Digital marketing trends are changing at an alarming pace. The industry is spinning itself around like
a top. New Internet marketing and mobile marketing ideas are coming out every day.
With the new economy adding to the pressure of a CMO it’s easy to distracted. To keep
up with this pace CMOs must work harder than ever to stay ahead of their competition.
To make it easier for our CMO friends we have put together five major changes taking shape
in 2014 that a CMO should not ignore, unless they are willing to commit career suicide. Feel free to contact us if you need any help, it’s what we do.
1. A Return to Strategy
Don’t let the bright shiny digital objects keep you from the task at hand. The Internet press and magazines are loaded with exciting buzz about mobile couponing, QR codes, social media, etc. Smart CMOs know that tactics come and go and those are the ones leading the movement back to strategy.
Focus on the best strategy for your brand and you’ll create the right marketing formula. Clear strategies get clear results, regardless of the tactics the implement at any given moment.
Unlock your customer door by understanding what thrills them and your tactics will be a lot more effective in the end.
2. Channel Integration
After you have the strategy down the next step is integration across all channels.
CMO’s tend to think one channel works better than another one. It’s not just one, it’s a combination of channels and more importantly it’s the message the channel carries. If you’re trying to sell a kids product to moms, tell her how you’re going to make her life easier, simpler and better by using your product.
You don’t need to “be social” and them to “Like” your Facebook page. You need to demonstrate how you’ll solve their problem with your product. You need to do that across as many marketing channels as possible as long as you can verify that she generally uses them. Moms are not completely social, local or mobile. Their lives are all three at the same time.
3. Vertical Integration
Expect the rate of vertical-specific integration to accelerate, making it easier and more effective for professionals across a range of industries to generate results via streamlined Internet marketing and Mobile marketing initiatives.
4. Offline-Online Integration
When you walk into stores today almost everyone is holding a smartphone.
As a CMO you have to know, if you don’t already, that each customer’s day is a zig-zag experience through the online and offline worlds. Customers don’t have either offline or online experiences; they have integrated brand experiences. A customer does not make their buying decision off of only one experience with the brand.
It’s hard to be integrated if you don’t have and/or communicate your strategy across the marketing department. Otherwise, you’ll have the traditional channel marketing person doing something different than the social channel marketing person and different from the mobile channel marketing person. Different messages in each channel will certainly confuse your customers.
In 2014, those that effectively integrate a consistent marketing strategy across multiple channels will reap the most significant returns.
5. Multiplatform Marketing
Internet marketing and mobile marketing in 2014 will be a multiscreen experience. Last year during the Super Bowl and Grammy Awards, 17,000 tweets were generated per MINUTE. Segmenting by devices is so 2012. Many of us already use a smartphone and a laptop concurrently, or a smartphone and the TV, etc. In 2014, you will need to think about how your brand looks across channels/devices at the same time.
Make sure your digital marketing agency is concentrating on these five marketing trends for you. If they are not, give us a call.