As 2014 draws to a close, many marketers are already laying the groundwork for 2015, allocating budgets and evaluating strategies for the coming year. While constant change is about the only certainty in local marketing that can be relied upon, there are certain trends on the horizon for 2015 that will offer new opportunities for growth to those who are willing to accept and adapt to the next round of changes.

The Continuing Evolution of the Mobile Revolution

• The consumer’s love affair with everything mobile continues to roll on unchecked with no end in sight. Studies have shown that 72 percent of US consumers currently own a smartphone; this figure is expected to jump to 90 percent over the next two years.
• Mobile devices already account for 35 percent of all web traffic, and that figure is going nowhere but up.
• What’s more, mobile users are proven action takers – half of all mobile searches result in a visit to the store being researched within one day.

The implications are clear and easily understood: your business survival could very well depend on your ability to implement an effective mobile marketing strategy.

Consumers are Increasingly Using Mobile Pay Options
Consumers are continuing to take advantage of the convenience of paying for a variety of goods and services with their smartphones. Available apps for mobile payment processing include O2 Wallet, Square, GoogleWallet, and Passbook.

Depending on your niche and customer base, you might consider adding processing systems to accommodate the latest payment options preferred by an increasing number of consumers.

Adoption of Location-based Targeting
A variety of location targeting tools are available that can improve the ROI of your display advertising spend by pinpointing your best prospects based on their location. Highly targeted ads can be customized for various demographic characteristics in different locations.

The Growing Importance of Content in Your SEO Efforts
Given the number of critical changes to the way SEO is done, you may need to adjust your efforts to reflect the reality of the new search ranking landscape. SEO is believed by some experts to now be 20 percent technical and 80 percent content. Whatever value you assign to content, there’s no getting around the fact that content is a major player in the SEO game, and that you need to gear your business up to generate plenty of great content in the coming months.

The Influence of Social Media Marketing
If you’re not already involved in social media marketing, make 2015 the year you take the plunge. According to a Gallup study, an estimated 35 percent of purchasing decisions are influenced by social media. Social media has the added benefit of allowing one-to-one engagement with potential customers, allowing you to gain trust and build authority – two vital factors in any future sales scenario.

In addition, social media has been shown to help improve your position in the search engine rankings in a number of ways such as providing co-citations, increasing the volume of search traffic to your website, and serving as a source of links.