5 Surprising Marketing Trends
Smarter social media
The last few years have been all about every business feeling
obligated to create a dynamic presence on
every social
media platform. Now that we’re getting the idea that the set of hot
social media sites is never going to be a static group, that there
will
always be the hot social media outlet du jour, the
idea that we should
all feel pressed to utilize and engage
on every available front is not only unreasonable, it’s a strategy
that could only lead to depressingly disparate engagement. Instead,
we believe 2013 will be the year that small businesses become
confident and adept enough at social media integration to pick the
specific platforms that make the most sense for
their
business. The reality is not all social media sources are perfectly
suited to every industry. This year businesses should decide which
platforms are the most worthwhile places to reach their audience,
thus hopefully seeing greater returns as a result.
Simplicity will reign supreme
Maybe it was “Gangnam Style” that pushed us over the edge of
overstimulation, however as we embark upon a new year, the
overwhelming feeling among consumers is one of exhaustion. There is
a sense that from the hyper-connectivity of our highly-digitized
lives to the bright, flashy, complicated sensory input we’re fed
everyday, there is no way to continue at this pace. As a result,
2013 is likely to be a year where the most successful marketing
strategies will be ones that are not only simple in nature, but
promote goods and services that serve to simplify the consumer’s
life, or even just their customer experience.
Campaign-based marketing will take a break
As a marketing strategy, campaigns are great…in theory. The problem
with focusing on a tactic that involves a set group of marketing
activities and processes centered around one theme is that it
operates on a company-based timeline. Inherently, this neglects to
account for the timeline of the customer, which is, at this point,
almost entirely real time. Up until now, companies have been
progressively integrating social media and real time customer
engagement as a supplement to campaign-based marketing. We think
that from here on out, real time marketing, through social media
and websites, will be the focus. We are excited to see what
inspired strategies come about.
Marketing will be more tied to revenue
generation
We were fairly surprised to read a recent study by Fournaise
Marketing Group that cited 73% of executives do not believe that
marketing significantly ties to creating revenue. This is not great
logic; 2013 will be the year everyone catches up. Instead of just
measuring lead generation, marketing’s worth to a company will
start being weighed against sales growth. This could entirely
change marketing’s key performance indicators, which, ideally, will
lead to a more effective marketing department altogether.
Mobile will get its due
Last year, more people purchased smartphones than PCs. Seriously.
While it feels like we hear the word “mobile” more than our own
names these days, global marketers haven’t
entirely caught
up; 90% of them have a mobile site, but only 20% include mobile
strategies as a fully integrated part of their overall marketing
plan. If nothing else on this list comes to fruition, count on
“mobile” being a bigger, bolder line item on every major marketer’s
strategy this year.