Digital Marketing Trends

2015: Digital Marketing Trends To Watch Out.

2014 has remarkably been a year of technological and digital progression in marketing, especially retail. The popularity of mobile phones and apps has thrown a huge opportunity in the guise of challenge to marketers around the world. Mobile web and apps have been the epilogue of every marketing discussion, well almost. And with all that clout, it is particularly interesting to watch where exactly is the whole digital-marketing spectacle headed.

Here are a few trends that would predominantly drive the market and marketing in 2015. Interestingly most of these concepts are the ones that stimulated the retail segment last year, and the trend seems to be paradigm for years to come.

Mobile Friendly

Smart phones and mobile devices are no more fancy words. These are basic. As per an interesting UN study, there are more people in the world that have access to mobile phones than people who have access to toilets. According to the study out of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones whereas only 4.5 billion people have access to working toilets!

That said, every business, irrespective of the industry, scale or function will have to be mobile friendly. This does not only apply to simply having a mobile friendly website or an app (which, by the way, would be survival essentials given that most people are migrating to mobile only devices), but it would mean the entire business function starting from supply chain to customer service (and everything in between) becoming mobile friendly. It means reassessing business functions, defining new value and deliverables and aligning the good old brick-and-mortar and click-and mortar business models to become tap friendly.

Personalized Marketing

The term ‘personalized marketing’ has been around for quiet some time now. But in true spirit of the term, it makes more sense now than ever. Customers are leaving their digital footprints all across the Internet. This is data. Companies need to devise intelligent techniques, smarter algorithms and intuitive systems that can wisely co-relate data and derive customer knowledge out of it. This knowledge then would define how each customer is approached and served individually. For instance taking data from cookies, surfing habits, social media and so on, a retailer would be able to now that Marc spends an average $400 on grocery and other shopping every month, he mostly eats canned and ready-to-eat food, likes shoes, goes to Starbucks mostly every evening where he checks on his personal email and social media accounts. Now the retailer can devise a relevant strategy to connect with and engage Marc in a personalized marketing experience.

Important technologies and strategies that would help personalize content for customers:

Retargeting:

Retargeting is a strategy wherein with the help of various technologies and techniques a company can identify customers who strayed, re-engage them with personalized and relevant content thus increasing conversion ratio.

Geo-Fencing:

Marketing communication, when localized and presented to the user based on her current location makes more sense and is more likely to convert than general messaging. For instance, sending a message to the customer that there is a great sale going on in a store close to her current location will most likely land the customer into the store.

Relevant, Honest Content

Life’s getting faster and attention span shorter. To get noticed and then reach a level where you can engage your customers, retailers will have to make their content really, really relevant and of course, honest. Customers are done with marketing clutter and the elevator-pitch has now been further trimmed to a 5-seconds-glance that decides whether the customer will stay or stray from your retail window. There is no scope for over hyped pitch and false promises. Don’t promise the world on the platter; just show what you can serve, and those who want it would take it. More so, communication has to be relevant and precise. You value your customers’ time and attention, they would appreciate it; you give them non-sense content, they would go away forever.