By this point in the year, marketing departments are finalizing their main marketing strategies and goals for Q1 in 2015. If you liked our post on the Top 5 Internet Advertising Methods for 2013, you'll love our update, 2015 edition:

By this point in the year, marketing departments are finalizing their main marketing strategies and goals for Q1 in 2015. If you liked our post on the Top 5 Internet Advertising Methods for 2013, you'll love our update, 2015 edition:

1. New Types of Content Marketing

We’ve already talked about the need to include content and inbound marketing strategies in your digital marketing plans. CrazyEgg reports that 70% of B2B enterprise marketers are producing more content than they did one year ago — if you’re not doing content marketing, you’re falling behind.

But in 2015, you need to focus on incorporating some new types of B2B content marketing. Blog posts and whitepapers should still be a B2B marketer’s bread and butter, but alternate forms of content — like infographics, video, webinars, interactive AMAs and FAQs, and more — can help you engage with more visitors and showcase your creativity. Think about the types of content that are most helpful in your industry and reflect on info gleaned from trade shows, industry publications, and the like. You’ll probably find opportunities to shake up your content, which will lead to higher engagement and more leads

2. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a B2B staple — it’s Facebook for the business world, and many marketers log in between a few times per week to several times per day. Because of LinkedIn’s appeal in the business world, it provides an excellent opportunity to advertise directly to the future prospects who will benefit the most from your company.  According to HubSpot, LinkedIn ads are 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook or Twitter ads. If you’re not leveraging LinkedIn ads, you’re missing out.

3. Google Plus

At Cleriti, we often tell our B2B clients that they’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many leads they get from content posted to Google Plus — and they usually are. Although many companies may view G+ as a place to list operating hours and a phone number, don’t fall into the trap: Google Plus’ +1 button was pushed 1 billion times each day in 2013.

One billion times a day. In 2013.

And the trend hasn’t stopped. Google Plus provides a great platform to interact with prospects, current customers, and engage in conversations relevant to your industry.

4. SlideShare

SlideShare is a great way to add visual content to your digital marketing campaigns (see No. 1 on this list) without take up too much time. SlideShare also integrates easily with LinkedIn, which allows you to develop a B2B advertising campaigns aimed at specific audience and provide the content to back it up — win-win.

One of SlideShare’s best uses, however, comes from repurposing content. We’ve discussed ways to update past content and provide new context, and SlideShare allows you to modify blogs, whitepapers, e-books into more visually appealing (and thus more share-worthy) forms.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing isn’t new — in fact, your prospects are going to think something is wrong if they sign up for a trial, product, or service on your website and don’t receive an email welcoming them to your company.

Great email campaigns can be incredibly successful. 91% of consumers use email on a daily basis, and according to a Gigacom survey, emails are the most useful and successful digital marketing tactic in terms of high ROI — it even outranks SEO in perceived usefulness. Using email marketing to create lead nurture campaigns can move buyers through the sales process and turn leads into sales. The ROI and success of email campaigns can be tracked and measured, and they should be a vital part of your 2015 marketing plan.

But there’s a right way—and a less effective way—to do everything. And email marketing is no exception.

Terrible email marketing campaigns involve buying email contact lists and spam. The best marketing practices involve providing relevant content to prospects who need it—not spamming people.

Keep Your Goals in Mind

Having the right advertising methods in play during 2015 can help you achieve the best ROI for your marketing spend — but max ROI isn’t the only goal. Good marketing strategy means understanding why certain advertising methods work best for your company’s specific contexts and leveraging that understanding to provide relevant content. Some methods may work best for technology marketing, some may work best for B2B healthcare marketing, and some may work across industries. Knowing your customer and serving their needs is the best way to succeed in 2015.