It’s that time again to publish digital marketing predictions for the new year. Some of the below predictions were easy to make, while others weren’t so obvious. It will take us over a year to know which predictions will be spot-on and which won’t, but in the meantime let’s prognosticate together.
At present, content promotion is an afterthought for many marketers. However, as the Internet continues to get bogged down with more branded content, marketers who want their content read will start to deploy more earned and paid distribution and promotion strategies.
With both Facebook and LinkedIn moving ads into their news feeds this year, the next logical step is to get even more granular with targeting. LinkedIn will launch an email cloning function similar to Facebook. Soon, marketers will be able to upload large lists of email addresses on both social networks to target people with similar attributes.
There are three common silos in enterprise companies that impact digital relevance: SEO, MARCOM, and PR. In 2014, these silos will start to break down and consolidation of some type will begin.
Now that Microsoft knows the NSA was breaking into its network, it’s just a matter of time before it follows Google’s lead by encrypting its network end to end. It currently only offers SSL encryption. It’s not the default.
This could prove to be Facebook’s eventual death knell. It admits that adoption and use by younger teenagers are declining in favor of networks like Snapchat and Instagram.
Google’s Penguin algorithm and its subsequent updates make off-page SEO a riskier proposition for brands. Matt Cutts’ recent comments on guest blogging included some warnings that have many SEOs concerned.
As marketing and sales technology continues to evolve the use and adoption of Big Data by marketers will grow. Consolidation of marketing and sales SaaS companies will continue in 2014, too.
Good content plays such a crucial role in SEO today that yesterday’s tried and true “math men” approach to search will become less impactful. The ones that stick with yesterday’s status quo will struggle to keep their doors open.
Over the years Google has clearly communicated its desire to reward big brands with organic relevance. Its algorithm is getting better by the week at doing so. This trend will continue in 2014.
A new unique identifier will eventually replace the outdated cookie. Cookies do a poor job at tracking people’s propensity to jump devices. This new method will be designed specifically to address this.
So, what do you think? Do any of these predictions resonate with you? Do you disagree with any of them? If you have some compelling predictions you’d like to share, drio your thoughts below, and let’s discuss. No matter the accuracy of the above, 2014 is going to be another great year for digital marketing!
Image credit: pasukaru76
