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5 Trends Your Marketing Team Should Budget For In 2015

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Divvying up your marketing funds isn’t a fun or easy task, so you’ve likely pushed it off as long as possible. You’ve told numerous vendors, “We’ll look at that for our 2015 budget,” but budget season is quickly approaching — and you need to make a decision.

To help you navigate the overwhelming budgeting process, here are five important marketing trends you should consider:

1. Authenticity will be paramount to a brand’s marketing success.

I recently attended the CMO Club Summit, an event bringing together top CMOs from around the world to solve timely marketing issues. At the summit, YouTube sensations Joey Graceffa, Evelina Barry and Meghan Camarena were on a panel that brought up the issue of promotion. When companies prioritize promotional plugs over valuable content, they said, nobody wins — but content creators continue to put their own needs first.

Companies need to invest in marketing vehicles that allow them to establish a level of authenticity with their audience. Understand what’s valuable to your audience. Couple that with magnetic brand messaging, and everyone can get something out of the relationship. Make sure to stay true to your brand image throughout your messaging, or consumers will spot the disconnect.

2. Thought leadership is taking precedence over personal branding.

These terms are often confused because they’re closely related. Some see personal branding as a solely self-serving tactic, which can hurt your image. Evan Greene, CMO of the GRAMMYs, and Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade, also led a panel that addressed how companies can benefit from positioning key players as thought leaders. Namely, businesses get a boost from the credibility, invested audience, and brand awareness that follow.

3. Inbound marketing can fuel your online marketing initiatives.

The rise of content and online marketing makes inbound more vital than ever. Just ask the 85 percent of marketers practicing inbound marketing. Your audience is searching online for solutions, and without the infrastructure in place to capture those leads, you’re losing opportunities and revenue.

In HubSpot’s State of Inbound report, its study on budgeting for inbound revealed that 74 percent of marketers are allocating the same or an increased budget for inbound this year. And the reason is clear: its continued success and measurable ROI.

Content is the driver of inbound marketing. It’s how you connect with your audience and ultimately drive them back to your website or blog, so investing in both will amplify your results.

4. Leveraging new technologies will put you ahead of the curve.

Brands should constantly be looking at new and growing technology platforms and be OK with leaving some of their traditional marketing practices at the door. Companies like MediaMath and Dynamic Signal, one of our clients, stood out to me as examples of fast-growing companies that offer technology to improve typical marketing strategies like ad buying and brand advocacy. These are just a couple of examples, but it’s important for modern marketers to adopt and apply different technologies to their marketing stack.

5. Optimize your mobile websites to match consumer trends.

You’ve heard the term “mobile first” enough times to understand that the mobile revolution is upon us. According to eMarketer, the number of local searches made via the mobile web is growing at a much faster rate than desktop searches.

Plus, consumers who do local searches on mobile are more likely to take action. A study found that half of consumers who conducted local searches via smartphone visited the store within a day, and 18 percent of local queries on smartphones led to a purchase.

The importance of mobile marketing is undeniable, so allocating a substantial budget to this platform is crucial to maintaining relevance.

Your marketing machine should consist of multiple moving parts, all working together to maximize your brand’s impact. Your allocation will obviously depend on the needs of your company, so outline those first and assess whether these marketing trends can amplify your efforts. You can then budget with confidence, knowing you’ve made the best decision possible for your marketing department — and your company’s success in 2015.

John Hall is the CEO of Influence & Co., a company that provides a turnkey thought leadership solution for companies.

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