As we begin 2015 there are things that made a lasting impact on 2014 and some that are just about to raise their ugly heads and catch many marketers unaware and unprepared.
Here is your future checklist for Digital – Mobile Application Development, SEO, Social Media Management/Marketing, Digital Advertising and Digital PR in 2015
1.
Voice Search – More to come on this, in detail, but as “users”, (Search and Social Media), move to mobile devices, specifically phones, Voice Search Optimization is going to be a really big thing and is going to catch many marketers by surprise. Hint: We have been researching Voice Search at Rockfish since 2011, (Google Labs), and have been actively doing VSO, (Voice Search Optimization for clients).
2.
KBO or Knowledge Base Optimization – Brands, Brands, #Brands – With Google keeping the searcher on Google’s network longer, (See Google Play, Google Knowledge Graph and Google Plus), being able to make a change to Wikipedia by having that editor friend or the media person who works in PLAs assist you in modifying what your client doesn’t like to see about their own brand in Google. Learn how to fix anything…. including Wikipedia.. Or perish.
3.
YouTube – Video Search Optimization – YouTube Hashtags work on Google + now. Dec. 2008 YouTube was 25% of all Google Searches. Now, More U.S. Based 18-34 Year-olds Watch YouTube than Cable and YouTube videos influence the purchasing decisions of 53% of all consumers in the U.S. YouTube has now replaced the TV set.
4.
Digital Media Distribution – Someone hacked Sony Pictures, “The Interview” was released via Digital distribution methods BEFORE it was released in theatres for the first time in History. Personal Note: I watched it on Xbox Video, I purchased it for $15.99 downloaded it and watched it the day before it was released in theaters.
5.
Television Content Viewing Habits – Similar to the above but “Binge Watching” is now a thing. Personal Note: Still have not watched Breaking Bad – but one day, Binge Watching it. Commercial Television has made the leap with APPS. Phones, Tablet and Gaming Consoles now have applications where you can watch network television complete with commercials. Unlike TiVo, it’s not when you want it, or like AT&T UVerse where you can pretty much pick your own time schedule for your own shows, but that is for digital cable users, which also have another app. Welcome to the world of multi-screens and cross=platforms, Netflix now charges by the screen.
6.
Mobile – It’s everything and it’s everywhere. Google considers Tablets more like Desktop than a mobile device and sees Smart Phones as totally different. Overall, smartphones and tablets accounted for 39% of Google organic search traffic during the third quarter of 2014. Personal Note: The big change I made in October 2014 in mobile was I removed Facebook from my phone after they launched Facebook Messenger. Life is actually a lot more peaceful, calm and I have been sleeping more. Facebook Messenger was never installed on my IPad either. 2015 Mobile trend prediction – Look for devices to have LESS memory, and more services expecting data to be stored in a cloud.
Actually, isn’t there a lawsuit about this? “iPhone users sue Apple over iOS 8 device storage squeeze” see hashtag #itoldyouso for most of these "predictions"
7.
Mobile Payments – 2014 saw the debut of Apple Pay with Google Wallet still lurking around, Apple leap-frogged PayPal and Google Wallet for Mobile payments. Storyboard Messaging Service Snapchat got hacked, many private pictures of celebrities unclothed were released in October, known as the “Snappening”, next month in November of 2014 introduced Snap Cash, See a pattern here?
8.
Hacking – The reason why I purchased #The Interview on Xbox360 was that Hackers from somewhere, (Either Korea or the U.S. supposedly, I can’t comment), broke into mail servers and got email from Sony executives somewhere that shouldn’t have been having private conversations in email. (Ask Mark Cuban about his messaging app - Cyberdust ) - Hackers then also did Denial of Service attacks on the sources of bandwidth for XBOX and PS4, shutting Sony PlayStation Network down.
Personal Note:
I didn’t notice, I was watching The Interview on Xbox Video during the time of the Xbox attack. While Downloading Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare updates.
Wait before I forget, entirely TOO MANY RETAILERS got hacked in 2014, let’s hope, actually pray, it doesn’t get worse in 2015... But it will... you have no idea... #beafraid #beveryafraid
Our openness with online websites like Facebook, Snapchat, Foursquare,
(Foursquare got booted in 2013, remember?), and mobile devices, security and privacy should go hand in hand... however we are not doing it right.. I’m still not using a credit card, cash only at some stores.
9.
Selfies - 2014 was the first year I took a “selfie”. I took 9 last year, have taken 4 this year, maybe if I get prettier, I’ll take more? Instagram is built on a foundation of selfies. Thank God Pinterest hasn’t fallen victim to the Selfie trend. Facebook has, Twitter has, and Television and Magazines have, ok, prediction. Some study comes out showing guys that take #selfies too much are serial killers or something..
10.
Video Conferencing – Aside from the multi-BILLION dollar Adult industry built around video conferencing platforms like Skype, how soon in 2015 does it add FaceTime and Google Hangouts? Pinterest made private boards and thankfully Instagram picked up the adult traffic before they ruined Pinterest. However Facebook and Twitter are now seeing the Adult spam deluge with Vines just like the Adult invasion that pretty much killed Myspace. Right before we all left and went to The Facebook. Never fear. Google hangouts are being used for business. Google even has a business unit named Google Hangouts for Business. Let’s hope it’s not overrun with Adult like Snapchat, look for more Google Hangouts to be catalogued in YouTube search results for educational purposes.
Social Media isn't "new" it's just a term for Internet Socialization. We used to "Go outside" and "play" - now we sit and watch Youtubes on our phones.. or we sit and play Xbox or PlayStation, which.. now has people playing and "watching them play".
From XboxOne..
It’s easy to make group video calls on Xbox One using Skype. Before you make a group video call, your Kinect sensor must be plugged in. At least one person on the call must have a Premium Skype account. You can initiate a group video call with a maximum of 4 people in a group (including yourself). However, if someone else on Skype initiates the call from another device such as a Windows 8 PC, that call can include up to 25 people.
Also, Didnt Amazon just buy Twitch? Where you can watch models play video games..
11.
Stock Market – Facebook will continue to have a higher valuation than TWTR but Twitter will become more useful and more a part of our lives and Facebook will be ravaged by a virus. But to my dismay, will bounce back and the stock price will still go up. Facebook Offers and Twitter Cards will still provide excellent opportunities for businesses but Twitter Cards will rule Google.
Dear CNBC people, watch TV, Are you showing everyone's Facebook Page or Twitter /Nick?
Why is Twitter Stock worth less? I truly don't get it.
12.
Private Messaging Fragmentation – Here are words to live by in 2015 – “If you don’t want it public, don’t connect to the internet or a mobile network” – Mark Cuban created Cyber Dust for this reason. Look for security and privacy to suddenly become big deals in 2015 when we realize how clueless we have been with our data. Governments are going to try and legislate this in 2015
13.
Candy Crush vs. Kim Kardashian – Candy Crush (free) and Minecraft (paid) are the two most downloaded games in 2014. (Google Play) Any guesses on 2015?
14.
As people look to express themselves more in a predominately 140 character world, blogging will resurface, video blogs will become bigger and better as well as more people looking for places other than Facebook and Twitter, Instagram, Still the "@" will still rule social media.
15.
People will realize people are using Google+ and as it gets more integrated into Google Search, brands and businesses, a Google hangout may be akin to a Fax machine but probably not in 2015. Maybe 2016. Google + will be this place hidden in search results, hmm.. (light bulb)
Reference –
http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-facts-stats-2014/
http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/mobile-neared-40-of-us-organic-search-traffic-in-q3-47320/
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2388648/iphone-users-sue-apple-over-ios-8-device-storage-squeeze
http://www.wired.com/2014/10/the-snappening-is-not-your-fault/
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