Forbes Chinese Network: The 7 leading trends of internet marketing in the 2014

At the end of last year, I made a number of predictions about internet marketing in the 2014. If you have not read this article, you can click here to read it. In view of the obvious transformation to the set of customer-style marketing, I have considered the impact that the trend of search engine optimization (SEO), social media and content marketing may have on the enterprise in the coming year.

As we move into the 2014, I think it would be useful to assess how much of my predictions are true: Which of my predictions are right and which of my predictions are wrong.

Here are seven online marketing forecasts I've put forward to see how these predictions compare to what we've seen so far this year.

Forecast 1: Content marketing will be larger than ever

In my first article, I predicted that content marketing-using valuable content to attract customers and customers, prestige and trust-was the direction of business in the 2014. Using blog posts, newsletters, social media, video and other customer-generated marketing practices, businesses can build relationships, prestige and trust among their customers, and eventually increase sales.

By the middle of 2014, we are still seeing corporate budgets shifting from traditional marketing methods such as television and magazine advertising to a set of customer-style marketing strategies. However, according to research by the Forrester research firm, companies are struggling to achieve business results through their content marketing strategies. In fact, only 14% of companies reported that their marketing strategy was "very effective".

Companies are also struggling to assess the ROI of their content-marketing campaigns, making the strategy a corporate-wide support, a particularly headache for online marketers in 2014. Businesses need to continue to look for ways to match their content marketing with their overall corporate goals in order to assess and prove their effectiveness in the broader goals of the enterprise.

Finally, lack of training may at least be part of the reason that content marketing does not have the potential to function in some businesses. Aaron Kahlow, founder of online Marketing Cato, said the lack of well-trained staff was a serious hurdle: "There are not enough trained content marketers to do the legwork at the moment." But training in this area is a priority, and this is a very common issue, from the bottom up to the chief marketing officer. ”

Forecast 2: Social media marketing will need to diversify

In my previous post, I think companies will increasingly use a variety of social networking platforms-not just Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. New social platforms emerge every few months, and businesses need to constantly assess which platforms are best for their time and budget.

When deciding which platforms to put in, it's important to identify the active areas of your target market and the platforms your competitors are using successfully. According to the 2014 Social Media Marketing report, released by media company Social, the popular social media giants are still in the lead in corporate popularity: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are still the most commonly used platforms for marketers.

Keep in mind that while you should use at least one of the three social networks to maintain exposure, use a smaller social network-if the network is perfect for your audience or business-it could lead to greater ROI. Continue to test and evaluate your company's impact on each social platform and determine which platforms will help you achieve your goals best.

Forecast 3: Image-centric content will dominate

Recently, 70% of marketers say they plan to increase the use of pictures in 2014, with image-centric content becoming a central part of most marketing plans. Using eye-catching and carefully placed images in your blogs and social media posts, and using information graphs to attract visitors and increase the number of inbound links, these are now common practices for companies that understand the importance of pictures.

If companies want to reach specific demographic groups – such as women and teens – they will need to continue to expand their influence on Pinterest and Instagram social platforms.

Forecast 4: Easy to win

The trend towards simplicity in marketing is the subject of an article I recently wrote, please click on the simple Secrets of Apple's marketing success. In this article, I discuss how consumers are getting bored with flashy, sophisticated web sites and advertising bombing.

I think it is totally unsustainable in marketing to try to "exaggerate the better": "More and more marketers are finding that providing more--more advertising, more complexity, more information--doesn't work as it used to." "It is estimated that average Americans see every day in different places of advertising or marketing information ranging from 250 to thousands of, if your marketing strategy is" bigger and more eye-catching, then you simply can not keep pace with the changes in the Times. Instead, brands need to think strategically about how to stand out in the chaos.