Digital Marketing Trends for 2008

Digital Marketing Trends for 2008 

Today I wanted to discuss some of the digital marketing trends forecasted for 2008.  The top seven trends for 2008 (thanks to www.Clickz.com) are:

1. Social media growth will come from expanded niche products. While facebook et al had phenomenal growth in 2007, attracting YouTube and MySpace, social media growth in 2008 is expected to focus on very targeted offerings that will attract users based on specific interests.
2. Search marketing will continue to grow significantly. MSN reported a couple of weeks ago that a more local focus will emerge from the general online search marketing forums.  Thus, this will open the door even more to the smaller businesses, with smaller ad budgets, creating the local “mom and pop” retailers to also be seen like the larger companies.  However, this type of marketing will also extend its reach into other formats, including the social and mobile search environments.
3. Analytics and related measurements will become more sophisticated.  As the online market matures, analytics will become the arbiter of success and important for revealing areas of opportunity and those that require additional effort.
4. Behavioral targeting will become more widespread and will provide improved customer experiences, offering customers more relevant information to consumers and better targeted ads to marketers. Bottom line is that this will open the flood gates in terms of customer experience.
5. Integration of online and offline will continue as retailers update technology to allow customers to use preferred channels for each aspect of the purchase process.
6. Email communications will continue to evolve.  Promotional email has lost its novelty based on customer fatigue from increased frequency and stale offers.  Thus, marketers must focus on delivering relevant information to customer when they are most willing to listen.  This results in increased use of behaviorally triggers email related to customers actions, more personalized and dynamic content, and greater use of newsletter that provide customers with either valuable or entertaining information.
7. The market will be disrupted by a new technology or a shift in how existing products are used.  Be sure, something like a Google, MySpace, or YouTube will arrive out of nowhere and provide a geat way for marketers who can react fast.

You may notice that mobile marketing failed to make the top seven. This is primarily because, although it has massive potential, the lack of generally accepted platforms, formats, and business models will continue to hamper mobile’s growth in 2008.

By staying on top of these trends and incorporating them into your campaigns, you will be at the forefront of digital marketing…until it all changes again next week.

To success!
Tim