What All Digital Marketers Need to Know for 2013
The year 2013 will further cement the importance of online marketing in businesses and organizations of all types. New milestones are being reached and the influence of digital marketing will be felt across all industries. Here are some of the most crucial factors that digital markers should be focusing on.
Big Data
There has been some buzz around the usefulness of big data, but this year is when this idea will become actionable in marketing. All the massive amounts of data gathered from browsers, mobile apps, social media, ecommerce, tagging and ad networks can be put to use to give new insights into customer needs and wants.
Bigger Budgets
In 2013 the average marketing budget for companies will equal or surpass the IT budget. This perfectly highlights the greater focus needed on reaching new customers and supporting them during the entire sales lifecycles.
Think Local
Local marketing is also growing in importance and demand. Targeting users based on geographic location is essential for many businesses. Many brands have been investing local blogs, online customer reviews and mobile marketing in the last few of years and this trend is set to continue in 2013 and beyond.
Personalized Content
Many companies are failing to capitalize on the idea of personalized website content, but more will begin to see the benefits. By implementing this strategy in real time and in the right context, customer engagement can be vastly increased.
Mobile Future
The global number of Smartphone users is set to exceed 1 billion by 2013. Combining that total with the install base of tablets will result in more Smartphone and tablet users than PC users. Mobile devices can no longer be ignored or treated as a secondary concern. The need for mobile optimized marketing is greater than ever and absolutely required for any company hoping to remain competitive.
Video Marketing
The effects of video content and sharing cannot be underestimated. Led by YouTube,
Video content is set to be the number one way of driving traffic to a website.
Email Importance
While other forms of marketing are taking hold, the humble email still holds an important place in marketing campaigns. Mailing lists will continue to be an efficient way of reaching new leads and existing customers, though growth will be lower than previous years.
International Audience
The need for more language support will increase in 2013. To reach a wider audience, more companies will begin to add multiple languages to their sites. Many businesses can benefit from an international customer base but only if they invest the time and money into supporting various languages in their marketing material.
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