Digital Marketing Going In To 2014: 7 Must-Know Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore

1. Creating a brand is synonymous with quality.

In the early days of the Internet, it was easy to win the search engine war by spamming it to death, allowing you to gain the upper hand in your market. Those days are long gone.

Going in to 2014, the future of business is dependent on delivering quality both in digital marketing and beyond. Anyone can create a company; not everyone has what it takes to create a brand.

2. Outbound marketing is no longer taboo.

That is, if you do it well. The best thing your company can do is to forgo traditional advertising in favor of generating unique, useful content. Great content adds value, and in the end, value is what consumers crave.

3. Value can come through despite the limitations of a medium.

Sure, Vine only gives you a few seconds to put together a video. Yes, you’re limited to 140 characters on Twitter, and to your annoyance, that content you shared on Snapchat will ultimately self-destruct.

Don’t look at it as problem. Instead, realize that these mediums enable you the luxury of endless creativity to create a moment that is memorable to your viewers. Unique, educational, funny… the only real limitations are those you impose.

4. Customer service trumps merely being on social media.

Social media marketing isn’t going anywhere, however, how you use it will change. A business grows with new customers, but when you’re thinking about marketing strategy, it’s the customers you already have that you’ll want to focus on. Let your clients know just how important they are and ultimately, action on their part translates to new clients and increased revenue.

5. Business intelligence trumps traditional advertising.

Technology growth has enabled us to place even more of an emphasis on efficiency, best practice, and measuring success. By creating marketing strategy that incorporates business savvy intelligence, you’re placing yourself in the position of being ready for the business world of the future.

6. Say hello to location-based marketing.

The technology has been around for a while (think Foursquare, Yelp, etc…) however, location-based marketing is still relatively new. By using location data and placing more of an emphasis on mobile marketing, the ability to interact with your customers in a way to which they’ll best respond translates to a win-win for both parties.

7. Partnering with experts, influencers and/or celebrities.

For small to medium sized businesses, reaching out and establishing connections with influencers translates to the ability to expand the reach of their audience. In turn, influencers and experts are able to do the same. Leveraging credibility and collaborating with other brands offers the potential to open doors you may not have previously considered.