A look at some of the trends likely to impact brands - and Social Media marketers! - in the months ahead.

1. a social media primer
15 trends to watch for in 2014

2. niche as the new mainstream

3. more money spent here

4. video will become the “must-have”

5. continued obsession with “viral”

6. the hybrid team

7. social media as a true feeder of search

8. blogging will make a comeback

9. mobile… finally!

10. native advertising = the new product placement

11. truly personal personalization

12. everything will be “smart”

13. the QR code will return

14. the robots will rise (seriously)

15. targeting will get even more precise

16. data will become predictive

17. a social media primer
15 trends to watch for in 2014

18. addendum

19. what they experts are saying
Nancy Bhagat, Vice President of Marketing Strategy, Intel
We are going to see a huge increase in location-based marketing. With the
rapid proliferation of devices, and the explosion of the Internet of Things,
people will be carrying, utilizing, and depending on their devices more than
ever. As part of the increased dependency, there is an increased
expectation of services and personalization.
Michael Brenner, Vice President of Global Marketing, SAP
As brands, we need to kill promotional marketing messages and start
providing customer-centric information that is helpful to our target
customers. But we need to go even further than that if we want to break
through all the noise.
Susan Emerick, Mgr. of Enterprise Social Strategy & Programs, IBM
Cognitive computing is next big digital trend. More specifically, the
beginning of a new era, where systems learn and interact naturally with
people. Applying this to marketing and communications will help us
better understand, anticipate and respond to customers.
Source: Forbes.com

20. what they experts are saying
Suzanne Fanning, President, Word of Mouth Marketing Association
Marketers will continue to seek out real-time opportunities and intensify
their speed of interacting in “the moment.” The key disruptive digital
trends we’ve seen successfully join the forces of mobile and social together
to reach audiences at the heart of their digital usage.
Mark Curtis, CEO of BRANDERATI
2014 will be a year of advocacy: marketers realizing that with growth of
their social communities stagnating and the big content machine churning
24/7 they need a more cost-effective and more impactful way to reach
current and new customers long-term in a sustainable way.
David Berkowitz, Chief Marketing Officer of MRY
Marketers are going to have to come to terms with disappearing social
media. This is much bigger than Snapchat. So much content shared today
is private, and it often disappears, so marketers aren’t readily able to track
and target such consumers. Expect marketers to explore new, creative
ways of reaching consumers who prioritize privacy.
Source: Forbes.com

21. what they experts are saying
Noah Elkin, Principal Analyst, eMarketer
Mobile will take on a role far greater than simply serving as a substitute
computing device. This shift will continue to affect path to purchase in
dramatic ways, hugely disrupting for marketing. Consumers’ ubiquitous
connectivity now means they are, in effect, always in the consideration
phase.
Dave Kerpen, CEO, Likeable Local
In 2014, we will see increased pressures on companies of all sizes to pay to
sponsor their posts to get more visibility, as getting consumers’ attention in
social media becomes increasingly difficult. This will be hardest on small
businesses, who obviously have fewer resources than big brands. Social
media will increasingly become a pay-to-play channel.
Jay Baer, Digital Marketing Consultant
Led by news/information websites and fueled by social networks, 2014 will
be the year “Advertorial 2.0” becomes a major part of the marketing mix.
This has far-reaching implications for consumers, authenticity, journalism,
marketing budgets, and the role of agencies.
Source: Forbes.com

22. a social media primer
15 trends to watch for in 2014