We are more than half way through 2014 and its time to review the predictions and trends we talked about at the beginning of the year. Our goal is to help you stay on top of marketing trends and make the most of being able to incorporate them into your strategy to increase your ROI.
Here are the top 6 trends to watch we posted about in January and where they are now:
- (January) Email Marketing: Don’t let anyone tell you that email marketing is a thing of the past. There is much success to be had from email marketing if it is done right.
o (July Update ) Email Marketing: Email continues to be an important avenue for marketers. Email personalization and segmentation are extremely important and necessary aspects of successful email marketing campaigns. Earlier this month, Canada rocked the email marketing world with the passing of their new CASL law with very strict regulations concerning expressed consent of subscribers vs. implied consent.
- (January) 3D Printing: As this new technology becomes more affordable, we will see more innovation using this technology. Through 2014 more companies will start to use 3D printing for manufacturing and selling products.
o (July Update) 3D Printing: As predicted at the beginning of the year, 3D printers are making a slow rise to popular use. Right now, 3D printing is mostly used in the medical and construction businesses with large scale budgets. Definitely keep an eye on this industry in the future.
- (January) Wearable Technology: We have already seen this category launch into the tending spotlight at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month in Las Vegas. This technology does not necessarily mean Google Glass; wearables include fitness technology, cameras in jewellery, and connecting other everyday items that you wear to mobile applications.
o (July Update) Wearable Technology: Wearables are getting smaller, more powerful, and more prolific. Today, I saw a kid’s backpack that is set up to film behind them so that they can see what is happening behind their back! Google Glass is still a popular version of a wearable, but the largest area of growth for wearables has been in the fitness space. Fit Bit, and similar wearable devices are helping to keep dieters and exercise enthusiasts on track and keeping track of all the necessary information such as calories burned, distance walked, and much more.
- (January) Visual Social Media Sites: Visual social media sites like Snapchat, Vine, Pinterest, and Instagram will continue to grow in popularity. Consider developing on these channels and getting your brand or business involved in visual social sites.
o (July Update) Visual Social Media Sites: Visual social sites are just as popular as predicted in January. If you held off joining the visual social revolution, there is still time to get involved and start being more visual and creative with your social media marketing strategy. Here is an article from ClickZ called 10 Reasons Why You Should Use Vine to Build Your Brand.
- (January) Location-Based Targeting: Local marketing and location based targeting are going to become more and more important for businesses as mobile marketing also becomes increasingly popular and necessary for online and brick and mortar businesses.
o (July Update) Location Based Targeting: Both local and mobile marketing continue to be among the most important sectors for businesses to focus on. Even if you do not sell online, you still need to focus on location based targeting because your customers will be searching for your business’ services or products online and on mobile devices. If you do not show up in those searches, they will find your competition instead of you.
- (January) Mobile Marketing: More than 1 billion people in the world own a smartphone! It only makes sense that marketing and targeting customers through that device that does not leave most people’s side is going to the best way to reach them.
o (July Update) Mobile Marketing: Even Google has developed a “mobile first” strategy because they anticipate mobile searches to overtake desktop searches before the end of 2014. Mobile marketing is going to be essential for your business. This includes responsive design for your website and your email communications. It also means optimising your site for mobile search results, which are most often local searches as well.
Stay on top of trends by following our blog and also keeping up with us on our social media channels. We strive to provide you with excellent marketing advice so that you can be successful with all of your marketing campaigns in addition to promotional products. If you are interested in other news about digital marketing trends, check out our blog post on the state of internet marketing.
If you require further information or have any specific questions, don’t hesitate to give a member of the GoPromotional team a call on 0800 0148 970 or simply email us today.
