they already have a high level of marketing automation tools in place. Then, you would agree with me the priority must be AUTOMATION! How can companies develop customized content for all their targeted segments without a CM tool? How can they effectively enlarge, filter and integrate DDBB and data coming from the web, newsletters, etc without a good and integrated software infrastructure?
Online you can also find various experts of the world giving their opinion on what will be essential this year. We have listed the best comments here below, but feel free to comment yourself, what do you think will be important in the world of Marketing this year?
Pam Didner Global Integrated Marketing Strategist, Intel Corporation "Marketers have been advised to create and tailor different formats of content with customized copy for highly fragmented marketing channels from TV and print to various social media platforms in order to reach their target audience. It’s the right thing to do.
Digital marketing will continue to morph and promotion channels will be further fragmented. The major change for 2015 is NOT about digital marketing. The major change will come from Marketers by Going Back to Basics: reevaluate the target audience, determine what works and what doesn’t. Re-prioritize and be smart about resource allocation and investment."
DJ Waldow Digital Marketing Evangelist, Marketo "2015 will be the year of HUMAN for digital marketers. Gone are the days of corporate-speak messaging and dull, boring campaigns. Instead, we’ll begin to see more marketers incorporate human-speak into their messaging – videos, pictures, humor, and human!"
Jason Miller Senior Manager, Content Marketing, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn "Coding will become a necessity for digital marketers. As the modern marketer strives to understand how social, content, demand gen, PR, and SEO call all work successfully within a fully integrated marketing strategy, the next skill is to add coding to their resume/ LinkedIn profile. The ability to understand how front end web development and coding can affect, enhance, and optimize a content strategy will become a necessity for marketers instead of a nice to have."
Susan Emerick Manager, Enterprise Social Strategy & Programs, IBM "Employee Advocates will humanize digital marketing experiences on behalf of their brands, outperforming traditional media investments. This will require digital marketers to once again rethink and reshuffle the budgeting decision deck."
