23%

8%

THE STATEOF DIGITAL MARKETINGTRENDSThe 2015 report

2 | STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS | The 2015 Report

Marketing budgets will increase in 2015 according to Gartner Research, with more than half of marketers increasing their budget by an average of 17 percent.

But more money does not automatically equal better results. Digital marketing is complex and constantly evolving. Previously reliable marketing channels are fragmenting. Social media is maturing. And there is a pressure to build 1:1 relationships with consumers. How are marketers reacting to this state of constant change? And how can your organization stay competitive by leveraging the latest trends and most sophisticated programs?

In this report, we took a look back at the top marketing predictions from early 2014, and then surveyed 100+ marketers in late 2014 to see whether these predictions came true.

What we found were the following results:

It has become critical for brands to collect insights from social datapg. 4

Marketers still struggle to measure social ROI pg. 7

Facebook remains king when it comes to digital marketing investment pg. 11

Businesses continue to play catch-up in mobile marketing pg. 14

Brands are integrating email and social together for unprecedented results pg. 17

3 | STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS | The 2015 Report

IT’S BECOME MISSION CRITICAL FOR BRANDS TO COLLECT INSIGHTS FROM SOCIAL DATA

RESULTS: True

A big prediction for 2014 was that brands would use social media to collect information in order to tailor future branded experiences to a customer’s specific preferences.

A ZDnet article entitled Big Data’s 2014 proclaimed “we are all data scientists now.” 74% used data leveraged from

social media to gain insights about customers.

5 | STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS | The 2015 Report

Social media has the freshest, most relevant customer data with more than

1 billion active users on Facebook and 560 million users on Twitter sharing

each day! (See the Infographic)

Every time one of these users takes action they are supplying data about their preferences, demographics, behaviors, emails,

relationships and more. This data is not simply a snapshot for that period of time; it is constantly refreshing so you can get

up-to-the-minute insights to deliver relevant campaigns when consumers actually want them. No other channel provides this

depth and scope of information.

Collect specific user interests to inform how you target email and advertising campaigns.

Track your most popular social content. Use these insights to inform messaging in your ad campaigns, email campaigns, and more.

Improve consumer database segmentation by collecting demographic information like location, gender, age and more.

Discover purchase intent. Participants in sweepstakes for a free vacation, for example, could be candidates for a follow-up offer fora travel package.

Use email addresses and other information from engaged customers — both from social and other programs — to build Facebook custom audiences and lookalike models for targeting social and display ads.

Quick Tips

6 | STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS | The 2015 Report

In late 2013, experts predicted that 2014 would be the year for new measurement with social media ROI. An article from Social Media Explorer entitled “2014 Marketing Measurement Predictions” stated, “expect to see metrics like cost per impression, cost per engagement, cost per conversion and ROI become the holy grail for getting budget as the first phase in standardization.” However, according to Offerpop’s survey data, the majority of marketers are still struggling to measure the ROI of their social media efforts.

MARKETERS STILL STRUGGLETO MEASURE SOCIAL ROI

In fact, 71% rated their measurement of social media ROI not very effective, not effective or neutral with only 29% of marketers claiming their measurement was effective or very effective.

RESULTS: False

40%

23%

20%

8%

9%

NEUTRAL

NOTEFFECTIVE

NOT VERYEFFECTIVE

VERYEFFECTIVE

EFFECTIVE

7 | STATE OF DIGITAL MARKETING TRENDS | The 2015 Report

As digital marketing budgets expand, ROI measurement must keep pace. But how do you define the ROI of a social marketing strategy that can drive direct sales, engage customers, build your brand and increase awareness? Start by tracking the direct sales that can be attributed to your social strategy — social coupons redeemed, e-commerce

Yet, effectively gauging social ROI has become more important than ever.

“Gartner’s 2014 CEO Survey found that digital marketing was the No. 1-ranked CEO priority for technology-enabled business capability for investment during the next five years.”

Yvonne GenoveseManaging VP at Gartner

sales directly from social campaigns, email marketing conversions tracked to social campaigns, data, etc.

