The new year has arrived, and with it comes that favorite of all business tasks—financial planning for the coming 12 months. As you finalize your marketing budget, take account of these trends when you’re deciding where to invest during 2014. In some cases you might want to follow the trends, while in other circumstances you might want to do the opposite of what your competitors are up to. 
Must-Haves
Inbound marketing is a definite must-have for 2014, and a huge proportion of companies have realized this and are investing accordingly. The three areas that are particularly vital are:
- Content Marketing:Absolute top of the pops for 2014 is content marketing. Research from MarketingSherpa’s Marketing indicates that a huge 64% of business owners are planning to invest in this area during 2014. With the frequent search engine algorithm updates taking place, regular publishing of fresh content, improved quality, originality and the consistent use of best practices take priority over any other aspect of digital marketing.
- Website Upgrades: If you still have a static website that doesn’t interact with your visitors, it’s time to change. With 60% of companies budgeting to upgrade their sites, prices are going to be higher and good website developers are going to be in demand. Take the time to consult with an expert to find out what you need to do to create a dynamic, optimized website that enables you to generate leads and build your reputation in your industry. Then get some pricing and a few firm proposals so you know how much to budget for this process. You can no longer get away with a half-hearted website design job—it will cost you more in lost opportunities in the long term than if you spend what’s necessary right off.
- Optimized Landing Pages: Although this falls partly under the content marketing category and partly under website upgrade, the sheer number of companies (60%) who recognize they need to invest in landing page optimization shows that it’s worthy of a separate mention. A landing page isn’t just another web page; it’s a specific page that users are directed to in response to a call to action on a blog post, special offer or email newsletter. Landing pages need to be created for each individual offer, because generic ones simply don’t convert visitors to leads. They also need to be optimized for search and linked to your email database for the purpose of capturing visitor data.
Also Going Up
Other areas of marketing investment that are increasing but at a slightly lower rate than the three above are social media and search engine optimization (SEO) of existing sites. Most companies recognize that both of these have become necessities—social media for driving traffic and engaging with customers, and SEO to update current websites in terms of the ongoing changes required. Few companies have the resources or expertize to handle these issues themselves, so include funds in your marketing budget to pay for copywriters, SEO specialists and social media officers.
Keep on Investing
Several areas of traditional advertising are holding their own, so if any of these are particularly good for your line of business then it’s probably worth maintaining your investment in them:
- Email marketing. This includes email newsletters, automated lead nurturing and customer relationship management, which operates by email to a large extent.
- Direct mail. This is currently making a come-back of sorts, based on the thinking that email spam has damaged the credibility of the medium.
- Trade show participation. A perennial favorite, trade show participation still delivers great returns particularly in the B2B environment.
- Telemarketing. With the current market saturation with written communications, telemarketing is increasingly being viewed as faster and more effective, especially for B2B sales. Sellers can reach the right decision maker more easily and get a decision in a shorter time, provided the marketers have sufficient product knowledge and the right training. This makes spending on the activity critical to prepare staff for successful efforts.
Going Down
Print advertising and broadcast advertising showed the lowest rate of budget increase, which indicates that few respondents think it’s worth increasing their investment in these media. Even though a large percentage of companies are planning to maintain their expenditure, you need to evaluate carefully whether this type of marketing serves your business a good enough ROI to continue with it.
With inbound marketing front and center of the focus for 2014, it’s time to revisit all your traditional marketing and comparing it to the potential returns from a new digital approach. You might be surprised when you see the results of your evaluation.
*Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
