3 Marketing Strategies that Really Worked in 2014

Every year that dawns sees a number of different Marketing Strategies being launched and many of these also trend into the next year. In this respect, 2014 also saw a number of strategies being implemented and online marketers everywhere began using them, but there are 3 Marketing Strategies that really worked in 2014. Let’s take a look at what these were.

Content Marketing Was Bigger Than Ever

In 2014, content emerged as the true monarch of the online marketing space. Companies across Australia that started focusing on using credible and valuable content saw a significant increase in the traffic to their websites. Content has always been the one way of attracting customers & clients.

Using newsletters, blog posts, video, social media as well as other inbound-marketing techniques became an excellent way of building relationships, trust and authority with the audiences & increasing sales. Budgets were channelled from conventional marketing methods such as print and TV ads towards inbound marketing strategies.

Three Strategies that Outshone the Rest

#1 Image-Centric & Mobile Content Ruled

Recently, 70% of marketers reported that they had increased the use of images in marketing during 2014. It became a core strategy in most marketing plans; attractive & well-placed images on blogs and social media posts, infographics etc were used across the board to build inbound links.

Mobile usage across Australia has billowed and online marketers started scaling-down content to make it fit into smaller screens. It was also shortened to be in-sync with the attention span of users on the go and catchy headlines were added. Social Media Websites such as Instagram and Pinterest & video platforms like Vine that had taken-off in 2013 continued to thrive in 2014 even as mobile became a major factor in driving ad growth.

Users everywhere tend to log-into social media sites every single day- on most occasions they will log in several times a day. It is but obvious that companies have now started scrambling to make their brands more visible on these sites. Mobile apps and mobile responsive sites are not an option any longer- they are a must-have!

#2 Ad Retargeting Grew in Effectiveness

This trend re-emerged in 2014; Browser cookies were used to advertise to the users who had already visited a particular site and proved to be very popular and effective. Recently, Twitter acquired TapCommerce the ad retargeting company.

This company’s software very effectively allows advertisers reach all users who have downloaded a particular app in the past- this reactivates existing users. Advertisers across the country spend very aggressively to acquire new users. However, reactivating previous/existing users is an equally-effective way of getting a higher ROI

#3 The Comeback of People-Based Research

Today, most marketers are seeking additional human insights in an effort to address big data overload. At one point of time, this was referred to as “ethnographic” research. Today, it’s called “qualitative” research and customers are being asked about exactly what they think of a company’s services and products.

Moving into 2015, there is a distinct indication that marketers are going to be investing in research that will add dimension to Big Data in 2015. Analytics is emerging as the one way in which companies can ascertain what their customers want. It is an excellent way of providing a screenshot & narrowing a business.

Many businesses focused on digging back into fieldwork & gritty interviews that are time-consuming. However, these also provide very essential insights. The year shored-up this connection which brought in some tangible improvement in traffic to their websites.

Maintaining Consistency

Even as 2015 is round the bend, these trends are the ones that online marketers will be building on. The focus in on keeping consumers more engaged with the brand, keep the communication going and on ensuring that the company and its brand stays at the forefront.

But it has to be understood that creating brand awareness is all about proper planning & measured execution. As an online marketer, once you start on any marketing strategy and see it garnering results, it is also important to maintain consistency and stick to it. This will help in creating more sustained traffic & qualified leads right through the forthcoming year.

Thanks for reading,
Bizow Online