Audience engagement professionals have seen a range of new tools and techniques come into their field over the past several years. 2015 will be the year to consolidate skills and start implementing new practice to get better results for your efforts.

The most reliable predictions are made from understanding what’s gone before. 2014 was certainly the year that sales and engagement on mobile came into its own. A look at the statistics around holiday sales is a clear indicator. According to Econsultancy: “Mobile commerce accounted for over a fifth (21.9%) of online shopping on Cyber Monday 2014, up 15.9% year-on-year.”  That means if you’re not already optimised for mobile sales you should get on that. Your customers will start to expect it.

Once you’re optimised for mobile sales, you can start thinking about mobile payment. With developments in NFC  and new apps like Zapp  or Ping It, 2015 could be year that the mobile wallet becomes a reality.

The massive uptake in mobile usage has made possible new peer-to-peer business models that will continue to change the market in 2015. Exemplified by apps for ride sharing Uber, flat sharing Airbnb and the meal sharing Eat With are seriously disrupting the hospitality industry. It’s worth keep your eye on. Many of your visitors will likely be starting to use these services – they might need different kinds of customer service if they’re coming to you from outside the formal tourist economy. A savvy marketer might even find opportunities for new partnerships with local peer-to-peer marketplaces.

In 2015 content marketing will maintain its relevance but, since the cat is all the way out of the bag, the competition for attention will be fiercer. The answer, as in this Slideshare by Rand Fishkin, won’t be more content it will be better, smarter content and a consistent presence. The question isn’t what the content does for you but, what can your users use the content to do for them? Gregory Pouy’s slideshow is full of good advice to this end.  Will it make them look smarter or help them make an emotional connection? Will it solve a practical problem or give them an insider’s advantage? Whatever it is, you’ll know it’s the right content when you make sure that you know who you’re talking to and what they care about, so you can give them what they need.

And because no future-gazing article is complete without highlighting the wackiest technologies in the pipeline, 2015 is going to be the year of digital olfactory engagement. That’s right, scratch and sniff comes to your mobile. According to Nesta this will be the year that ‘Smellovision loses its stink.”  If you need a proof of concept, just look at Adweek’s round up of 2014’s best  and you’ll see in pride of place Oscar Meyer’s Wake Up and Smell the Bacon.  You know you want one.