According to Forbes Online, there are 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2014. Jaysen Myers, the contributing author, gives his view of these trends, but we will take a different spin here in this article.

1. Content marketing will be bigger than ever. This author disagrees. Content marketing has never been an effective audience-building tool in and of itself. Nor has it been particularly effective at engaging audiences. Content marketing will continue to be a priority because it is a necessary component of an online footprint. But the trend here really should more how to use content to engage audiences. The keyword is engage.
2. Social media marketing will require more diversity. Again, this author disagrees. Most brands have yet to master even a single social platform. Rather than diversify their social footprint, the trend will likely see brands pulling back on some platforms such as YouTube, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest, and focusing more on mastering Facebook and Twitter. When those two are done well, the rest fall in line. If those two are in chaos, the rest will be equally chaotic.
3. Image centric content will rule. This author agrees with this trend. It is a long-established best practice that image and video content increases the engagement with social posts. I predict that the use of memes by brands will increase in 2014. “I don’t always use images in my post, but when I do…..”
4. Less will be more. Less is always more. Consumers don’t read. They skim. Consumers don’t watch. They glimpse. Learning to master the skimmer and the glimpser are key to success. Brands are getting better at it and will continue to do so in 2014.
5. Mobile friendly content will be necessary. This is an undrstatement akin to “oxygen is crucial to life on earth.” Mobile traffic accounts for 17.4% of total web usage (Mashable, August 2013). With responsive web design now the gold standard, and CMS platforms such as WordPress making responsive themes almost a requirement, there is really no excuse at all for not accounting for mobile traffic. In 2014, the lack of a mobile site will represent a downgrade in your credibility in the eyes of your consumer.
6. Ad retargeting will grow in effectiveness. Psychological studies that have shown that simple exposure to brand names and logos creates familiarity, which builds trust and makes consumers more likely to make a purchase. So, showing an ad to a consumer repeatedly and on different web sites of similar topics, called retargeting, is an obviously attractive tactic. A kissing cousin to retargeting is behavioral targeting, which should also see some uptick in 2014.
7. SEO and social signals will become even more intertwined. In the old days, you had a web site. Then you had a web site and blog. Then you had a web site and a blog and Facebook page. Now, you have an online footprint, which is to include your web site, blog, social profiles, ratings listings, press articles and media coverage- the whole ball of wax. The whole mass is managed as a single entity with numerous moving parts. All of this impacts your SEO efforts.

Online marketing has come a long way from your basic banner ads. It is now viewed as an aggregate mixture of everything you do and say online. Technology is improving and making it all easier to manage. And that’s perhaps the greatest trend for 2014- the ability and willingness of brands to manage their online presence.

For more information about Online Marketing Trends for 2014, contact our law marketing experts at 1-800-877-2776.

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