Mobile has dominated web traffic in 2014. It was found that 59.8% of UK web traffic was on mobile devices during Black Friday, followed by 55% on Cyber Monday. Customers are becoming more accustomed to purchasing at the click of the button. Maximizing the potential of the mobile device has also become very important. So, brands should capitalize this opportunity by providing more content, better audio streaming and second screen advertising. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-advertising/how-mobile-advertising-can-help-brands-to-steal-christmas-2015/1390

Nowadays, selfies are very popular. But, the question is how selfies are relevant in promoting a business? Selfies has unlocked opportunities for brands to promote themselves online. They are highly effective at driving likes, shares, and comments. Brands can make use of this trend to increase awareness of their products and services. Noelle Federico (Business manager and CFO of Dreamstime LLC) writes in her article link about some tips to make the most out of selfies: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2015/26755/selfies-for-smbs-marketing-strategies-not-just-for-teens-and-celebrities

According to a recent report from Liveclicker and the Relevancy Group, it was found that consumer’s complaint with mobile email is that they get too many messages. Other complaints with emails received on smartphones include the following: 32% people don’t like messages because they are too small to read and interact with; 26% find it difficult to see full websites on devices after clicking through; and 21% people find messages are often jumbled/not well-formatted for phones. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2015/26784/what-consumers-dislike-about-mobile-email

Enterprise Mobility is gaining popularity nowadays. Apps for finance, lifestyle, games, news, fitness, social networks, messaging and much more are in demand. Companies are developing or buying apps. Businesses are mobilizing their most important business applications to adjust to the large mobile workforce. By expanding a company’s management system onto a mobile application, businesses will not only improve employee productiveness, but also able to send data from their on-site to the head office. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/grow-software-solutions/why-are-mobile-applications-especially-useful-for-sales-teams-65170

Travel display ad is expected to grow by $29M dollars between 2013 and 2015 in the US. A new study conducted by PhoCusWright shows that the travel advertising landscape is shifting. Frederic Gonzalo (Owner/Partner, Gonzo Marketing), writes in his article link about the trends in travel advertising for the year 2015: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/travel-advertising-trends-2015-infographic-0

CRM is installed to manage relations with customers. But, CRM can reduce the load on owners and managers by automating day-to-day jobs. CRM system helps to keep track of conversations with customers. A good CRM system includes tools for scheduling emails and sending them automatically and also helps to personalize your relationships with your customers. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/relieve-headaches-with-crm-automation-65154

There is no cross-sell up-sell module in a CRM package as cross-selling and up-selling depend on the salesperson's relationship with the customer. But, CRM is important in cross-selling and up-selling as it increases your knowledge of the customer and helps you suggest them the right products.  Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/crossselling-upselling-and-crm-65152

2015 will see stronger narratives driven by approaches like cross-device sequential storytelling and interactivity where user will play a more active role in influencing content. Delivering relevant content is becoming less dependent on Personally Identifiable Information.  In 2015 the value exchange will be less about who the user is and more about where they are and what they’re doing. This year will also witness a shift in interactions with personal technologies. Retailers are already implementing changes necessary to provide additional context and technologies like Augmented Reality are helping. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/evolution-in-2015/1374

According to eMarketer in the next 3 years, mobile phone penetration will rise from 61.1% to 69.4%. 2015 will be the year of more personalized customer interactions. Marketers will leverage more on accurate measurement tools and will embrace mobile expansion around the world. Matthew Idema (Product Marketing Director, Ads, Facebook), writes in his article link about some of the trends in digital marketing that will be popular in 2015: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/2015-digital-marketing-predictions/1373

According to a survey of CMOs, it was found that 2/3 of projects fail to use existing marketing analytics and only half of CMOs think that marketing analytics have contributed to their company’s performance. The most common reason for failure in this area is the introduction of any new initiative. Tom Claridge (strategy director at Fabric Worldwide), writes in his article about some tips on how to improve the Application of Marketing Data in any organization.  Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-data/5-tips-to-improve-the-application-of-marketing-data-in-your-organisation/1346

In2014 we have seen that marketers have started to make use of emerging technologies like 3D advertising. David Barker (SVP and Managing Director, EMEA Advertising Solutions for Amobee), writes in his article about the latest trends of Digital Advertising & Marketing Technology in 2015. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/5-predictions-for-digital-advertising-marketing-technology-in-2015/1350

