Late last year, the folks at Forbes did a great job compiling a thought-provoking list of digital trends and predictions from marketing thought leaders. For the benefit of marketers out there who are too busy to read through the whole list, we've put together a summarized infographic version for easy-scanning. Enjoy!

1. More mobile than ever

• More location-based marketing
• Wearable technology will be ubiquitous
• Appls will be increasingly smart, context-aware and location sensitive
• More anticipatory computing
• Smartphones & tablets will be the center of consumers' lives

2. Community, community, community

• 2014 will be a year of advocacy with the help of advocacy marketing, like referral programs
• Companies will leverage communities as a forum
• The rise of the collaborative economy will have significant digital impact (see: Uber, Airbnb)

3. Brands as the new media producers

• Brands will act as producers
• Use content wisely in marketing plans and you will succeed
• compatibility across screens
• new mediums
• sharing on social media using other people's money
• Images and video as a go-to viral tactic will expand
• Branded content marketing will be everywhere
• Advertorial 2.0 will become a major part of the marketing mix, as native advertising makes a comeback
• Start podcasting now; reach people while they commute

4. Social media is no longer the Wild West

• PR and Customer Service will find their way into social media marketing
• More pay-to-play than ever
• Lean startup practices from social media companies transforming the non-digital world
• Engagement by the convergence of UX design and brand storytelling

5. Changing attitudes about social

• Be more aware of private content sharing and disappearing social media
• Emergence of life-centric technologies as people "return to real life"
• Hoaxes will make the digital world more distrustful than ever

6. The computerized future is now

• Cognitive computing as the next big trend
• The rise of more intelligent social listening solutions
• Brands and products will find you instead of vice versa
• Pay attention to bitcoin and virtual currency

Ready to act on these trends? Grow your ecommerce store with our platform and start building a referral-powered customer base.

Embed this Infographic using this tag:

<a href="http://referralcandy.com/blog/2014-digital-trends-predictions-marketing-thought-leaders/"><img src="https://cdn.referralcandy.com/images/2014-digital-trends-predictions-marketing-infographic-590.png" alt="2014 Digital Trends and Predictions from Marketing Thought Leaders - Infographic" title="2014 Digital Trends and Predictions from Marketing Thought Leaders - Infographic" width="590" /></a><br /><a href="http://referralcandy.wpengine.com">ReferralCandy - Refer-a-friend Programs for Ecommerce Stores</a>