Advertising Online in 2014

Big things are expected in the world of online advertising in the coming year. With the world going mobile, we can expect more attention to be paid to smartphones, tablets and even wearable mobile technology. Yet mobile is only one way that online advertising is changing. Here are some other trends that should keep you busy if advertising online in 2014 is included in your marketing plan.

Location, Location, Location

Advertising online in 2014 is going to rely heavily on user locations. Most mobile devices being manufactured today come with GPS technology built-in. This allows marketers to find out where their customers are at all times and a slew of other crucial information.

Personalization

Mobile technology helps customers become closer with advertisers, which improves trust and loyalty; and many advertisers will be using mobile to its maximum effectiveness by personalizing their advertising messages. This is where targeted advertising comes into play. Just as advertisers can keep tabs on customers using mobile technology, advertising online in 2014 will see more advertisers using big data to glean information like previous purchases, birthdays, first names and other information to make their messages truly hit home.

Content Still Rules the Kingdom

Content is still what most customers are looking for, but your content needs to stand out if you want to get noticed and chosen above all the rest. Provide your customers with content they want to read, watch, view and listen to. Try to get to the heart of your target audience’s problems and primary motivations. Then get feedback from colleagues and customers alike to further hone your marketing message over time.

SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile)

You might see this term thrown around a lot this year as advertising online in 2014 will see these three industries come together in a major way. A recent report just stated that we may be seeing the end of Facebook in the coming year or two, but it’s still too early to tell if there is any credence there. One thing is for sure, Twitter is still a major force for marketers and so are the line of image-centric social networks like Pinterest and Instagram.

By using social networks, location-based marketing and mobile technology together, you will provide customers with the ultimate advertising online experience.

Virtual Currencies

If you haven’t heard of virtual currencies like BitCoin and Dogecoin, you soon will. These currencies are anonymous and are sustained on a peer-to-peer network, which keeps them secure even though there is no central ‘bank’, so to speak.

With these currencies gaining public approval, many advertising networks should begin adopting the technology. Advertising online may start at dollars, but the currencies it ends with may surprise us all.

Podcasting

Expect to see more advertisers putting more of their ad spend into podcasting. Podcasts enable you to get up close and personal with your target audience, as long as you can truly speak to your listeners and constantly deliver excellent content that they love listening to.

Wearable Technology

Google and Samsung have already begun to enter wearable mobile products into the market and so far Apple has been mum; but we could see the end of 2014 become the year of wearable mobile. It’s amazing how fast technology seems to take off, especially nowadays, and we may find that people embrace glasses, watches, wristbands and other unique products. People already carry their smartphones with them everywhere they go, and soon they may be wearing them on their bodies; which is great news for advertisers.

More Changes to Come

These are just a few of the changes to advertising online in 2014 that are worthy of mention; but there could be more changes to come that we don’t even know about yet. With technology constantly evolving, particularly in the social, local and mobile sectors, we should see even more innovations as we head into spring then summer.

By the holiday season of next year, the current environment of advertising online may not even be recognizable. The best you can do is keep on top of the latest ad trends, which the above list should help you with. So beef up your budget and start emigrating to SoLoMo if you haven’t already. Then keep it coming with excellent content and strive to provide a more personalized experience – even including podcasting – to succeed at advertising online in 2014. The first month of this year is already over. Let’s see what February brings to this ever-evolving industry.

Image Source: Krishna De on Flickr