2016 Digital & Social Media Predictions

It's time for my yearly digital predictions, and 2016 is no exception. I've loved seeing the digital marketing field continue to advance & make big moves the past few years and appreciate how many people have embraced digital channels over traditional ones. 

1. Out with SEO & PPC, in with Digital Assistant Optimization
• I'm not saying search engine optimization & paid ads aren't important, but optimizing ONLY for Google is. The rise of Siri & google's new predictive questions is going to force us all to stop simply writing content we think Google will find acceptable, but to write answers to simple questions our consumers may be asking about us to make it easier for us to be found by the Siri users of the world. 
2. Mobile growth 
• Mobile will continue to grow & I predict by the end of 2016 for many industries it will be outpacing desktop views, clicks & purchases. Look around you on your commute home & tell me you don't see everyone glued to their phones... 
3. Shifts in Social Media Channels 
• Facebook isn't out & won't likely be for awhile, but with it's pay-to-play stance on unlocking views & engagement for all users, it's getting to costly & those searching to target millennials aren't there anyways. Snapchat will continue to emerge as a newer gamechanger because fewer brands can figure out how to use it will - filters are fine, but can you really craft enough content to maintain a profile? Instagram will continue to be a star as well, but brands need to figure out the right type of content & how to measure engagement on the platform properly. 
4. The downfall of old-school brands
• I guarantee there will be yet another older brand (cough: Weight Watchers) who will be outdone by the fact that they can't keep up with the times. If you're not shifting your content to make way for better website experiences, better social media story-telling, great-functioning mobile apps, and keeping up with your demographics' trends, you will be obsolete. 
5. Personalized PPC 
• I must say Facebook is doing a fair job, but it and others could do MUCH better. As a customer it's frustrating to see ads that don't matter to you, and by now everyone's been tracking your every move on every site you've ever been on, they know ALL your likes/dislikes/friends/social media engagements, etc etc, so use that! 

I'm excited to step into another year of digital advancements & can't wait to see what's in store. Last year's predictions were mostly on point! 

How To Use Visual Content To Your Advantage

For those of you who've followed my blog over the past few years, you'll know that not only have I grown up in the digital era, but I've been working in it since before I started this blog. I've seen social media channels come and go, I've seen email marketing lose major faith from bosses & coworkers, and I've seen the digital front change before my very eyes faster than anything! 

One thing that's continued to ring true as social media, websites, email marketing, retargeting, digital advertising, etc,etc, overtakes the marketing front, is that great visual content MATTERS. Not only does it matter, it can make or BREAK your engagement numbers, ROI, CTR, and then some. 

Not only do you need to hire marketers who can spot great photography, it's probably key that they can take great photography from an iPhone as well, because that's what consumers (at least in the travel industry) want. They want you to tell a story with your imagery, don't worry so much about the text content that you have to draft up alongside it - a picture speaks 1,000 words, so don't waste those extra characters if you don't need to. 

By now, thanks to social media, you should know what types of images your consumers are interested in. Do they love food shots? Do they care more about a behind-the-scenes type feel? Do like they to see you do good? Even personally, you know before you post that instagram shot what is going to do well (and what time it does best) vs. what doesn't. 

So, don't overthink it, but use your head. Don't post that blurry shot, don't forget to fix the lighting and post a photo JUST to upload an image, not text - and DON'T feel like you can't hire a great photographer above all when you don't know where else to turn. 

2015 Tech & Digital Marketing Predictions

The digital marketing field is a great place to be these past few years (if you like change & innovation!). It seems every few months, there's a new gamechanger, or new consumer behavior that's changing the way things work, and it's almost always for the better.

My top five predictions for 2015 include the following:

1. Personalization in marketing content  
1. Consumers have spoken and it has become imperative for businesses to stop shouting at customers via social media or advertising or print and start working on personalization. They're willing to pay attention to your ads if and when you've learned their likes & dislikes, and cater to them. Remarketing ads have begun popping up like wildfire left and right from many big businesses, and while they're starting to get the right idea (Yes, I was staring at this pair of shoes while on your site, but no I don't actually want them unless you sweeten the deal) the amount of information collected can be put to much better use.
2. Rise in wearables
1. The rise in all the fitness-oriented smart watches has really taken off in the past few months. The reason? The approachable price of many. Before, only serious fanatics had some options, and they were mighty pricy. For those who don't want to commit to an expensive fitness tracker, newer devices have come on the scene that fit any type of lifestyle and provide a more approachable device than the expensive brands that previously catered to serious athletes. 
3. Rise in virtual homes
1. Devices like nest & kevo have really stepped onto the scene & picked up their advertising and word of mouth. With the announcements and success of Apple Pay in 2014, it seems people are more interested in being 100% connected all the time, and in the dream of owning a "smart home". The ease and ability to check on your home via smartphone may change the game for other industries such as travel (iPhones opening doors becomes standard, anyone?). 
4. Pay-to-play from social media channels
1.  Gone are the days of reaching 100% of your audience on Facebook organically. It's probably for the best, because for every 1 person out there effectively marketing their business to consumers, there's probably 3 people out there about to be unliked for their terrible usage of social. For those who've jumped on the social media bandwagon, it's not time to start diverting a small portion of your online advertising budget to continuing to grow and nurture your social channels. It's not just free anymore, and if you want to be effective, you're going to have to look into social media advertising options.
5. Mobile is a must
1. I've said it before but this year I really mean it. If you aren't looking into mobile advertising or optimizing your site for mobile & tablets, you are missing out on A TON! 

