With 2014 just around the corner, many trends have come to light to help marketers facilitate the use of various technologies and strategies. The New Year is already proving to be a big one, with hot topics ranging from the Winter Olympics and FIFA World Cup to speculated product launches like the Apple TV set. All of this buzz is making it increasingly difficult for marketers to not only get their voices heard, but to also create positive brand perceptions and drive significant ROI.  Absolute Marketing Group constantly monitors how consumers are demanding their information, and researching trends that allow us to best utilize the tools at our disposal.

We have found out some interesting marketing insights about to take hold in the not-so-distant future. 

EDUCATION OVER CONVERSATION

With so much information being transferred over the Internet and social media outlets I turned to a few helpful resources to gain insight on how digital media will be utilized in the upcoming year. Aaron Aders of Inc.com addressed three important trends for content usage in 2014 including:

1. A greater focus on educating your consumer.

2. Increasing your brand power with consistent content distribution.

3. Heightening employee awareness of your companies’ social media governance.

These points outline the way that information is presented on the Web, and put a great emphasis on monitoring how to use digital and other social mediums to enhance your brand. Content distribution and education feed directly into the way social media collateral is presented, with research showing that conversation and creating awareness isn’t enough anymore. The most effective campaigns need to educate consumers rather than just inform, thus enter in the new wave called Content Marketing.

NOT PLANNING – NOT AN OPTION

As easy as it sounds, Content Marketing only works if you have the proper Content Strategy. I heard this quote early on in college,“Proper planning yields proportionate performance” and it seemed to stick with me over the years. Looking ahead to 2014, greater emphasis seems to be placed on the role that strategic marketing initiatives have on the overall success to a business. Examining this quote shows that the positive results are in direct proportion to the amount of effort that is put into the early stages of any strategy.

USER EXPERIENCE IS A MUST

Similarly, MyCustomer.com outlined a variety of strategic trends that are going to become more and more prevalent in 2014. Dr. Dave Chaffey, CEO and co-founder of the online marketing advisory site Smart Insight, shared his expert opinion in collaboration with MyCustomer.com as to what 2014 would bring in the way of marketing strategies. He mentioned there is a need for strategies to outline the tasks necessary to accomplish a firm’s objectives and when followed have yielded a greater importance in content integration.

Brands need to create a total package that goes beyond relevant products, and includes the relationships they create with consumers online, in person and ultimately answers to the questions of “how.” How is success measured? How should this be implemented? How is information gathered? There has been a shift from what marketers think “will” work, to gaining greater insight into “how” various strategies actually work. Content Strategy and Content Marketing are on the forefront of answering these questions for 2014.