In 2015 we will see the emergence of digital services like e-money accounts which is linked with debit and prepaid cards. It will be alternative to traditional banking throughout the world. It will emerge as a broader set of online and mobile payment options. Mobile payments and bio-metrics are also set to develop in 2015. According to a WorldPay survey, it was found that 49 per cent of European consumers would most like to see bio-metric payments emerge as a payment technology alternative. Businesses should ensure that they can offer the widest range of options and keep up with the market trends which in turn will help them to grow. Read more at:  http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/trends-in-the-payments-industry-for-2015/1351

Companies spend months preparing for the holiday rush. They undertake ad campaigns, data collection initiatives, and mobile commerce site optimization.  Jay Calavas (chief evangelist at Tealium) writes in his article about five ways that marketers can make the most of extended holiday  i.e. from 26^th December to end of January. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26728/the-holiday-longtail-five-ways-to-extend-your-holiday-marketing-into-2015-for-greater-results

Gartner had predicted that digital marketing budgets will grow by 17 percent in 2015. Next year in digital marketing, it is predicted that there will be an increase in personalized product advertisement and increase in digital content, in addition to an increase in social media advertising. This procedure will increase semantic search. There will also be an increase in structured data which will impact search and digital marketing. Content will become more important than the website. Audience segmentation will become more important and digital marketing, social media and CRM will make the business of drilling down into who your customers are (and minute detail about their personalities) much easier. Visual storytelling, which has been a key digital marketing tactic, will continue to be a key approach for marketers looking to drive customers through decision making process. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/what-will-digital-marketing-look-like-in-2015/1336

Companies are trying their best to transform the online customer experience. Brands are utilizing self-service tools to deliver website optimization. Marketing teams are building new optimization campaigns with the help of AB & MVT testing techniques. Website optimization has become important nowadays. Today brands are optimizing content, offers and user experiences to drive the performance of their online businesses. The self-service optimization model enables organizations to board upon simpler campaigns and grow budget and team over time. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/articles/self-service-optimisation-keeping-it-strategic/1337

Nowadays apps have become an important in everyone’s life.  New generation apps is changing how we consume media, do business and how we behave. App economy is growing at a fast pace in the mobile value chain. In 2012 the global app economy accounted for 18% of the combined app services and handset market and it is forecasted that by 2016 this contribution will rise to 33 per cent of the combined market, equivalent to half of the handset market, and the app economy is predicted to be worth $143 billion by 2016. Paulo Rosado (CEO of OutSystems), writes about the rise of app economy in his article link: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-apps/rise-of-the-app-economy/1334

According to PwC's Sixth Annual Digital IQ Survey, it was found that collecting, analyzing, and leveraging customer data is a concern for 72% of business organizations, just 44% have taken action to address it. Customer data comes from many sources, like websites, email, social media, mobile, customer service, data warehouses, and more. Collecting, analyzing and using these customer data is a challenge. Marketers should leverage data effectively. Data management and analytics enable marketers to use data effectively.  Businesses need to gain competitive advantage by taking strategic decisions with customer insights. Further, self-learning marketing automation technologies combined with CRM tools allow marketers to set up relevant promotions or information to customers. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-data/the-right-path-to-big-data/1327

In today’s world, it is important to grab the attention of potential customers and using videos is one of the ways to grab attention of customers. One can tracking video viewing activities of prospects, and thus can gain better insight into who are leads and thereby increase conversion velocity. Tyler Lessard (CMO of Vidyard, a video marketing platform), writes in this article about what to expect from video marketing in 2015. Read more at: : http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2014/26719/2015-will-be-the-year-of-video-marketing

According to a research by Formstack, it was found that 88% of marketers know that a customized web experience can boost their ROI, but only 6% plan with personalization in mind. They also found that personalized emails boast 25% higher open rates and 51% higher click rates. Veronica Maria Jarski (Opinions editor and a senior writer at MarketingProfs), writes in her article about why businesses should include personalized marketing in 2015. Read more at: http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2015/26743/why-personalized-marketing-will-dominate-in-2015-infographic

Proximity marketing tools are an innovative new method for retailers to understand the needs and wants of their customers, as well as buying patterns. In retail technology space it was seen that there has been an increase in footfall in-store and ROI. With the advancement of technology, it will be seen that retailers will create proximity marketing networks that they can roll out across their stores. Some of these networks are private - communicating to their own customers only - whereas some of these networks are open, i.e. in a shopping center environment. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-features/predictions-for-proximity-marketing-2015/1310