2014: A Digital Marketing Summary

23-12-2014Tags: Marketing Insight

With the year drawing to a close, what better time is there to reflect on the biggest digital marketing news of 2014? So put your feet up and recall the following articles from the past twelve months.

January

With 2014 just beginning, January saw Hyperbrand analyse the emerging social media trends that the digital marketing industry could expect in the coming months. From the increase in graphical content to the ever-increasing role of Google+, the article outlined the top 5 trends we could expect in 2014. Check out the article here.

February

Based on a recent report by executiveboard.com, the most significant article from February considered the difference between B2B and B2C branding. To help convey the value of a product or service, this article summarised the importance of customer-centric branding. Read more here.

March

On 21 March 2006, Jack Dorsey sent the first ever tweet. This article outlined how Twitter has transformed the media industry and the rising influence of Twitter within the digital marketing sphere. Click here to discover the impact the internet, and websites such as Twitter, have had on the traditional media industry.

April

Following recent estimates by eMarketer, the selected article from April reviewed the increasing significance of digital within the wider marketing mix. With the research suggesting that digital media spend has increased by 5% since 2012, this article also looked at digital attribution per country. Click here to find out the quickest country to adopt digital.

May

With a court case from 2009 finally coming to a conclusion, May saw the EU ruling that Google would be required to remove irrelevant links upon request. Relating to the European Commission's proposal for the right to be forgotten, Google was 'disappointed' with the ruling. Read more here.

June

June saw World Cup 2014 kick off in Brazil. With the nation dreaming of football coming home, Google unveiled a World Cup microsite provide a unique glimpse into what the world wanted to know during the tournament. Click here to relive the world's biggest single sporting event.

July

With the rising significant of music streaming, July saw the UK's Official Singles Chart go digital. In a move that was described as 'future-proofing,' the Official Charts Company announced that July 2014 would be the first month that digital music streaming would account towards the UK Number 1. Read more here.

August

With an increasing market share, Bing announced changes to their search function with conversational search. Despite only being rolled out in the US, Bing's conversational search uses previous searches to provide context for subsequent changes. Click here to see how it works.

September

September saw the latest update of Google Panda roll out. With a focus upon high-quality content, Panda 4.1 is supposed to allow for more SMEs to rank better within organic search engine results. For more information on how your website could be affected by Panda 4.1, click here.

October

A few month after a similar functionality change from Bing, October saw Google upgrade their conversational search. Improved compatibility allows users to complete searches by voice and Google uses previous voice commands to continue the context. Read more here.

November

November witnessed a crackdown on overly-promotional and click-baiting content on Facebook. The social media giant announced plans to filter and exclude spammy content from users' News Feeds from January 2015. Find out more here.

December

Following on from the article in April, December saw further predictions by eMarketer on worldwide digital media spend in 2015. Most notably, eMarketer predicted that mobile media spend would increase by a staggering 60% from 2014 to 2015. Click here to find out more.

The digital marketing landscape has shifted dramatically in 2014, but what can we expect over the next twelve months? With the ever-increasing focus on high-quality, engaging content and story-telling, Hyperbrand will remain aligned with the latest digital marketing trends in 2015.

From the team at Hyperbrand, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2015!