What do you think will be the biggest shift in digital & social this year? 

Omni-Channel Is Everything

Content strategy is important. Email marketing is important. So is your social media strategy. Your web & mobile strategy is too. BUT the newest and most important one is going to be your omni-channel marketing and strategy.

Omni-channel is important because the customer's experience needs to be seamless no matter what channel they're on, and it needs to make sense on various channels as well, whether their journey starts with a TV ad, a tweet, walking into your store or downloading your app. Customers are exploring multiple channels when they make decisions, I find this is extremely apparent when they're booking a vacation or searching something travel-related and it makes sense. 

Say you want to book a vacation, you don't know where. As a woman, I may start by searching on Pinterest for gorgeous vacation locations, where I find myself inspired by some photos, which I click on. I then travel to a blog talking about their favorite destinations, perhaps offering tips on which hotels to book, what restaurants to try. As a millennial, I then turn to twitter, where I tweet said vacation destination asking for tips and I also search those talking about it as well as hotel twitters and social media accounts to browse their photos... If those photos aren't engaging enough I may move on to the next hotel, if they are, I'll be clicking to their hotel website next - and if I don't find an engaging website on my tablet, it's over. 


Bottom line, there is a plethora of ways your potential customer can get to you, and you need to be prepared on all fronts, with a strategy on each channel that offers a similar experience that's going to make a positive influence on them.

2014 Digital Predictions

The Digital Marketing/Digital Advertising Field is constantly changing and evolving, especially lately. Earlier last year I decided to take a look at all 2014 trends that seemed to be emerging, as it's become apparent for certain industries that the marketing game is changing (if you hadn't already noticed) and everyone needs to shape up or ship out.

Social Media used to be quite the joke, and now it's finally emerged as a a revenue-generating channel, as well as one that's great at conversion assists. Content marketing has also become the latest revenue-generating fad over traditional online advertising, as it's much more helpful with conversions.

Mobile and tablets haven't come out of nowhere, but it seems that mobile and tablet conversions will skyrocket this year, as consumers have all felt comfortable enough to begin researching and purchasing on their devices, thanks to enhanced websites that are mobile-friendly, and reward programs such as Starbucks that allows them to pay through phones.

Take a look at the other predictions below, do you agree? 

Social Prospecting... and why it matters

Everyone around me is always searching for the ROI in social media and asking "How much are we making", " how much is that worth" and "what's the bottom line" while searching for answers online and in white papers. I've been searching for these answers as well, while developing my own perspective on social media ROI at the same time and haven't seen many come up with a good answer just yet.

My take on it is this - while there needs to be focus on the data and the metrics, companies like Facebook and Twitter need to be helping with that, or bigger companies can create some crazy amazing product that tracks everything for us... that's going to take time.

Until they figure that all out, everyone else needs to figure it out on their own, dig a little deeper into their own social media fans to discover who's a fan, who's a spammer, and who are you most loyal activities (who are most likely also spending the MOST money by far) and decide how you want to keep track of what this means to you.

Social prospecting is one of the best ways to do this. Keep track of your most loyal followers, those who scream your name from the rooftops and share every moment of their lives using your product or visiting your store with their followers, and go from there.

Social Prospecting from Katherine Gear

Down to the Wire for Facebook Timelines

It’s getting down to the wire and any brand who hasn’t switched over their Facebook pages to the new brand pages will be forced to at the end of this week. Facebook didn’t give brands an incredible amount of time to shift strategies and figure out their next moves, but some of the biggest and brightest brands have already taken first steps in the right direction.

It seems Facebook’s main reason for making this move is because they want brands to look at their Facebook fans as more than just someone to sell to – and I appreciate that. This move gives brands the opportunity to show the “softer” side of their companies with more stories, real photos that give a “behind the scenes look” and just helps to humanize the brand a bit more.

Anyone who’s a  community manager has probably hit a creative wall at one point with their Facebook posts and can sometimes forget that it’s not about SELLING when posting, it’s about story-telling and interacting with fans who already enjoy your brand.

Brand managers will also have to choose their tabs, photos and posts to highlight wisely. The initial fangate that fans click through to visit your page are now gone, so that cover page, highlighted content and tabs are more important than ever.

The milestone is a feature I really enjoy. It’s especially interesting to see Facebook pages such as Ben & Jerry’s who’ve added a variety of milestones featuring older ads, how they got started, etc – it’s an easy way to tell a great story and share the past everyone else may not know about. 

It'll be really interesting to see who's going to do well with these Facebook Timelines and how brands will get creative with all these new features. What brand is your favorite Facebook Timeline page right now?