by The online world moves so fast that it’s become crucial to stay ahead of the pack, unless you want your business trailing behind. So to give you a head start this year, we’ve put together the top 5 trends we see emerging for 2015.
1. Transparency is key
Be real. It’s common knowledge in any sales business that people buy from people, and the best sales person can sell even the worst product (although we know yours is great!). Following on from this belief, it’s important that you’re honest with your customers. Let them get to know the business; project a real personality including both the up and the downs and you’ll get much more of a buy in when it comes to brand trust and loyalty.
2. Content Marketing will continue to rise
Content marketing allows you to build a rapport and relationship with your customers, without simply ‘selling’ to them and this is an important part of building your brand. Interesting and relevant content will engage customers and build a positive brand reputation, with inbound marketing leading the way and leaving the TV/Radio ads behind. Add in the obvious benefits to your SEO ranking and it’s clear to see why content marketing will be a winner in 2015.
3. Mobile Optimization will be a necessity (it already is)
On Black Friday this year, 30% of purchases were made from mobile devices and according to a study by Forbes, ‘87% of connected devices sales by 2017 will be tablets and smartphones’ . With this in mind, it’s imperative that you recreate the desktop experience for each mobile user so that you don’t lose out to your competitors.
4. Accessible Data
Customers are now far less wary about releasing personal information, provided that the value exchange is good enough. 36% of global customers are now willing to share their GPS location with retailers, which is double the number from last year, and this allows marketers to provide a truly personalized experience. This growing openness with personal data will continue in 2015, giving brands more opportunities to engage with their customers on a deeper and more profitable level.
5. The ‘I want it yesterday’ mentality
A few years ago, I’d have been delighted if my online order came within the stated 14 working days, but today expectations are much, much higher and ‘next day delivery’ is often a given. These days, Amazon wants to deliver your package before you’ve even ordered it! The online leader gained a patent last December for ‘anticipatory shipping’, which enables them to send the package before the customer has even clicked the ‘buy now’ button. The packages would then be delivered to a local shipping hub until ordered, resulting in same day delivery. With the roll out of these kinds of services, customer expectations will grow even higher and businesses will be forced to streamline their processes to meet the demand for things ‘right now’.
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