The excitement has been building for a little while now and we're finally here. 2013 was awesome for many of us on all three sides of the ball - dealers, vendors, and OEMs - and 2014 is trending towards being even better for many. On the other hand, the dangers popping up in many marketing disciplines are also casting some doubts on the future of a good chunk of the industry. Yes, that means that there are dealers, vendors, and even OEMs that are going to be in trouble if they don't keep up with these changes and watch the trends more closely.

Search marketing is definitely one of those arenas where the trends are amazing for those "in the know" and potentially disastrous for those who are missing the point or not paying closed enough attention to the writing on the wall.

In the infographic below by Arrae, there are some good bits of information that can help you make some marketing decisions in early 2014. We don't agree with all of them - for example, the list of companies to use for correcting and monitoring listings is in a completely misleading order. It's funny because they have GetListed at the top. Having worked with them all and others, I would put GetListed in the middle of the pack at best. It's a service owned by MOZ and that might be the reason it's listed so high, but that's not the best. In fact, if they would have put the list in the exact reverse order, it would have been more accurate. Oh well. I understand the love for MOZ - we use their software ourselves!

There are a few other points of contention but overall the list is great. Think mobile. Monitor your listings for both reputation management as well as SEO. Focus on localized content. Great stuff across the board.

Here's the infographic: