The digital marketing landscape of 2015 is going to look considerably different than before, so now is the ideal time to prepare your business marketing for the coming year. Early implementation of your new digital marketing campaign can give you a head start in 2015!
Adjust Your Website for the Mobile Market
Digital marketing for the mobile market will be absolute priority in 2015, so adjusting your website early is definitely recommended. Your business website will have to be very user-friendly for mobile users, if this is not the case, you will experience serious penalties in the Google search engine.
In order to make your website mobile-friendly, use a simplistic website design. Complex websites will take a lot longer to load on mobile devices and will turn customers away! Websites should also have larger fonts, so they are easier to read on smaller devices. Bigger buttons and sufficient space between links are an absolute necessity as well, because these are some parameters that Google will use to evaluate your website.
The Importance of Headers
No matter how you look at it, headers will be very important for mobile users. Titles, subject lines and headers are the first thing your potential customers will see, so it is critical to use these to their maximum potential.
Use headers that are creative and compelling, seducing readers to find out more. If you are directing your digital marketing for smart phone users, pay more attention to the pre-header. The pre-header is the first thing that these users will see, so originality will be in order.
Another useful tool to attract mobile-users is the call to action. Using clickable calls to action and making sure that these stand out from other text, will ensure more traffic to your business website.
Responsive Email Designs
Businesses that use email marketing often, should consider implementing the so-called responsive email designs or RED. The responsive designed emails are becoming increasingly more popular and are considered very user-friendly for mobile users.
The creation of a responsive email design might need a professional, so contact the digital marketing agency of your choice to make one for you.
Invest in Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms have been an important tool for many businesses these past few years. The social media platforms made it easy for companies to get in contact with their target groups and pull some more clients on their website and it looks like the social media platform has not lost his magic yet, since they will play a very important role in the digital marketing campaign of 2015.
Companies who haven’t got a social media page yet, should start this very second! Social media platforms will play a crucial role in search engine rankings and connects your business with thousands of potential clients.
Using Large Fonts
Due to the fact that digital marketing in 2015 will be more directed towards the mobile user, it is very important to use large fonts throughout your social media page. The customization on many social media pages is quite limited and the majority will also automatically adjust their fonts for mobile-users. The level of adjustment will depend on the social media platforms you will create a business account on.
Stand Out
There are thousands of businesses who use social media platforms, so you will need to stand out from the rest in order to get clients from your social media pages. Even though customization may be limited on some social media platforms, there are some things you can change to stand out a little more.
Always use a banner above your social media page. The banner is an option you get if you join social media pages like Twitter or Facebook. A banner can capture the attention of your prospective clients and can also create a certain atmosphere on your page. What are the core values you want to communicate to your customers? Do you want to show efficiency, speed, quality or trustworthiness? All of these things will contribute to the actual design of your social media page.
Analyze Target Groups
Social media pages will give you an extra opportunity to research your target groups. When people show an interest in your company, they will join your social media page. Followers gives you the opportunity to research your existing target group and discover additional way to market your product and/or service.
Quality over Quantity
The digital marketing campaign of 2015 will no longer need large amounts of content that basically say nothing. People are interested in valuable content, instead of useless contents that just links back to your business.
Succeeding in 2015 will only be possible if you release articles with decent content. Write about new developments in your industry, the products and/or service you offer and what they can do for your customers. People will only buy something when they actually need it, so play on that need in the market.
Choose more than one form of digital marketing
There are countless methods that businesses can use to digitally market their product. Many businesses make the mistake to limit themselves to one or just two digital marketing methods, however, all digital marketing methods will be connected one way or the other in 2015. As a business, you will no longer have one source for digital marketing, but rather a collection of sources.
In order to prepare yourself properly for the coming year, it is essential to look into various methods of digital marketing. Businesses can take advantage of pay-per-click advertisements, email marketing, content marketing, social media networking and much more.
Branding
Branding will be the most important aspect of your new digital marketing campaign. Bottom line is that not a single company can succeed nowadays without a good brand. A brand ensures that people remember you and also creates trust with new clients. If you haven’t got a brand yet, you need to create on right away! Branding will not only give you more sales, but can take your business to the next level. A good brand also opens door for useful business relations and new connections.
