6 Predictions for Marketing Success in 2010

2010 predictions are everywhere and spewing from hundreds of industry experts and amateurs alike. Everyone has their two cents to add from 2010 web trends to the demise of the U.S.

At Off Madison Ave we focus less on end-of-the-world rhetoric and more on solutions and strategies for the upcoming year. After a few quick lobotomies, we are able to share some industry insights and predictions from some of our own team of marketing experts.

Roger Hurni

Interactive communication channels which some agencies utilized and some didn't are no longer an advantage for agencies. The mere fact that you build a Facebook page, used Twitter or put together an email for a client isn't a creative solution – they are tactics. They are the cost of entry into a client's business now and tools that everyone uses.

2010 will be the year of creative content. Agencies that can work in every single communication channel by producing extremely creative ideas that are relevant to a client's customers are going to win the lion's share of new business and keep current clients from shifting their account to competitors.

Sara Wachter-Boettcher

As Roger mentioned, creative content will become more important than ever in 2010 – and with it, content strategy is going to break through from a niche field into a critical element for web projects of all types. Not only is it not enough to have a website and social media presence anymore, but it’s also not enough to just fill those presences with useless, confusing and poorly written content. (Trust us, there’s plenty of that on the web already, and people aren’t looking for more.)

Instead, businesses and organizations of all types will need to develop plans and processes that deliver what their customers want: easy to find, compelling content that answers their needs and engages them in an experience. Not marketing fluff, not keyword-crammed SEO jargon, not rambling, error-ridden product information. Content strategy — the practice of planning, creating and managing effective web content — is what will get them there.

William Smith

2010 will be the year Augmented Reality becomes more mainstream. You will start to see advertising across all forms of media (online, offline) becoming interactive. Print advertising will become more than just words on a page - through the use of Augmented Reality, expensive print pieces will live on through tie-ins with webcam enabled computers. Mobile advertising will also play a big role here as smart phones will merge GPS, video cameras and the Internet to bring immersive, digital advertising "experiences" into the real world.

David Hibbs

In 2010 we will see a tremendous increase in GPS related advertising.  Almost all new phones have GPS built in, so I predict a huge jump to target advertising based on where people are actually located…whether through coupons or general ads.  Location based applications and services will also be big in 2010.

In addition, 2010 will hopefully bring additional upgrades for email clients as a means to provide a richer user experiences for their customers.  Another big trend in email marketing… spam filters using customer’s inbox behavior to determine spam.  For example, if I always delete my newsletter from company X in my Gmail account without reading it, soon that email will start to automatically go to my junk folder. 

Ellen Stevens

Pay-Per Click trends for 2010: With the continued increase in market share from MSN (which had 10.3% of the industry share in November according to the latest stats available), Google and Yahoo (whose market share actually declined in November) will finally get the picture that Bing can become the Google killer, so they will try and create new products that one up the little engine that could (MSN). Expect to see new mapping features and other products that Bing has enhanced from these industry giants.

Heather Austin

Public relations professionals will demonstrate the power of online influencers in building brand awareness and meeting business objectives effectively as they move clients away from the short-term allure of a 30 second segment on a local news channel.  In addition, traditional news outreach will not be completely abandoned by practitioners, but the more effective utilization of such opportunities will really take hold. For example, every interview conducted or press tool created will be leveraged through a larger number of digital and traditional communication vehicles to create consistent and meaningful content and save valuable time.

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