5 Cool Digital Trends for 2015 that All Social Media Marketers Should Know About

What does your 2015 marketing strategy look like? You probably plan to scale initiatives that have been effective for your business in the past, and hopefully you’ve also set aside time and a portion of your budget to explore new trends that are on the horizon.

After all, taking risks and leading the charge into untrodden territory will keep you one step ahead of your competition in the long run.

At Sprinklr we are all about enabling companies to be at the forefront of creating exceptional experiences for their customers, so we put together a list of compelling digital trends that will shape the future of social marketing in 2015 (and beyond).

Here are the 5 digital trends that we think social media marketers should pay attention to as they launch their strategy for 2015.

1. Social Shopping Will Become An Important Part of eCommerce

Since people spend the majority of their day browsing social media, and since online shopping is a booming industry that shows no signs of slowing down, it’s only natural to expect that major social networks will introduce the ability to buy items directly within their application in the near future.

In fact, both Twitter and Facebook have announced that they are testing out a “Buy” button, and we should expect to see this feature made available to the public in 2015. Twitter explains that its “Buy” button is intended to make shopping from mobile devices convenient, as purchases can be completed with just a few taps.

It’s easy to imagine how social shopping could be enhanced with product recommendations from your social community or influencers you follow; for example, Twitter could include the number of people in your network who bought a product you’re considering along with a list of reviews next to the “Buy” button.

Also, we’re likely to see the “Buy” button integrated into the platforms’ advertising capabilities so that brands can pay to get their products in front of more consumers.

2. A Customer Experience Management Strategy Will Be A Must-Have, Not a Nice-to-Have

As Ekaterina points out, your brand is the sum of customers’ complete experiences with you across all touch points. It is defined by how customers experience your products, employees and content each time they interact with your company.

Brands must become nimble in order to create holistic experiences for the consumer that span customer service, social channels, web properties, paid advertising and in-store environments. Organizations that break free of the traditional siloed approach to running a business in favor of integrated technology and processes will excel at connecting with consumers.

Successful business is about building relationship capital through smart experience management, and social media––being all about relationships––is one of the best places to nurture this type of capital. So, as companies prioritize managing customer experiences across all touchpoints, social media will increasingly be considered a keystone channel that collaborates with all other touchpoints to deliver relevant, delightful experiences.

3. Customer Experience Management Will Get A Boost from Location-Based Advertising

Customer experience management goes hand-in-hand with delivering more personalized experiences to the consumer, which is something marketers have been tinkering with for a while. The rise of proximity technology – which allows companies to deliver timely messaging to consumers based on their location at any given time – is a huge step towards more sophisticated personalized marketing (Apple’s iBeacon is an example).

(Image via appleinsider)

It’s not far-fetched to imagine social media platforms will find sophisticated ways of using proximity technology to deliver highly-targeted, relevant promotions or content based on a consumer’s location or activity. For example, as a woman browses the rack at a department store on a cold winter day and then quickly checks her Facebook feed perhaps she’ll see an ad for an article on ways to style frumpy winter parkas.

4. More Brands Will Partner With Online Celebrities

From YouTube celebrities to fashion bloggers and Instagram users with thousands upon thousands of followers, content creators with powerful personal brands are being tapped by companies to create sponsored content.

Aeropostale enlisted YouTube star Bethany Mota to design her own clothing line, for which they created this promotional video.

This is a great way for brands to reach niche audiences, and, since followers trust these influencers, they are more likely to explore the products they promote than if the push comes directly from the brand. In 2015 consumers should expect to see more high-quality sponsored content created by their favorite bloggers and social media personalities in partnership with both large and small brands.

Forward-thinking marketers will jump on this trend and collaborate with social media celebrities in creative ways.

LifeProof, a company that makes cases for mobile devices, partnered with travel blogger Brook Seward to show her completing her winter bucket list (which included activities like skiing and ice skating).

5. We’ll See Marketing Applications in Wearable Technology

Wearable technology is one of those things that makes me feel like I really am living in a future imagined by my favorite sci-fi movies.

As I pointed out in this KISSmetrics article, although wearable technology is still in its infancy, marketers are already thinking about how it will change the way we connect with consumers. Mark Schaefer says that by the end of 2015, “wearable technology should be gathering enough steam that we’ll begin to see some early marketing applications.”

Since wearable technology focuses on collecting personal data to enhance user experience, marketers and advertisers see a big opportunity to leverage this data to create customized advertising experiences.

(Image via Google)

It’s fun to imagine how social media will be woven into the wearable tech experience – will we check Facebook and Twitter in between meetings with our Google Glasses designed by Diane Von Furstenberg? Maybe we’ll make a quick purchase with Twitter’s “Buy” button through a tweet promoted with a “pay-per-gaze” advertising model.

Mind. Blown.

Be An Early Adopter

These are five trends that will impact marketing and social in a big way in 2015 and beyond, and there are many more that brands should pay attention to if they want to stay relevant and innovative.

We’re experiencing an exciting time in the evolution of technology that presents companies with the opportunity to push boundaries and break new ground in the way they connect with consumers, and the brands that are among the first to experiment with new trends are poised to stand out in the noisy world of advertising.

Now we’d like to hear from you. What digital trends do you think will impact social in a big way?