Year in review

eGR DM reflects on the key trends in digital marketing in 2015 and looks ahead to how machine learning will revolutionise SEO

The face of digital marketing is constantly changing and evolving, and 2015 has been no different. With consumers expecting content on demand in a multimedia format, marketers are increasingly met with the need to create a clear, informative and relevant message through their online marketing.

In 2015, marketing has become more personalised as companies concentrate on regional and local messaging. Big data has played an important role in an age where consumers are sharing more information with brands, in turn enabling companies to engage with their customers on a more personal level. And in a world where mobile is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it is now more important than ever before that businesses invest in making their content mobile-friendly.

Looking back at this year’s biggest developments in digital marketing, what have been the key trends in social media, SEO, content marketing and display advertising?

Social media
Social media is arguably one of the most powerful tools to boost content marketing. Fifty-seven percent of marketers said social media was best used for the amplification of content, with a further 21% saying its most powerful use was to grow a fan base, according to a study by the Content Marketing Association.

In the egaming sector, Facebook is still the king of social media. For casino and bingo, Facebook remains the largest platform by far, explains Simon Smiley, CEO of Quickthink. “Twitter is making progress but is still not able to challenge Facebook in the same way on a direct response basis for casino and bingo. We’re hopeful that some of the developments they have in hand will probably improve Twitter over the next year or so. Coming up, you might see Twitter taking more of the spend than it has done over the last year.”

Tom Baker, senior content manager at Win Technologies, agrees that social media in egaming centres predominantly around Twitter and Facebook. Although his company isn’t currently working on Instagram or Snapchat, he expects it will look at these platforms next year. “Twitter and Facebook have certainly both become avenues for content and acquisition, more so Facebook,” he says. “That’s a big trend I’ve seen over the past year. There’s much more investment in acquisition budgets on social and a big growth in paid social predominantly to acquire new customers.”

While other industries are active on Pinterest, Tumblr and more so on YouTube, Baker acknowledges that Twitter and Facebook are more suited to egaming, especially around major sporting events. “As an ad platform, Twitter has proved a challenge both in terms of ROI and scale. I don’t think anyone has cracked that one yet, mostly due to the platform’s limitations rather than misguided marketing strategies. There has been a lot of success for the major brands with acquisition on Facebook and that will continue to develop next year as people get to understand the platforms better. I think you’ll see more investment in acquisition on Facebook around Cheltenham, the Ryder Cup and Euro 2016.”

Instagram, which Facebook bought for $1bn in April 2012, is one to watch and Smiley believes it has become much more accessible than it was just three to four months ago. “We’ve used it for other clients but it’s not been super successful for direct response on gaming yet, however I think it will develop in the future. People need to produce the right kind of content that works on Instagram.”

Instagram announced in July that it would be expanding its advertising plans. In a blog post, Instagram detailed the next steps for ads: “Later this year, we will continue to connect businesses to the right people through expanded targeting options. Working with Facebook, we will enable advertisers to reach people on Instagram based on demographics and interests, as well as information businesses have about their own customers.”

Baker says Win Technologies will be looking at Instagram in 2016 and predicts it will act as more of a community platform. “I know they are bringing on an ad platform to monetise the traffic but realistically that’s going to be a very slow burner. Some people might trial that platform next year. For me it’s always going to be engagement first and then monetisation much later down the line,” he remarks.

Overall, Smiley argues that social media needs to be considered as far more than just a branding vehicle. “Anyone who