List of Emerging Marketing Trends in 2013 and 2014

Before we get into the emerging trends in marketing, 2014, we thought it would be interesting to do a flashback.  Let us look at what trend-spotters noted for 2013.  After all, you need to know where you have come from to see where you are going.  We have provided the trends in lists.  You will note that many of the trends overlap among our cited sources.  The titles of the articles are provided in the screen tips of the active hyperlinks to the original articles:

2013

DCustom.com	Eloqua.com	SocialMediaToday.com	MarketingProfs.com	CMO.com
Re-Emergence of Experiential Content	Social media distribution is booming	Demand for Online Marketing, will continue to increase	Employee Advocacy and Social Selling: Convenience; Compliance; and, Credit	Digital Wallet Creeps Forward
Tailored Consumer Content Experience	“Year of big data”	Content is King	Content Marketing	Big Data Gets Real
Alignment of mobile business and content strategy	B2B mobile, still lagging behind	Cross-Platform Marketing will come into its Own	Mobile and Consumerization	Social Media Grows up
Fusion of social media practices	Code is king	The Rise of Big Data	Big Data	Mobility Matures
Newsjacking	Rapid emergence of content creation services and software	Further Improvement of Analytics	Agile Marketing and the Principles of Agile Marketing	Real-Time Media Buying Takes Hold
Content curation bonanza	Direct mail: set to make a return	Internet Marketers moving away from PPC		Organizations Learn Better to Identify Marketing Pivot Points
Micro-stories	Marketers will carry other sales-oriented responsibilities	A Mobile Word		QR Codes Get Real
Video Engagement	Internet marketers are abandoning PPC tactics	Expansionism of ‘Local Search’		Reputation Management Joins the Big Leagues
Marketing spend shift	Engaging UX, transpiring B2B			Greenwashing Subsides
Create once, publish everywhere – again				Intrapreneurialism Grows

 

 2014

Forbes.com	Kula Blog	TopTenSocialMedia.com	B2B Marketing Insider	IDG Direct
Increase in location-based marketing	Contextual marketing	Trendjacking – Native Advertising on steroids	Content Marketing	More focus on mobile
Customer-Centric Information	Increased Expectation Levels for Quality Content	The ‘MySpace Comeback’	Big Data Marketing (personalization)	Social Media : A Necessity
Cognitive computing	Inbound marketing will become ubiquitous	Google Plus Gains Momentum	Marketing Technology	Value Creation for content Marketing
Visual Influencers	Determine the key metrics – often deceiving	Ubiquitous Hashtaggery : the new form of SEO	Real-Time Marketing : Be in the moment	Increased Dependence on Technology
Advocacy – Impactful Advertising	Mobile use will surpass desktop and tablets usage	The Proliferation of Video Marketing	Social Business Strategy : (social selling + content marketing + personal brand activation)	Power of the B2B Buyer
Creative ways of reaching consumers who prioritize privacy	New Social Media Landscape – new kids on the block; the cool kids aren’t so cool anymore	Mobile 24/7/365	HR as the marketer for the employer brand
Smartphones & Tablets: the new Desktop	Agile Marketing – start-ups to enterprise	Digital 8 Ball	Lead attribution and marketing mix analysis to drive platform analysis (web, social, mobile)
Pay-to-play (an aspect of Native Advertising	Rise of the short video	More Money, More Selling Power
Data King : Social Media Platform Vortex		LinkedIn for B2B
Tapping into Wearable Technology Data		Contest for Marketing: Rewarding Participation and Purchasing.
More Engagement of End-Users
Cloud-focused: Painful Data-drops
The Great Native Advertising

 

Some of the biggest differences we can view between 2013 and 2014 are:

• The increase in location-based marketing / customer-centric information / cognitive computing

This can be attributed to the proliferation of apps created to make individuals lives easier and thus more fluid as they navigate through their personal and wider commercial interests.  For example, the development of applications utilizing the GPS on your phone, such as transit apps for various cities and districts like Moovit, Google Maps, RocketMan and Transit, just to name a few.  As well as applications suggested to you over Google, when are you are, for example, looking for the nearest bank you do business with, or suggestions for apps to help you find the nearest eatery in your area or projected location such as Yelp.  I have also seen on the subways in Toronto, marketing advertisements for the Yellow Page application.

• The “MySpace Comeback”

This seems like quite a long shot, but then again, who knew Facebook would have lost popularity in 2014.

• Visual Influencers / The Proliferation of Video Marketing / Advocacy – Impactful Advertising

As many of the articles we cited state, videos are carving out in a niche in the field of marketing and advertising.  While marketers are using the same to marketing the products in creative, impactful, emotional and visually appealing, and amusing fashion such as Apple’s Holiday ad on the joys of purchasing the products to capture quirky, special family moments; Samsung’s past and recent advertisements making mocking Apple users; the over 30 million-hit tongue-and-cheek YouTube video entitled, “First Moon Party,” marketing feminine products for young girls.  Individuals have also taken to the video advertising market, spreading the word about their talents (upcoming musicians (Veoh – on a side note, some artists have chosen not to put out albums and go on marketing campaigns, leveraging tools already at their disposal such as YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn (yes, LinkedIn), Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, just to name a few), dancers, poets (Def Jam Poetry); their passions and their political views and/or non-profit organizations, and advocacy for various causes, and political/social movements (wars, famines, racism, religious discrimination, and various rights or lack thereof for minority and/or marginalized/stereotyped communities).  This is also heightened by our notation of the “Ubiquitous Hashtaggery: the new form of SEO,” where marketers and amateurs alike can follow the progress of their posts whether personal or part of something more professional at the same is shared across various platforms, especially with the advent of Google Plus gaining popularity, and applications such as Aljazeera’s, The Stream (there’s an app for that as well).  Not to mention Google searches now returning results for the specific geographic locations searched for or projected.

• LinkedIn for B2B

This is a great topic and a wonderful development.  See this most recent article on this topic.

• HR as the marketer for the employer brand.

This projection was spot on, and will continue to ring true throughout the rest of 2014, going forward.

Not only are potential employees eager to be liked and to be hired, but employers are eager to be liked, too, and to hire.  However, in the midst of locating the best talent and locating the top talent, it appears that some HR professionals may embellish, a little.  Note the sometimes deceiving words and deceiving phrases like “great benefits,” “everyone wants to work here,” “low turnover,” “someone who can hit-the-ground-running,” etc.