As I mentioned in the previous article, planning is very important, and we all take advantage of the beginning of the year to organize ourselves better than we have done so far.
This applies to all areas, from personal life to professional life, from marketing plans to travel and vacation plans.
After deciding what to do with our website, how it looks, and how we maintain it, the next step is to see what can be done further with this site. How it can help us and what changes we need to make throughout the year to keep up with trends and expectations.
Here is a list of 5 online marketing trends for 2015.
Trend 1: Content Marketing – more important than ever
Yes, it can be even more than before. At least in most cases. According to a study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute, in 2014, 93% of companies operating in the B2B sphere used Content Marketing throughout the year, with much better results than in 2013. Thus, 42% of those interviewed stated that this strategy delivered the expected return, compared to 36% in 2013.
In 2015, more and more of the budget allocated to other promotion methods, such as PPC and SEO, will be directed towards Content Marketing. The problem will arise in highlighting your content in the vast sea of content that wants to stand out. As I have said before, those who publish very high-quality, well-documented, unique content will win. Additionally, video content and case studies will also be successful. And everything optimized for mobile.
Trend 2: Mobile Optimization
Mobile optimization is not a new trend. It has been manifesting quite strongly since 2014, strongly supported by Google. If the initial idea was that, through mobile optimization, we could reach the user, the final recipient of our message, more easily, now it seems that this is no longer enough. We also have to please Google, which has already announced that it considers the degree of mobile usage as a criterion for relevance in search results. Therefore, creating a mobile responsive site will become a common requirement by the end of the year, and more companies will understand and adopt such measures to meet market and search engine needs.
Trend 3: The Revival of Email Marketing
Although it has always been highly appreciated and successful in attracting new visitors and customers and maintaining relationships with them, Email Marketing will now regain its privileged position.
Email Marketing will now be used for a different purpose. Until now, the emphasis was on achieving quick sales, immediate benefits. Now, with the increasing focus on content and, implicitly, on content marketing.
As with content marketing, competition here will also be increasingly fierce. Therefore, creativity and, again, quality will be necessary. The method of obtaining email addresses is equally important. And it all comes down to content. To encourage visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, you must offer them something in return. And we return to content. Whether it is an infographic or an eBook, people want something in exchange for their email address.
Trend 4: SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing – a whole?
No, they will not be a whole. But the line separating them will become increasingly blurred. Today, one is no longer done without the others. From now on, their association will be even more pronounced. SEO will increasingly focus on the technical side, keywords, metatags, and indexing; social media will be part of the content marketing strategy, and content will be the king over all of these. Social media will also be valued for other advantages, financial ones beyond brand awareness and authority.
Trend 5: Humanizing Brands
With the emergence of social networks and the increasingly intense use of quality content and email as a means of promoting it, brands have realized that they are addressing people who want to feel appreciated. The public wants to interact with the brand they love, to feel that their opinion is heard and taken into account, and that they can turn to it when they have a problem. And, above all, that the brand will listen and help them. It is much easier now to communicate than it was 2-3 years ago. Some companies have not yet understood this aspect and have suffered as a result. On the other hand, others have seen the opportunity and created real fan networks on Facebook, for example. This is the future. Brands must humanize themselves.
Conclusion!
The year 2015 begins under the idea of content. In 2014, this subject was discussed repeatedly; now it is time to get to work. If until now we had to do it for people, now we are also forced by Google. But it will be more difficult. Increasingly difficult.
