Marketing for the Future: 2014

Marketing is a lot like technology with how quickly they both change.  If someone is a few years behind in computer technology, they are almost obsolete in the marketplace, and the same goes for marketing.  To keep up with this changing market, we have an insider’s look for how the market dictates the marketing to adjust.

Marketing plan 2014

Marketing plan 2014

We are in an interesting period for businesses, as there are multiple age groups that use the internet.  Five years ago you could say that the majority of people over 30 did not use the internet for social media, and that social media outlets were dominated by people under 30.  In 2014, these lines will be nonexistent, and there will be a combined pool of users.  The issue with this is that a company must be able to market to both social media and to traditional internet media, with newsletters and emails as well.  The ability to not alienate any of the age groups is becoming a fine art, especially for 2014.

Now to make sure this happens, each company needs to understand the shifts that are happening with social media.  Facebook is now a family place, and it did what Myspace couldn’t:  integrating adults and parents into their user base.  With that happening, most under 30 now do not use Facebook as their primary social media source.  Marketing on Facebook is still important, but remembering that the base is different is also crucial.  Vine is the new Youtube, as Google+ has been taking Youtube users away from Youtube.  Vines are quick, short, clever video opportunities for marketing.  Twitter has not lost any steam, either.  In fact, it can be said that Twitter is more important than Facebook at this juncture for advertising.

So stay sharp and keep an ear to the ground.  Follow trends of the users for social media, and know who you will be advertising too.  You must also be able to keep the interest of people in your social media sites and walk the fine line between clever business and outraged customers based on your types of posts.  More and more companies are dedicating people just for social media, as it has become such a crucial part of word of mouth around the world.