Nothing drives the changing marketing landscape faster than technology. As marketers compete in an ever-evolving world, staying ahead of the game means keeping tabs on the latest and greatest technology trends. The competition is already anticipating the next big thing. An inside look into the next big technology trends prevents marketers from losing ground to their competitors. While the marketing fundamentals never change, activating those fundamentals is always a work in progress. Here to help you prepare for success in a changing technology landscape, Linx presents the top ten marketing trends to anticipate in 2015.
1. Consumers possess the power and influence.
In 2014, the marketing landscape favored the companies and brands with the best stories. The rise of content marketing relinquished power to the storyteller and as a result, brands began acting more as publishers than actual companies. In 2015, the marketing landscape will once again take a dramatic shift: this time towards transparency. The consumer will become the new master, possessing the power and influence once granted to the storyteller. With the consumer in mind, smart marketers will embrace transparency to deliver an accurate and real time picture at any given time.
2. Simple is the new smart.
Vertical silos – by geography, product or function – are so 2014. The endless arrangement of new vertical silos notorious to modern marketing companies is far too complex to succeed in 2015. Forward thinking marketers will bust down any and all vertical silos hindering their ability to work more closely with free-flowing ideas. The future of marketing is holistic. It requires an overarching view of your value propositions integrating messages and insights across business units, geographies and functional groups. To put it simply: simple is the new smart in 2015.
3. The marketing technologist is born.
There’s a difference between digital marketing and marketing in a digital world. In 2015, companies will succeed by adopting the latter – and who better to lead the way than the marketing technologist? The marketing technologist combines the DNA of a digital marketer and the technology acumen of a disruptive innovator. As integrated teams develop and apply marketing strategies the world has never seen before, the marketing technologist will integrate seamlessly with those teams and play a vital role.
4. Agile marketing breeds success.
What is agility marketing? It’s optimizing your campaigns for the elusive consumer with short-term thinking: the end product spawned by the rise of social media. It’s no secret that social media created a dramatic shift in campaign metrics. Today, marketers measure performance by the number of Facebook likes, Twitter Tweets, Google +1s and other immediate metrics. As big data climbs in 2015, so will faster adaption, shorter lead times and always-on, real-time marketing. The new focal point for marketing winners will be what happens over the next hour or so – not in the next month or quarter.
5. Media agencies rise to the occasion.
Creativity is the new currency of effective media placement. The strict and narrow media-facing recommendations of the past will give way to new consumer-facing campaigns. Strategically placed at the meeting point between technology and the consumer, more media agencies in 2015 will partner with clients than ever before, even more so than creative agencies. The intersection of big data and technology will push creative agencies aside, making room for the more math-driven media agencies.
6. Hispanic agencies reach the mainstream.
Hispanics account for 56% of the total U.S. population growth in the last decade. Encompassing 17% of the U.S. population, Hispanics now possess more than $1 trillion in purchasing power – a number expected to grow 80% faster than non-Hispanics by 2017. The marginalization of Hispanic ad agencies among marketers will disappear as the industry begins paying more attention to this rapidly growing demographic. With a potential reach that extends far beyond its own demographic, Hispanic agencies will reach the mainstream in 2015.
7. Personal campaigns surpass global campaigns.
Technology has connected the world more than ever before. Today, personalization is transforming the way marketers approach global brands. As marketing becomes more regionalized, localized and individualized, companies will decentralize their structures in 2015. Personalization was once a marketing trend. As 2014 comes to an end, the now marketing tsunami will be here to stay, surpassing global campaigns across the board.
8. Marketing procurement carries more clout.
As companies strive for accountability and transparency, many will partner with marketing procurement to remove internal roadblocks in the way of optimized agency operations and improved efficiencies. Companies today maintain a cautious financial stance, which will continue into 2015 as CMOs, CIOs, CTOs and CFOs focus on more than just fee negotiations. As a result, the overall power of marketing procurement will continue to rise well into the next year.
9. Internal communications top the priority list.
The lines between internal communications and marketing will continue to blur in 2015. Soon recognized as an important marketing asset, brands will transform internal communications into brand ambassadors on par with the overall vision and strategy for the company. Simply knowing the brand will fall by the wayside. Employees and vendors in 2015 will learn to understand and live the brand, opening the doors to exciting new challenges and marketing opportunities.
10. Digital marketing economics further challenge brands.
Today, companies understand content is native to the digital marketing world. With content creation climbing closer to the top of every digital marketer’s priority list, new challenges will emerge in scaling content with a focus on economics. The quest to build brands through content in 2015 will find its way into the monetary budgets of companies from all industries.
Linx is more…
Than a marketing consultancy. More than “marketing advice” – Linx can test, pull back and adjust, perform risk/reward calculations and implement a plethora of our own market-driven business strategies. Contact us today for a market driven business strategy to succeed in 2015…and beyond.
