.jpg?width=75&height=75&name=Laura-Indbound-Marketer1_(1).jpg)
Ahhh, New Year's Resolutions. Those pesky little things we make and never do, make and overdo until motivation dies out, or don't make at all.
That's why we don't want to make New Year's Resolutions, we want to make New Year's Predictions... marketing ones to be exact!
You may think 2015 could be the year that a certain actor finally gets the big gig, the year the zombies finally come, the year that we cure cancer, or maybe even the year of the flying car... too soon? But when it comes to marketing we couldn't just decide on one prediction, we asked the team and came up with your Top 7 Marketing Predictions for 2015!
#1 Content Prediction
Laura: I think marketing will move far, far away from the generic ebook or whitepaper mentality. Our audience is consuming things in different ways and we need to give them all the options. Which means creating one piece of content in 10 different ways to meet their specific preference.
It's not just about creating an ebook and giving it to your audience in the same old boring way. It's about creating an ebook, a webinar, a slideshare presentation, and an infographic. Then making awesome social posts about it, cool advertisements, and exciting emails that showcases every possible way they can get the information on every possible platform!
#2 Social Prediction
Kelly: Social Social Social! More and more companies are beginning to catch on to the fact that social media is not just for teenagers trying to tweet Justin Bieber. Social media is one of the most effective ways to get infront of your auidence on the internet. I think more CEOs and local business owners will begin to become advocates of social media in 2015. Once they get a taste of the value they will focus a big portion of their marketing strategy there.
#3 Sales Prediction
Rick: I predict that we will see the rise of the hybrid salesperson. More and more salespeople will become effective at running their own social media/marketing campaigns. This will be driven by two forces. The need for salespeople to inject themselves into to the buyers journey at a much earlier stage and the democratization of online marketing tools that are now crossing over into sales.
#4 Online Advertising Prediction
Cody: Marketing strategies will become more synced across the multiple platforms used in order to personalize the information a consumer receives. With all the data being collected, marketers will be able to increase the ad personalization within search engines, social platforms, apps, etc. The intent of consumers will be tracked closely in order to optimize ads. Generic advertising is a thing of the past and relevant marketing in real time will be the biggest goals of marketers.
#5 Oldschool Made New Prediction
Mary: I see a return to using advertising, but tailored/adapted to the Internet — native advertising / brand journalism / sponsored content. This trend has been growing for awhile and I think it’s going to grow exponentially in 2015. That’s because there’s so much noise on the Internet. Everyone’s publishing content causing a content glut and fierce competition for search engine rankings, and people’s attention.
Publishing companies have the expertise, processes, editorial resources and impartial credibility that advertisers' brands lack (both B2B and B2C). Publishers have been at this for hundreds of years — the only thing that’s changed is adding a new delivery mechanism, i.e. the Internet vs. newsstands, bookstores, and the mail. B2B and B2C brands are hungry to get in front of the right audiences — a perpetual challenge and no different today than seven hundred years ago. As periodical publishing houses become more sophisticated in capturing data about their audience and segmenting it, there’s no limit to the value they can bring to their advertisers. Instant access to a receptive, interested audience will always be valued.
#6 Marketing Automation Prediction
Zack: Programmatic advertising is going to take over the world in 2015. Global spending on programmatic is expected to be over $50 billion in 2015. How we buy and sell media on the web is going to complete a dramatic shift to an automated, computerized approach.
For those that don't know, programmatic advertising is a method of digital online advertising that uses algorithms to determine where and when to purchase ads.
One big benefit of programmatic ads is they are more effective at targeting the right audience across multiple platforms. Because it's handled by computers, it's also faster and more efficient than if humans did the work. In 2014, lots of publications have already invested heavily in programmatic solutions for their ad sales. It featured heavily in the FutureM track at the Inbound conference this year.
#7 Standing Out From The Crowd Prediction
Alisa: I predict a continued move to the visual in social media. Companies are really going to need to step it up to get their content noticed, and a huge part of that is going to be creating outstanding visuals. This is one trend I don't think is ever going away (and you can quote me on that).
Niche social networks (like Houzz) will continue to pop up and provide a valuable platform for certain industries. Business owners will need to keep on top of those to make sure they're where the customers are.
Podcasting! 2014 saw an explosion in new podcasts. In 2015, it won't be enough to just host a podcast. Companies will have to find new ways to stand out and provide value as this avenue becomes nearly as crowded as the blogging world.
Takeaway
One thing we always know is that marketing continues to improve for the end user to give them everything they want... despite what new improvements there might be, trends that might and go, or completely brand new ways of thinking.
What do you think?
What do you think about our predictions? Are we spot on? Did we leave some out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
