Exponential increase in data set to power 2014 marketing trends
A personalisation boom which has swept the marketing industry over the past year is expected to sprout wing in 2014 courtesy of an exponential increase in data, according to the latest Rakuten Marketing trends report.
Outlining five key trends for the year ahead Rakuten Marketing highlights the increasingly sophisticated ways for brands to better engage with consumers.
The first of these is the growing practice of ‘showrooming’, signifying a shift away from ‘last click wins’ models toward a more dynamic system whereby each contributor on the purchase journey will benefit from the sale.
A second trend will be a move away from click-through’s and impressions in marketing metrics for display advertising towards ads with website-like characteristics which enable interaction without navigating away from the page being browsed.
Elsewhere content-led publishers will gain increasing importance as brands seek to differentiate themselves with individualised content such as editorial, video and scollable images. Brands will also be able to ‘super target’ individual consumers over multiple channels to gain a complete picture of particular shoppers.
Finally Rakuten Marketing project that brands will go global in 2014 with international sales growth predicted to outpace domestic growth to account for 40 per cent of all online sales by 2020.
Mark Haviland, MD, Rakuten Marketing comments: “Marketers have spent the year getting to grips with big data, and the coming months will be the time to put that insight into action across all devices, to target shoppers based on a single customer view. From shoppable content tools to understanding the multi-faceted customer journey; with the right partnerships in place, brands will be equipped in the coming year to target customers effectively with relevant and personalised content.”