14 Key Concepts for Next Year: The Top Posts of 2014

I know that 2014 isn’t quite over yet. We’ve still got all that madness around New Year’s Eve later this week. But now is as good a time as any to round-up the top posts from the past year to see what you and your fellow Big Thinkers found most interesting, enlightening, and useful.

As with last year’s list, a textual analysis of keywords highlighted some common themes across all the popular posts, including:

• Mobile
• Millennials
• Trends
• And, of course, e-commerce, digital marketing, and strategy

So, if you’re really curious about the trends your fellow Big Thinkers care about, learn all you can about the trends shaping digital marketing and e-commerce strategy, in particular for your mobile customers and Millennials (which, increasingly, represent the same group). Happily, this round-up of posts covers that whole set quite nicely. Now let’s get on with the list:

1. The biggest post of the year asked “Is Google+ Dead, Dying, or Something Else Altogether?” The fact that this was this year’s most popular post might give you a hint about the answer. But check out the full post when you have a moment anyway.
2. Although this next post only appeared in mid-October, “Will E-commerce Kill Retail?” rocketed to the top of the list. The reality of the relationship between e-commerce and retail gets a little complicated; but, this seems to have helped make it a little easier to understand. You might also want to check out a related item, “Retailers Lose 32% of Shoppers to In-Store Mobile Use. Or Do They?”, for more detail on the topic.
3. While this next one is an item from our weekly Travel Tuesday series, this look at “How to Use Emotion and Storytelling in Digital Marketing” works no matter what industry you’re in. Oh… and, don’t worry, we’ll have a full list of the top Travel Tuesday posts for you tomorrow.
4. The next item on our list uncovers “The Shocking Truth About Millennials and Digital Media.” A very popular post about a very important topic.
5. “Want Proof that Mobile Drives Purchases?” Even better, it delivers.
6. Every year or two, we all look forward to Mary Meeker’s Internet trends report. We broke down the 2014 report on a very popular installment of our weekly marketing and e-commerce podcast, Thinks Out Loud, in an episode called “The Future of E-commerce and Mary Meeker’s 2014 Trends.” Really good listen when you have a moment.
7. We have to go way back to last January for the next item on the list. This one explores “What Your Customers Expect from Mobile and E-commerce in 2014.” And don’t worry. You can look forward to an update for 2015 in the next couple of weeks.
8. Two related posts, “7 Reasons E-commerce Growth Has Nowhere to Go But Up” and “The Little-Known Factors Behind E-commerce Growth in 2015” were equally popular among your fellow Big Thinkers last year. The fact that they help explain the overall trends driving e-commerce growth next year likely played a big role in pushing them up the list. And the fact that most of these trends continue to hold steady as we head into the New Year will likely keep them there.
9. This look at “Will Millennials Use Email?” helps unravel the sometimes complicated relationship between an increasingly important demographic segment and a long-time marketing tactic. Definitely worth a look as you head into 2015.
10. Another Thinks Out Loud episode helps round out the top 10 posts. Episode 62 of the weekly series explains “Why Friction-Free E-commerce Matters.” And Episode 99 of the podcast, which looked at “Mobile, Millennials and More: E-commerce Trends 2015,” makes an outstanding companion piece. Be sure to give them a listen as you head into 2015.
11. Coming in at #11 is this item from April that asked “What Can Proctor & Gamble Teach You About the State of Digital Marketing?” P&G is among the world’s biggest advertisers and represents mainstream thinking around marketing and advertising as much as any other company. So, when they shift their budget heavily towards mobile and social channels, that says a lot about where the overall market is headed.
12. Speaking of where the overall market is headed, search remains a critical component of any marketing strategy. But what makes search work today? This look at “What Google Won’t Tell You About Search Engine Marketing” can help you sort that out.
13. Want more insights about Millennials to set you up for success in 2015? Then check out “For Millennials and Gen X, There’s No Such Thing as Offline.” You’ll be glad you did.
14. Finally, we close out the round-up of the top posts of 2014 with a personal favorite, which asks “What Makes You Think Your Customers Care About You?” If you care about your customers — and I know you do — you really ought to give this one a long look.

You should also check out these slides and video from my recent webinar, “Digital Marketing Directions: Three Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year”:

If you want to learn even more about how customers changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, be sure an register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

And, finally, you might want to take a look at some of the best e-commerce, mobile commerce, and digital marketing posts from 2014 that didn’t quite make the list, including:

• The 2014 E-commerce and Internet Marketing All-Stars: The Top 9 Blogs
• The 7 Fastest Ways to Improve Your E-commerce Effectiveness
• E-commerce Best Practices: How to Grow Your Email List
• Is Guest Blogging Dead?
• 10 Key Posts about Millennials and Mobile: E-commerce Link Digest
• The Truth About Data-Driven Marketing
• Will Review Sites Be the Death of Brands?