10 Marketing Predictions for 2010
Here’s my annual list of what to expect, marketing-wise, in the upcoming 12 months. Time will tell how accurate these are, although my 2009 list was fairly spot-on:
10) Mobile advertising will still NOT flourish in North America in 2010. However, if the Google mobile phone becomes a hit it could make a late-year run and enter 2011 with great momentum.
9) The web will continue to grow and play an even more important role in great, measurable marketing. Websites that create relevance, with smart use of microsites, and also help develop a dialog, will reign supreme. One-way websites will be viewed as antiquated and ineffective; YouTube will grow in its importance for traditional TV-based advertisers (:30 second commercials will decline greatly). Google Analytics will continue to gain users and importance.
Wal-Mart’s attempt to compete with Amazon will prove to be a failure.
7) E-mail will lose more popularity to social media but will be even more important as a customer retention and communication tool.
6) Printed matter – newspapers and magazines – will continue to struggle and more of them will switch to online only editions than ever before.
5) Direct mail will see a resurgence as data becomes better, more accurate and more segmentable than ever before. While mail volume will not increase, its role as an impactful, door-opening media will grow and its use as a powerful follow-up medium will increase. Those that do mail really well and commit to the channel will prosper as they will face less clutter in mailboxes.
4) Retail will not make a strong comeback yet and more stores will end up shuttering as 2010 progresses. Those that practice true integrated marketing will be the most successful.
3) B2B marketing will become more sophisticated and make better use of integrated, measurable marketing strategies and tactics. E-PR will grow in importance with this group.
2) Relationships and customer service will continue to matter more than even the best marketing. Do a good job with the clients you have and they will refer additional business your way. After all, the web, social media and email has made it very easy to do so.
1) Social Media will continue to grow, but few will do it well by beginning with a solid plan that incorporates the tried and true methods of “old school” direct marketing, including testing. Those that do – and know how to start the dialog, taking the dialog into the next phase of a relationship – will have huge success; SEO will be more critical then SEM; more marketers will help make Twitter more relevant and mainstream as a viable marketing medium and Facebook will spell the demise of MySpace.
We’ll see how these predictions pan-out in the next 12 months. The entrepreneurial mindset will continue to help redefine marketing as we know it. Remember to keep practicing marketing that’s measurable and test away.
