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Between the low organic reach of Facebook posts and the clutter that can fill our Twitter and LinkedIn feeds, now more than ever it's important to set aside a dedicated budget for social media ads. Social sites are continuously moving towards a "pay-to-play" model, so running ads means you'll have a better chance of getting your content seen by current and prospective fans. Any social ads money is better than no social ads money, so it's okay to start small and experiment with different budgets, but I recommend deciding where best to target the people you are trying to reach and sticking with one site at at time.
AMY BUDZYNSKI Social Media Specialist 1
From Pineapple to Porter, more and more brands are giving attention to print, the so-called "dying" medium. The convenience—and potential profit margins—of an exclusively online experience are undebatable, but there's just no way to completely replace the tangible written word when attempting to connect with customers on a personalized, relatable level. As companies continue to develop different outlets for original content, I predict that even more large brands with major publishing firepower will launch printed publications to help sell a lifestyle rather than simply products.
2 BETH DEMMON Content Manager
In 2015, people will incorporate big beautiful fonts into their websites. Great type has slowly been on the rise, and in 2015 it's really going to shine! Every day, more and more people are realizing how important typography is, and how much of a difference it can make on a webpage. Next year, I also think typography will become more responsive. Typography often stays the same size no matter what device you are using, but in 2015 more websites will focus on overcoming this challenge with responsive typography.
3 BREE TERVORT Graphic Designer
"Newsletter'" can conjure up all kinds of old-timey visions of crumbling cork bulletin boards and your weird mom's friend's holiday family updates, and as a result, lots of businesses are sleeping on the real utility of email marketing and a solid subscriber base. Sure, social platforms are great for building and maintaining relationships with your friends and followers, but it's borrowed time and nothing compares with "owning" your own audience. It's time to focus on building up a healthy subscriber base and communicate with your audience directly, without all the noise—email marketing tools like MailChimp (Mail.... Kimp?) make it super easy. 2015 is the year of the subscriber!
4 CHRISTIN BAILEY Content Specialist
Instagram may have had an explosive 2014, but the old school players like Facebook and Twitter are proving they’re here to stay with new integrated apps to help brands achieve their goals and target their client base. Hootsuite and SocialBro have teamed up to help users in scheduling posts, but that’s not all! Users can now see when their followers are most active and schedule posts that have the most impact and social ROI.
5 DANIELLE TACKOOR Social Media Specialist
While we all know that Google loves Google+, no one else is buying it. Now that Google Authorship is officially dead, I predict even more people will return to ignoring Google+ as the failed social channel that it is. And I'm not the only one who feels this way! TechCrunch says Google+ will "no longer be considered a product, but a platform - essentially ending its competition with other social networks like Facebook and Twitter", even referring to G+ as "The Walking Dead". But until that time, I will continue updating all of my clients' Google+ profiles. Damn you, Google!
6 GEORGIA DAUBERT Director of Social Media
It's time to give some love to those (programs) that work behind the scenes. This year, we experimented with a number of options for time tracking, proposal building, and project management; all pretty dry stuff, but essential for a growing business. We took advantage of free trials and lots of testing to find an integrated combo that worked for us. With so many choices in apps and software, you can find exactly what your business needs to get the boring stuff done easily and make your team shine!
7 GRETCHEN STEWART-‐DISCH Office Manager & Bookkeeper
With more than 200 million Instagrammers sharing their experiences and taking a selfie or two, I predict the rise of image-heavy content. To prepare yourself, start getting familiar with creating brag-worth visual content using online editing tools, or even collaborating with graphic designers to create exclusive content for social media. It's an invaluable skill that will only help you in 2015.
8 KELLY KAUFFMAN Social Media Specialist
Use schema everywhere! It's especially important for local search, but schema is basically your way of communicating directly with Google (and other search engines) and telling them exactly what your website is about and what your information is. Why ignore this direct link to Google?
9 LINDSAY MINEO Senior Search Specialist
People will stop relying on their mobile phones to check the time. Only 3 years ago, the pundits were predicting the end of wrist watches altogether. Jump forward to late 2014 and watches are the new fashion item of choice. This trend will only continue, particularly with the launch of smart watches like Google Watch & Apple Watch as part of the growth in "wearables".
10 MAX THOMAS Founder & CEO
The meteoric rise of Snapchat and Instagram in 2014 showed that the social media landscape is becoming even more fragmented. 2014 also welcomed social networks like Ello, Yik Yak, and tsu. While the long-term viability of these players remains to be seen, it always wise to keep your finger on the pulse of emerging social media channels. By concentrating only on the traditional players like Facebook and Twitter, you can miss out on new opportunities for growth. Instead, it's better to be open minded, creative, and keen to embrace emerging social channels.
11 MICHAEL WARD Social Media Specialist
While Google Authorship officially took a nosedive in 2014, semantic markup is still playing an important role in today's successful websites. I'm particularly interested in the awesome user experiences that happen when Facebook Open Graph and Twitter Cards markup is successfully implemented, since it makes your content look consistently great when it's shared across popular social media sites. To learn more about social markup, I recommend checking out this fantastic presentation from Mike Arnesen on implementing and tracking structured data!
12 M ONIQUE POUGET Director of MarkeOng
3D printing technology is being developed at rapid speeds, and it’s getting more affordable and accessible for the general public. In August 2014, even NASA's astronauts started using 3D printing to fabricate tools and spare parts to support their work on the International Space Station. There is a bright future and an enormous dollar sign ahead for 3D printing. As a designer, entrepreneur, or really anyone, you may not want to miss out on this opportunity.
13 PHOEBE WONG Director of Design
Download the Page Analytics Chrome extension and start seeing where people are clicking on your website without ever having to log in to Google Analytics. Use this extension to 1) see if your landing pages are performing as you want them to, 2) evaluate how well your site navigation works and 3) get insight into how your customers use your website.
14 SHAWN MASSIE Director of Search
Smart clothing will finally hit the shelves! It's been a promise for years that the clothing we wear should be just as "smart" as our mobile devices. Now that promise is becoming a reality. Smart clothing like Cityzen Sciences' D-Shirt (sensors in the fabric monitor skin temperature, heart rate, and location) and LikeAGlove (for taking exact body measurements) are expected to be available to the public in 2015. And that's just for starters. Soon we'll be seeing more smart clothing options, fashionable ones too, that help us monitor our health, change color based on our moods or event, regulate temperature, and more! From runway to tech innovators, smart clothing is here.
15 MAX THOMAS Founder & CEO
