If these trends are anything to go by marketers worldwide have got a lot to look forward to when it comes to implementing creative and engaging campaigns.
Are We Human?
2015 is the year of HUMAN when it comes to digital marketing. Bland and generic corporate speak will be replaced with humour, personality and a more natural way of communicating with consumers.
Simply put people love and trust brands who treat them, well, like human beings and if a brand can speak with a consumer in a relatable and meaningful manner they have a far better chance of building a loyal relationship and beating out the competition.
Video
Video content will continue to soar as an effective means of sharing product or service information. More companies will incorporate videos into their communications and across social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Google+.
Curtail Your Content – Less is More
We’ve known for years that the content-is-king mentality has been the core behind many online marketing strategies employing the single minded goal of improving search rankings.
As a result the go to method for many brands has been to push out oodles of content daily bombarding consumers with stale content that offers very little value. Many businesses don’t realise this approach is in fact highly damaging to their SEO as Google sees little merit in rehashed content and will penalise websites accordingly.
To counteract content copywriter fatigue many companies are now employing a companywide content creation strategy through all departments from SEO, sales, marketing and HR. This ensures that the relevant experts in each field can contribute insightful and targeted content to the overall content strategy.
Mobile Matters
It used to be that mobile campaign integration was just a mere after-thought but come 2015 mobile dominates desktop in terms of user engagement.
In today’s society more and more people access their information via mobile technology and this means that brands need to ensure that no matter what communications they are distributing i.e. social media, newsletters or email content etc. the content is fully optimised for mobile.
Any company not focusing on mobile in terms of their communications strategy is liable to be missing out on a massive part of their consumer base especially when you consider they are checking their phone during work, rest and play.
Virtual Reality Marketing
Slightly offbeat but nevertheless highly exciting news for tech geeks and general consumers alike, virtual reality is slowly making its way into the mainstream. Uniting offline and online worlds allows brands to connect with customers in completely new environments.
The most anticipated digital launch for 2015 was the Facebook Oculus Rift which has already seen big brands like Tesco and Topshop create virtual reality shopping experiences in which to immerse consumers into their brand “worlds”.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says, ‘This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures’.