Core Values
Before you create your brand, you will need to determine the core values of your company. These values will determine everything about your design, including the colors, shapes and even font type.
Some good examples of core values are: quality, trustworthiness, care, speed, cheap and professional. According to the core values you choose, you can select the specifics for your brand.
Logo
The logo is a vital part of your brand and is often one of the first things that will be created for your brand. Everything about your logo will be important though, the color, the shape and even the font you will use (if applicable).
Certain colors convey certain feelings, for example blue indicates a professional company opposed to green which indicates trust. The selection of your colors is extremely important and you should hire a digital marketing company to create a logo and even brand for you. Digital marketing experts have years of experience with the creation of brands and can certainly deliver a valuable product to you.
Whatever you do, do not choose any of the pre-made logos that are on the internet. There are other entrepreneurs that pick a quick logo instead of a designed logo and often find that others had the same idea. The creation of a brand simply cannot come off the ground when you choose a pre-made logo.
Use of Colors and Shapes
Colors and shapes might not seem that important when you create your website, it only needs to look good, but many businesses make the crucial mistake here. Colors and shapes are incredibly important for your brand, so using them effectively will become a priority.
The selection of colors and shapes usually happens according to your core values and they should also correspond with your logo in order to be effective, for example, if you are a plumber and offer services, you might benefit more from a blue logo. As was mentioned before, blue represents professionalism, speed and cleanliness, in order words perfect for the logo design of a plumber.
Some business put the emphasis on care and trust and those businesses should choose green colors and round shapes. Round shapes induce a feeling of trust and green will provide a feeling of care and quality. In short, all colors and shapes are important.
Font
Fonts will also be important in the brand of 2015. Ensure that the font you use on your website is big enough to be read on mobile devices. Many businesses usually keep the font they use on their products and implement it on the website. If you are thinking of doing this as well, make sure that the text is perfectly visible on mobile devices.
Consistency
The creation of your brand is one thing, but consistency is another. Consistency is very important to grow your brand and ensure that customers become familiar with it. This basically means that you will have to implement your logo, your chosen colors and even your font in all your advertisements, marketing emails and on your merchandising.
The Individual
The marketing strategy of 2015 will put the emphasis on personalization, but how can you prepare your business for that?
Many businesses are incorporating products and services where the customer will have input. This will leave individual services and products that speak to a wider target group. Giving clients input in how your run your business and offer your products and services, creates an individualism like we never seen before.
The majority of businesses will treat their customers as individuals and stop treating them as part of a bigger whole. This does not mean you shouldn’t use your target group as an indicator for your digital marketing campaigns, but it does mean businesses will have to offer more personalized experiences in their digital marketing campaigns.
Content Marketing
Branding and social media platforms are important, but the most important thing for digital marketing campaigns in 2015 will be content marketing.
The key to good content marketing will be the micro and visual content and this has everything to do with the rise of social media platforms and video platforms. People enjoy images and videos a lot more than reading pages of text. Even though pages of text might help you in the search rankings, it is the interesting looking content that will lure the customers and make them stay on your site.
Releasing videos for your business will definitely help getting more customers, since it quickly grabs their attention. The success of YouTube will help you reach your goals, so creating an account will not be a waste.
When you post a video, make sure it is not too long. Only if you have something really interesting to say that will keep your potential clients interested from beginning to end, then you can risk a lengthy video, but bottom line is, the shorter and powerful, the better your video will be.
The text on your website will still be important though, so don’t minimize your efforts to create content. A good addition to your existing text is images, however, you still need to think about the mobile user. Some mobile users haven’t got a brilliant connection, so keep it as simple as your can. The use of an occasional image is definitely not a bad idea, but keep it relevant to what you are offering.
Conclusion
The digital marketing world is definitely changing and it looks like marketing will always evolve with technology. Always take into account the latest trends, because they will determine your target audience, especially when you have a younger target group.
Search engines have made some considerable changes to their ranking system, so changing your digital marketing campaign has become essential for the coming year. Remember that it takes some time for Google to record the changes you have made and implement them in their search ranking system, so the sooner you start the better!
