5 Digital Marketing Trends for 2014
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Content will still be king
Without even looking in a crystal ball, we can confidently say that Google will be around in the next while and continue to be the primary search engine for consumers worldwide. Hence, it’s integral for businesses to frequently produce web content as Google’s chief goal is help users find relevant for their searches. Additionally, with the release of Google’s latest search algorithm, Hummingbird, web content is now even more imperative as the algorithm allows searchers to use long-tail keywords to find content that’s pertinent to their searches. For businesses, you can leverage this by creating content using specific terms to target consumers who are proactively seeking your products or services.
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Increased adoption of responsive web design
According to Nielson, nearly 50% of consumers begin their purchase journey through mobile sites. This subsequently makes your mobile website highly crucial as the quality of your site affects your AdWords ad rank, the cost you pay for your ads, as well as your organic search ranking. To ensure your mobile website design satisfies your consumers’ mobile demands, use responsive web design. By making your website responsive, you can assure your website’s layout is consistent across all devices (e.g. HTC One and Samsung Note 3), optimized for each user’s screen, and congruent to your desktop website. For instance, if you change your product detail or remove an item from your inventory list through your desktop website, your mobile website will be automatically as well.
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Greater emphasis on consumer behavior
Although our business world is rapidly becoming more digitalized, traditional consumer behavior theories remain critical. By gaining greater comprehension of consumer behavior, you can understand the dilemmas consumers face when shopping online, the intangible factors that make consumers remember an ad, and the elements that arouse a consumer’s interest in a product. This subsequently allows you (e-commerce website or other type of business that rely on digital media) to have a grander view when creating marketing initiatives. For instance, you can write an advertisement that says “To Marketing Managers who Want to Become stronger Writers” to create motivation for your audience to click-through your ad because after all, motivation is only developed if a person sees discrepancy between his current state and desired state. This example shows how you can leverage consumer behavior knowledge to cut through the noise and stick out from the crowd.
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Further integration between marketing and IT
“Developers! Developers! Developers!” said Steve Ballmer at a developer’s conference in 2006. Steve’s outcry for developers depicts our business world’s demand for talented developers. Companies from all industries are now looking for skillful developers to join their teams as companies need developers to support essentially all of their marketing initiatives. Businesses need developers to design websites that intrigue the audience, convert sales, and contain key SEO factors that boost SEO ranking. Moreover, companies need developers to install Google Analytics codes that help marketers better assess their digital performance. These tasks illustrate the current as well as the future inseparable bond between marketing and IT teams.
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Enhanced demand for one-on-one marketing
Marketing is all about segmenting your consumer markets and targeting specific ones. By using digital tools such as real-time bidding, you can effectively engage particular consumer groups. By using advertising approaches such as real-time bidding, you can showcase display advertisements to consumers who fit under a specific demographic group. For instance, you can show display advertisements on a newspaper website to females aged 40 and 55. This enables you to showcase adverts only to your target audience, heightening your chance of deeply enticing your consumers.