What does “trending” really mean, and why is it important? Well, according to Merriam-Webster, “trending” is defined as “to generate or attract a lot of interest or attention, especially online and in social media.” Whether you’re an up-and-coming startup or a Fortune 500 company, keeping up with current trends is necessary to gain a prize-winning edge over the competition.

With a flurry of constantly changing industry trends, how can a brand possibly know which ones are most relevant? We’ve scoured the internet and rounded up the top 15 digital marketing trends (in no particular order) that have made the biggest impact this year. Here’s what we discovered:

Here's a familiar situation: You're eyeing something interesting online that you might want to buy, so you sign up for the email newsletter—something that might just offer a discount code or special access to a sale. After you click “submit,” the anticipation grows.

Inbound marketing is all about nurturing customers who aren’t immediately ready to buy, so why wouldn’t an ecommerce company take advantage of this? Well, it’s easy to overlook—and also easy to miss the mark. We’ve already established three reasons why inbound marketing is crucial for ecomm, and now we’ll explore how to make the most of it: by focusing on shopper intent.