It is about that time when prognosticators make their predictions for the following year. Since part of my job is to be a prognosticator, I figured I would get in on the action now. Here are a few things I’m looking at in general for 2011:
1) Slow and steady wins the race: We have gone through a decade when companies and brands have been incredibly innovative with one-shot marketing campaigns and promotions. I’m talking about viral videos and brand offshoots that are memorable, yet “one and done”. Businesses and the brands we encounter every day have been looking to “one-up” competitors for the splashiest online, video or viral promotion. All of this has been incredibly positive and underscores the tremendously creative marketing minds in our space. I believe, however, that because there are so many doing such creative and innovative things that next year (and the year after) will be more about building sustainable marketing promotions, not necessarily the one-off PR “hit”. At some point, these one-hit wonder campaigns become unsustainable.
2) Social media will grow, but not how you think: I read one person’s column recently (I won’t even link to it) that claimed 2011 was the year Facebook would take over the web and be “the home” for many folks on the internet. I use Facebook, and like it, but let’s temper such bold predictions. It was an incredibly successful year for the social network giant, and to be sure they’re a major player especially in the advertising business, but I stop short of saying it will take over the internet (that would not be a good thing anyway). I do think in addition to Facebook, other facets of social media will grow and more and more ad dollars from brands will flow through this channel in 2011.
3) The “marketing mix” will be the story of 2011. The change in brands and advertisers marketing mixes has already begun happening, but it will accelerate next year. Simply put, ad spending in TV has held fairly strong, with print (newspapers, magazines, direct mail) and radio in decline. The web (and digital as a whole) has been a significant growth area and will continue that way, which will prompt there to be more drastic changes in the way marketer’s look at their overall mix. In fact, brands that previously did not embrace digital marketing in years past will be forced to in 2011. I believe we will look up in one year and see a much different world in terms of percentage of ad spend across all the various platforms.
4) Content will be king: If you sit anywhere in the entire digital marketing ecosystem – from brand to intermediary to marketer to agency – and are not thinking about your own content strategy, you will be left behind. Let me use social media as an example. What is really the appeal of a site or service like Facebook at its core? It is that we all can be content producers. People – especially fans and like-minded groups – all like reading content. As the social web continues to emerge, successful brands or entities will be the ones with value-added (or fun) content that enriches people and gives them a reason to click and read. Of course, there are advertising and monetary opportunities with producing great content too (ask the Huffington Post). If you’re a corporation or B2B business, you at least need to be blogging and communicating with your constituents or clients. If you’re a brand, you better have a unique content strategy.
5) Devices and mobility: For those of us, like me, who live and work immersed in the web and all things digital each day, we probably think of new technology, new devices and new ad formats as having been around for years already. The reality is that usage of new devices and new ways to access the web (outside of a laptop or desktop computer) is still in its infancy and not “mainstream” – yet. For us early adopters, we can see the power and promise of technology and accessing the web in an increasingly mobile way, and the implications of that movement. But, I believe there will be a “jump” this year in terms of new, portable, wireless device usage across mainstream America in 2011.
