I have a cool infographic to share with you today about trends in marketing for 2014.

Here’s how they break down:
Mobile First: Businesses need to be designing mobile interfaces first, and then scaling up desktop websites. Companies with younger or more tech-savvy audiences can expect to see a majority of their visitors utilizing mobile and tablet devices and need to offer optimized experiences for these users.

 Network Driven Engagement: When it comes to social media, who you connect with can dramatically impact the experience you have. Who you know online dictates what you see. This pattern is expected to expand. Case in point: Facebook’s News Feed algorithm relies heavily on your network’s level of interaction with a given status update in determining whether or not and how to display that update to you. The more your friends are interested in a link, photo or status, the more likely you are to see it.

Brand Advocacy: Selling products online is increasingly less about the actual products, and representing a brand online is increasing less about the brand and more about what the brand stands for. A small but strong group of brands have launched social advocacy campaigns aimed at building equity in the brand name. Chipotle ran a campaign titled The Scarecrow, focusing on the theme of responsible farming practices. Oreo, JCPenney, and Target all featured gay rights symbols, or same-sex couples in their marketing. While all three companies faced backlashes and threats of boycott, they held strong in their positions and ended up receiving substantially more support than condemnation from social media communities. They likely did their research and found they had more to gain than lose by taking the positions they did.

Infographic courtesy of www.bluefountainmedia.com