Commercial Ink - Internet Marketing Trends 2010

Internet Marketing Trends for 2010

Marketing has certainly evolved over the years, but perhaps never as quickly has a shift occurred as with the introduction of the internet. The importance of web presence is taking priority for many companies, over all other traditional forms of advertising and marketing. With the onslaught of a recession, 2010 will see most marketers allocating an even higher percentage of budget to internet based marketing. It's fast, customizable, and best of all, inexpensive relative to traditional publication advertising. But what specific internet based marketing trends should we expect to see this year?

Investing in e-mail marketing has long since been a weapon of choice for most marketing arsenals. For some it is used as a lead generation tool similar to direct mail, purchasing databases that fit demographics. For most however, it's used for communication with current and potential customers. Email marketing is inexpensive and direct - it's a no-brainer. This year, we will see even more social media integration in email campaigns. In addition, search engines are looking to implement a search for archives emails, plus integrated applications will expand into the email marketing arena.

If you haven't heard, social media is booming, and it's here to stay. Virtually every major corporation is allocating resources to social media, Facebook and Twitter accounts being the most popular. This is partially due to the fact that social media is a free tool - it only costs time. In addition, it's a way for companies to connect with their customers on a more personal level, interacting with their comments and suggestions. Businesses are using social media as a means of obtaining all types of customer information via surveys and feedback. This year, we will see social media being used for different purposes and from different angles. Customers are savvy with social media and don't want to be inundated with "company updates". They are seeking real feedback from other customers like them, and integrated platforms for company's products. Perhaps the perfect example of social media is by Coca-Cola - several fans started the Facebook fan page for Coca-Cola, and instead of yanking it from them, the company rewarding them with a trip to the facilities and a ton of merchandise. They left their social media in the hands of their fans, as it was intended.

In 2010, current businesses are advised to use blogging primarily to help with search engine rankings or to inform existing customers of new updates. Attempts to convert visitors into actual customers shouldn't be the main goal here. Conversion rates are usually only as good as the content on a company's landing page. If that content happens to be a blog that consistently changes, than conversion rates will only be as good as the latest blog. With that, focusing on landing page content is crucial, but should be viewed separately, in most cases, to blogging.

Investing in a company's traditional website is another trend for the new year. In order for people to view a site's content, it might be a good idea to advertise the location of the website. Placing ads on other high-traffic websites can help generate the desired site attention. In 2010, time should be spent driving your website content to the visitor traffic - in other words, company's are realizing that indirect traffic from "referring sites" is as important (and often times more so) than direct traffic to the site. Contributing to websites like YouTube is known as "content nesting", finding sites that already have high traffic and posting relevant material to them. This allows consumers to browse through content fed to them through a single web page, eliminating all the extra link clicking throughout the entire web. In order to utilize this, your website content needs to be "nested" in to as many content aggregation sites as possible.

Finally, mobile marketing is coming to its own this year. Marketing to customers through their mobile phones and smart phones is becoming increasingly accepted by businesses both small and large. Again, care should be taken not to simply "advertise" but to have a purpose behind the messages. With the advancement of applications, businesses can now offer helpful or educational tools to its customers in the form of applications that stay in front of customers, while offering value. Businesses are also hoping to provide lower-cost marketing solutions like text-messgaing, mobile e-mail marketing, mobile websites, and location-based marketing.

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