Additionally, you can add in the brand marketing value of your social strategy. This is the type of marketing that might not elicit a direct, trackable action, but is valuable for your brand’s overall visibility in the marketplace. These two pieces will get you on the right track to measuring your social ROI.

Run social ads that sell to targeted groups, rather than to a very broad audience.

Drive sales directly from social. Create gift guides on Pinterest, couponing campaigns on Facebook, UGC campaigns on your website, etc.

Use Facebook ads’ custom audiences features to target your offers.

Test Facebook and Twitter buy buttons.

Offer exclusive codes, coupons, and incentives to get social fans into your stores, and then track response.

Bring social commerce to your site. User-generated content galleries can lift sales. In fact, UGC is 20% more influential on purchase than any other form of media. (Mashable)

Quick Tips

The thought was that niche networks allowed brands to precisely target personas and specialty audiences. But according to survey data, Facebook is still the most widely used social marketing platform although Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are closing the gap fast. Niche networks Tumblr, Vine, Foursquare, Snapchat, and Swarm are struggling to make in-roads.

Facebook still has the largest audience, even in spite of its declining reach. In fact, 92% of marketers planned to spend the majority of their holiday social marketing budget on Facebook in 2014. (Holiday Report) However, as organic reach on Facebook continues to decline, marketers should continue to invest in building communities and engaging audiences on other networks. As these other big networks — Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. — continue to develop more options for marketers in terms of advertising and analytics, marketers should continue to invest in the networks where they have experienced ROI.

In 2014, experts predicted that brands would focus more on niche social networks than popular networks like Facebook and Twitter.

FACEBOOK STILL REIGNS WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING INVESTMENT

RESULTS: False

In 2014, which social network did brands use for their marketing efforts?

According to Enders Analysis, the number of smartphones on Earth surpassed the number of PCs early in 2014. That shift from computer to

mobile device made mobile marketing a hot topic in 2014. Many marketers predicted that brands would design campaigns specifically for mobile users in 2014. It turned out that this prediction might have been a bit ahead of its

time. According to Offerpop’s survey data, 62% of marketers did not create mobile-specific

campaigns. But with mobile use continuing to explode, this

presents marketers another opportunity in 2015 to reach consumers with specifically targeted mobile campaigns.

BRANDS STILL NEED TO PLAY CATCH-UP IN

MOBILE MARKETING

RESULTS: Mixed

In 2014 Marketers predicted email marketing would go social.

And for the majority of Marketers, this prediction held true. Brands have begun to realize email and social have a symbiotic relationship. Marketers are using social media to capture behavioral and preference data and also then for future email retargeting. In addition, Marketers are also leveraging their email database to drive social conversation.

67%YES

33%NO

BRANDS ARE INTEGRATING SOCIAL AND EMAIL

RESULTS: True

Quiz fans and followers about their favorite products. Then use the results to follow up with targeted email offers.

Use pre-crafted tweets to facilitate easier sharing.

Include opt-ins to your email lists when building sign up forms and social campaigns.

Ensure what you’re sending to users is relevant to their geographic location, age, gender, and lifestyle by analyzing preference and demographic data from social.

Ask fans to help spread the word about your brand through email referrals and social sharing and reward the top performers with added incentives.

Quick Tips

Did brands integrate email marketing efforts with social mediain 2014?

So what do you need to do in 2015 to reach more sophisticated social andmobile consumers?

By putting in the effort to be more strategic with your campaigns, you will ensure they have the greatest chance of being successful in the future.

• Diversify your social channels

• Get smart about data collection

• Leverage that data to power meaningful relationships and engagement

CONCLUSION

Want to find out even more digital marketing trends, tips, and tricks? Download our Definitive Guide to UGC eBook or sign up to receive our weekly email which featureslive campaigns from top brands.

Offerpop is a digital marketing software-as-a-service platform transforming how global brands connect, engage and convert today’s mobile and social consumers into long-term loyal customers. Leading enterprises and agencies use Offerpop’s integrated platform to power campaigns, content and commerce, and provide marketers with rich consumer data for smarter marketing decisions.

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