While we don’t have a crystal ball telling us exactly what’s going to happen and when, we do have market trends and analysis to give an idea of what’s coming in 2011. Overall, this is going to be an exciting year, and here are some things we agree you should be watching for and looking to incorporate in your marketing strategy:
- Mobile Marketing. You’ll notice in the article Go Mobile in 2011 that the statistics of mobile adoption continues to increase at an exciting rate. During 2011, we’re going to see more business effectively developing their mobile websites, targeting the mobile user rather than the desktop user. With this, you’ll see an increase spend in direct marketing in mobile channels. Do you have a mobile website ready to take on the challenge?
- Social Media Comes of Ages. There is a time when marketing channels ‘come of age’, and companies are no longer questioning the relevance of the channel to develop business. Every ‘traditional’ marketing channel went through the growth phase before maturing, and social media is at that tipping point. We’ve already seen many improvements on how companies, both small and large, are using Social Networking to engage their target audience and transact business. What are you doing to adopt Social Media into your marketing strategy?
- Search Engine Optimization Becomes More Important. Last year we saw many changes to how search engines interact with websites. Google launched “instant search” and site previews. Many predicted this would be the end of SEO. To the contrary, what we’ve seen is SEO becoming more important to business’s presence in search engines. Google now offers suggested search terms in real time, and allows a user to preview a site before clicking through. Having a site that’s designed to convert and is optimized to perform in search results is now critical, not just a good idea. Do you have someone helping your organization make the most of these changes?
- Internet Marketing Investment Is Up. According to a survey conducted by MarketingSherpa, marketing spending is up across the Internet board. Consider how many companies of the more than 900 surveyed are increasing spend in website design and management (+60%), Social Media (+69%), SEO (+60%), Email Marketing (+59%), and Paid Search (+49%). With many larger companies increasing what they spend, have you planned your budget and developed the strategy to successfully draw more business using these channels?
- Government Regulation Will Make The Differences. At the end of the year, the FCC approved rules on Net Neutrality. On the horizon is the FTC making it more difficult to track user behavior online with a DNT (Do Not Track) proposal. No matter what your thoughts are on these policies, they will directly impact your ability to effectively market online. Make sure you’re not taking a back seat on these actions.
2011 will in fact be an exciting year for Internet Marketing, and will see many businesses booming through it. Are you poised to make the most of the Internet this year with the expertise in place to help you achieve your goals?
