Mobile Engagement, Proximity Messaging, and More: Future Trends in Digital Marketing

Attention digital marketers: As you contemplate your company’s marketing strategies for the coming year and beyond, be sure to read Forbes contributor Sujan Patel’s six predictions for 2015. Patel formulated this roundup after consulting with 20 seasoned marketing experts about the changing digital marketing landscape, and quotes from them liberally throughout. Here are the highlights from Five Channels:

The #1 prediction about the state of digital marketing in 2015? “Content Will Be More Important Than Ever.” Brands across all industries are expected to increase their efforts to provide more substantive content on their own websites with an eye toward educating their target audience/customers.

Prediction #2: “Marketing channels will be even more connected.” Marketers will be able to track the “buyer’s journey” across channels to get a clearer picture of an individual’s engagement every step of the way, from the time s/he first shows an interest (by clicking on an ad, say) to when s/he becomes a paying customer. In order to do this sort of technology-enhanced digital marketing successfully, marketing and IT departments will have to work more closely together.

Prediction #3: “Mobile will take over.” It will become more and more important for companies to be able to track how customers are engaging with their brand on their mobile devices, and, whether and when and how that mobile engagement translates into sales on other devices (like the home computer) and offline. Here Patel quotes William Harris, Marketing Manager for When I Work: “I think that wearable tech will surge (Apple Watch, Athos, etc.)—and this surge will put an even greater emphasis on mobile for many companies. There will be more integration of technology with our daily lives and habits—which means more chances of hitting me with hyper-relevant messages when they actually matter, and even less effectiveness of broad message blasts.”

Which leads right into Patel’s prediction #4: “Marketing campaigns will be more data-driven and more hyper-targeted.” As Fuelzee CEO and Founder Dan McGaw notes, proximity messaging will take off: “With so many mobile payments options that track your purchases, location and everything else about you, I expect to see targeted messaging based on who, what and where I am. ‘Hey Dan, don’t forget to pickup Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes,’ goes the push notification from my iPhone as I walk into the grocery store.”

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