A summary of the most prevalent digital marketing trends - a quick and easy read!

1. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
Christine Bombal
18 July 2014
Digital marketing trends

2. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
Intro
•Digital marketing landscape is changing constantly - new tools, technologies and platforms are continuously being introduced that subsequently shift marketing strategies
•Digital marketing has no boundaries - it encompasses devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, game consoles, televisions, digital billboards, SEO (search engine optimisation) and media such as social media, videos, content, email and lots more
•Marketing messages need to get smarter and more simplistic - consumers are overloaded with information
•Some consumer segments are not responding to traditional marketing like they used to
•Digital marketing can only succeed when it puts the user at the centre of all engagements
•Emerging global best practice is to shift 10-15% of advertising budget into digital marketing, with some companies even doing 20%
•Here are some global and local digital marketing trends that I’ve noticed:
1.Social media marketing soars
2.We know where you are! Location-based marketing
3.Content has a new kingdom
4.The web goes visual
5.Cross-screen marketing
6.Convergence
7.Marketing in real-time
8.Digital advertising gets even more competitive
9.More mobile
10.Meaningful measurement
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3. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
1. Social media marketing soars
•Steady global and local increases in user volumes on social media networks
•It’s no longer only Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn - although these are the most popular, networks such as Pinterest, Google+ and Instagram are on the rise
•More marketers are capitalising on this growth - they are establishing a significant presence to build their brand and connect with potential customers
•Social signals have proved to be important for search rankings and building reputation, so businesses are not only thinking of not Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+ but also Instagram, Pinterest and smaller networks that are each carving a unique niche for themselves
•Paid advertising will also increase, particularly on Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn
•Sophisticated demographic targeting
•Promoted tweets and sponsored stories for better targeting and user engagement
•Good for gauging responses to traditional media like TVCs
•“Viral” ads get good reach
•Advertising around memes provide entertainment and fun

4. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
2. We know where you are!
Location-based marketing
•Consumers are much more on the move and they have their smartphones with them
•91% of adult mobile phone owners have their devices within arm's reach 24/7 and location-based marketing could exploit this massively
•The use of GPS technology to deliver multimedia content tailored to the geographical location straight to the customer’s mobile device
•Cater more specifically to users’ needs, advertising/communicating relevant to their context
•Search advertising tailors results based on location (KFC example here)
•Apps identify location and recommend stores and products closest to you
•Already there are social apps such as Ban.jo, Path and Foursquare that provide vital consumer data
•Wifi and blue-tooth technology can track location inside a building and deliver position-accurate advertising

5. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
3. Content has a new kingdom
Content marketing
•More marketers are understanding the value in moving away from purely promotional messaging and instead focus on delivering new valuable content, opening the door for more connective messaging
•The creation, curation and sharing of content for marketing purposes – NOT advertising!
•The underlying objective is to enhance or change consumer behaviour through engagement
•Goals are brand awareness, lead conversion, retention and loyalty
•Mainly infographics, eNewsletters, case studies and white papers
•Give away good content in exchange for personal details or marketing opt ins

6. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
3. Content has a new kingdom
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Custom content delivery
•More brands will take on the role of publisher and producer - creating dynamic, content- driven sites that provide information that consumers are looking for
•By using predictive data that generates unique content for their audiences, brands will offer a complete experience and build relationships
•Aim is to increase conversion
Content curation – emerging trend
•Content is filtered and customised information platforms are curated by users according to their needs
•Users tweak the feeds by retailers and businesses according to their own interests by using apps
•Pinterest is a good example, with amazing curation possibilities, but List.ly and Quora are other websites that help users arrange and aggregate content
•Content curation can provide potential customers with greater engagement with a business
•Marketers can increase the relevancy of their marketing since users can arrange the posted content according to what suits them

7. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
4. The web goes visual
Video marketing
•Video marketing is already popular but it will get even more so
•A short video clip is able to convey a message much more effectively than static ads can
•Sites like YouTube are popular and we've seen the introduction of other video platforms, such as Vine, while Instagram and other apps have added video components
•Videos are increasingly being watched on mobile devices
•Interactive video experiences are emerging, e.g. accessing social media or online shopping from within a video
•By generating content that speaks to multiple senses, marketers can create unique experiences that engage audiences and create more powerful connections with their brands
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8. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
4. The web goes visual
Expressing data & content visually
•Images create the experience and text plays second fiddle, adding a bit of context
•The visual web is Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and your Facebook news feed, but it’s also the content you’re creating, sharing and watching
• Three key insights for brands:
1.Be prepared to invest in visuals – they are more expensive than reams of copy
2.Create a story for your audience – make sure your graphs and pictures have enough context so users understand what you are trying to tell them
3.Keep the User Experience in mind – how they move between text and visuals and what you need them to do next

9. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
5. Cross-screen marketing
•The TV screen is no longer only screen
•More tech-savvy customers consume media through more than one screen at a time
•Laptops, smart phones & tablets bidding for attention
•Not competing devices aimed at replacing TV screen - the challenge is to unite these screens into a complementary experience
•Multi-screen activities represent a fundamental shift in how consumers interact with content and brands
•By creating integrated campaigns across multiple screens (TV, tablet, mobile, desktop or interactive screens at retail locations or near the point of sale) marketers can target consumers with one or more device, but also reach people without smartphones
•Cross-platform media buys are key to engaging multiscreen consumers - media planning and television buys should be adjusted to include second-screen devices
•Multi-screen use is evolving at a rapid rate and has already expanded beyond early adopters

10. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
6. Convergence
Media continue to converge
•Paid, earned and owned media continue to collapse into blended forms of marketing
•TV, OOH, signage and other forms of media are more digital as well, allowing owned content and forms of shared media such as tweets to circulate freely through the media ecosystem
Breaking down silos
•Media converging, a greater emphasis on content marketing, native advertising, real-time marketing and other blended forms of marketing means teams must collaborate more than ever before
•Goal alignment, resource sharing and content portability rarely happens internally, much less with vendor and agency partners, unless barriers and divisions are smashed
•Silos must be abolished now!
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Interoperability
•Apps, gadgets and devices are becoming seamlessly interoperable
•For instance, a personal fitness monitor smoothly syncs with Android phone, laptop computer, iPad, a loyalty card, stand-alone weight and food trackers, and social media accounts
•All of this is available at the flick of preference radio buttons.
•The days of "either/or" customer experience are over - customers expect seamlessness from their digital interactions
•Evaluate what this means for messaging and user experience

11. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
7. Marketing in real-time
•Real-time marketing is marketing that is based on up-to-date events – the strategy and practice of reacting with immediacy in digital channels
•The goal of real time marketing is to connect consumers with the product or service that they need now, in the moment
•As more channels and media operate in real-time and as real-time events such as television converge with digital channels on mobile and social media platforms, virtually all marketers will be challenged to define a real-time marketing strategy and to determine what real-time means for their organisation and marketing efforts
•Instead of creating a marketing plan in advance and executing it according to a fixed schedule, real time marketing is creating a strategy focused on current, relevant trends and immediate feedback from customers
•Businesses can gather up-to-date information on their target audience and within minutes, they can convert that info into a marketing message to be shared
•People want to be a part of the latest trend or newest fad - when companies strategically structure their advertisements to reflect a current event, craze or meme, their product or service may become more appealing to consumers

12. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
8. Digital advertising gets even more competitive
Native advertising will surge
•Native advertising is a method where the advertiser attempts to gain attention by providing content in the context of the user's experience
•Native ad formats match the form and function of the user experience where they are placed
•The advertiser's intent is to make the paid advertising feel less intrusive and thus increase the likelihood users will click on it - a native ad tends to be less obviously an ad (in traditional advertising, one can liken it to an advertorial that looks like an article)
•Examples include Search advertising (ads appearing alongside search results are native to the search experience) and Twitter with promoted Tweets, trends and people, Facebook's promoted stories or Tumblr's promoted posts
•Content marketing is a form of native advertising, placing sponsor-funded content alongside editorial content or showing "other content you might be interested in" sponsored by a marketer alongside editorial recommendations
Paid search advertising innovation
•Paid search advertising is becoming much more competitive
•Competition is driving up keyword prices as more companies move online
•Response rates are decreasing, so one must innovate
•Mobile paid search is escalating rapidly
•Yahoo and Bing are gaining ground as is YouTube search
•Remarketing lists allow for customised targeting of higher value customers
•Separate bidding, ads and keywords possible for different devices e.g. PC, Tablet and Smartphone
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13. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
8. Digital advertising gets even more competitive
Remarketing or Ad Re-targeting
•First time visitors to business websites mostly do not become customers
•Retargeting is emerging as an essential element of digital marketing
•Remarketing helps marketers target potential customers who visited their site but failed to convert
•It helps them display their products or services on websites they may potentially visit
Display marketing
•Click through rates (CTR) are generally low and decreasing
•Well-designed ads strategically placed and where the user is primed for interaction
•Ongoing monitoring and optimisation is non-negotiable
•Conversion of leads & relative cost per acquisition are more important than the absolute CTR
•CPM (cost per thousand impressions) has gone down and pricing models have become more flexible, more pressure on performance
•Remarketing and more sophisticated demographic targeting
•Rich media and video are trying to break through the attention barrier
•Pushdowns, flyouts, takeovers, popups, popunders and full page ads are being used to grab attention and triggered by intention cues like hovering or closing a tab or window
•More focus on reporting and delivery of agreed outcomes
•More sophistication around the contribution of display advertising to overall campaign success as opposed to last interaction measurement (e.g. a user saw an ad, then searched, clicked on search advertising)
•Is a campaign to generate leads, brand awareness, consideration or engagement?
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“I was followed around on the web by a pair of red stilletto’s after my daughter used my computer” 

14. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
9. More mobile
•Yes, we hear this every year, but there really is more mobile 
•"Mobile first" is no longer a hollow mantra - it's really, actually true
•More smartphones and tablets are being sold than PCs and laptops, and mobile commands more consumer time
•This means new experiences and media strategies, as well as more content, real-time and native in marketing plans
•Mobile search and browsing is escalating incrementally
•Click through rates are generally higher on mobile
•Augmented reality connects real world information to digital content
•On-site researching and comparison of products
•Marketing on location-based services ideal for phones
•In-app advertising
•Brand apps allow companies to deliver advertising, product and transaction capability to mobile devices
•Design email campaigns to be viewed on mobile
•Design for smaller touch screen devices
•Layout, text and graphics should be optimised for mobile
•Users tap and swipe, not click
•Messages should be kept short and to the point

15. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
10. Meaningful measurement
•Everything in digital is measurable. Agreed?
•But is it? Everything is measurable, but not necessarily right out of the box!
•There are still some grey areas… Publisher metrics are applied to native advertising campaigns even though the goals may be different… Last interaction metrics are still rife… Way too much is measured in terms of loosely defined "engagement“… Is it just too early to apply hard-and-fast, unalterable metrics to brand new stuff we're all still trying to figure out?
•Lots of measurement and reporting of absolute numbers, e.g. number of clicks, visits, number of likes, number of followers, number of retweets. Marketers need to evolve this into:
•Relative reporting, e.g. performance relative to other marketing channels, competitors and benchmarks
•Goal-oriented reporting, e.g. sales, leads, sign-ups (the number of clicks it took you to get there is not an outcome in itself)
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16. Digital marketing trends - Christine Bombal 18 July 2014
Thank you