7 Influencer Thoughts On 2015

There’s no doubt you’ve been recently inundated with articles on what to expect in 2015. And while we try to steer clear of following the masses, we thought it applicable to curate the most interesting thoughts on what 2015 will bring from a variety of industry leaders.

In the last year, there were a lot of digital shifts. From getting serious about content marketing to a heightened focus on big data, companies embraced change and really started to harness the concept of Interactive Business. As we hedge onward, at full force into another new year, here’s what some of our most well-respected thought leaders anticipate what’s in store for 2015 – courtesy of NewsCred and other key sources.

1. Companies will get their content acts together, and make content a key component of culture. ‘Rebecca Lieb (@lieblink) of the Altimeter Group calls this “developing an enterprise-wide culture of content.” Content creation shouldn’t just be a task for the marketing team — it behooves excellent external and internal communications to get input from all teams. User-generated content won’t only be relegated to the realm of social media.’
2. Storytelling will topple other marketing silos, emerging as the ultimate audience-reaching tactic. ‘As NewsCred’s Head of Strategy Michael Brenner (@BrennerMichael) says, “Existing marketing silos will fall apart as content, data and technology emerge as the only way for brands to reach consumers through storytelling.’
3. The manufacturing boom continues and so will increase in jobs. According to Industry Week, ‘to meet that production boom, NAM is predicting a nice uptick in hiring throughout the manufacturing sector. “Firms plan to increase their employee levels by 2.1% on average over the next 12 months, up from 0.9% one year ago. This marks the fastest pace in more than three years (second quarter of 2011).’ Yet with a still all too familiar gap in skilled workforce, manufacturers will turn to new, digital methods for recruiting.
4. 2015 is the year of technology in manufacturing. ‘As consumer expectations change, the entire supply chain will need to change, too, and will be led by advances in technology. “Stakeholders throughout the supply chain have no choice but to adjust their business models to meet consumer demand and increase profits.”’
5. Mobile-first thinking becomes a priority. According to many, mobile will take the lead. “Considering the fact that over 60% of emails are opened on mobile devices first and conversion rates are still in the single digit percentage ranges, there’s still massive potential for marketers to gain a deeper understanding of the mobile user’s behavior, says Hanna Andrzejewska, marketing manager at GetResponse. “As mobile usage continues to grow and dominate, brands will need to dig deeper to understand exactly what devices consumers are using.”
6. The concept of interactive business will truly come to fruition. ‘In 2015, companies must fully integrate digital into their entire operation. Murray Newlands, founder of Influence People, says that to keep up: “Having a great digital strategy is no longer something that can happen in isolation. The whole company has to undergo a digital transformation. In many cases that means mobile, [but] it also means major structural changes to the company far beyond the marketing team such as changing response times, products, and services, as well as things like opening hours.”’
7. Customers now choose the brands, not the other way around. As mentioned in NewsCred, ‘Digital Marketing Strategist Jasmine Sandler says, “What is dying, certainly in digital marketing, is forcing the customer to approve a brand. Brands, agencies and marketers will need to develop and implement strategies that support organic relationship development across the board.”

Get ready for these high priority shifts in 2015. What’s on your 2015 growth plan?