The internet has influenced almost sphere of our lives. It has profoundly impacted the world of marketing. Marketing is largely done over the internet today. The techniques of online marketing are constantly evolving. Many methods that used to work earlier are no longer effective and have been replaced by better methods. For example, nowadays, businesses prefer to publish original content instead of embedding advertisements inside external content. This tactic offers several benefits like audience growth and branding.
The year 2014 has brought with it more competition among businesses. The success of a business this year depends largely on the online marketing methods the business practices. This article highlights the key online marketing trends to rule 2014.
Content Marketing would Hold Great Importance:
One of the major ways used by companies to gain trust of consumers and establish authority is creating useful content consistently through numerous channels. The content usually includes relevant industry information, which offers entertainment or insight to the audience. Such a method enables companies to build rapport with consumers and create a loyal following. As stated by the “Content Marketing Institute”, the top strategies for B2B content marketing are posting articles and videos on other sites, case studies, eNewsletters, posting articles on another business’s website and social media.
The use of theses channels allows a business to create a good reputation within its industry. In the present era, marketing through techniques like radio ads and television ads are gradually becoming less effective. Now, it is better to focus on inbound marketing. Businesses should produce engaging and valuable content designed specifically for the target audience.
Greater Diversity is needed in Social Media Marketing:
Till the last few years, companies used only a limited number of social media networks for their marketing campaigns. These networks mainly included Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. However, now several new social media networks have appeared. Digital Marketing Agencies Leeds, suggest businesses to use some of the major new social sites like Instagram, Tumblr, Google+ and Pinterest. These sites have gained huge popularity. Businesses can now create engaging content in various media forms and get the attention of audiences through more channels than before. This diversification has proved to be fruitful for businesses and is likely to do so in the near future.
Image-Centric Content would dominate:
Since consumers are offered a huge number of advertisements these days, it is important to create content such that it is quickly and easily understood. All the major social media sites lay emphasis on images. Image-based content has led to the success of many sites like Pinterest and Buzzfeed.
Blog posts, which get maximum social shares, also contain relevant pictures placed at proper places within the content, to break up the content and illustrate certain points better. Infographics also forms a good example, which includes several images with minimum text for explaining something, and providing data or statistical information from research studies.
Simplicity and Clarity would Rule:
Consumers prefer simplistic marketing messages more than in-depth messages. Some of the famous brands like Google and Apple give great value to simplicity. Even Pinterest is preferred because it is clean and uncluttered. Consumers nowadays are irritated by the huge information and thousands of advertisements that constantly demand the viewer’s attention. Hence, innovative marketers are toning down their marketing messages so as not to overwhelm the viewer with hype.
Conclusion:
These are the major trends in internet marketing for the year 2014. Knowledge about these trends would help businesses to design their marketing strategies more efficiently. Marketing methods designed after considering these trends would prove to be fruitful for companies certainly.
Editor’s Note: Eva Jenny is a guest blogger who loves to write on marketing trends. She suggests companies to seek the assistance of Digital Marketing Agencies Leeds for implementing effective internet marketing techniques.
