What Were the TOP Marketing Trends in 2011
What Were the TOP Marketing Trends in 2011, and How Can You Use Them in 2012?
1. Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has absolutely exploded in the past two years, and it will only keep growing. Let’s start with the benefits it offers for businesses – and there are plenty!
First and foremost, it allows businesses to interact with their customers on a personal and direct level. As consumers spend more and more time online these days, they really appreciate this sort of engagement.
While social media might seem like an informal platform, it gives businesses the chance to answer questions, promote their brand, and attract new customers. Through social media marketing, businesses can also find out valuable information about their audience – and thus, their target market for campaigns! Best of all, social media marketing is cheap and effective.
If you haven’t already got a social media marketing plan in place, 2012 is the year to do it. Find out where your customers hang out online, and start interacting.
2. Content, content, content.
2011 was the year that content became known as a very, very good marketing tool.
Now that its many uses have become known, in 2012 it is going to be all about quality content. The web is full of information, so it’s your job to make your content stand out. As any marketing agency will tell you, the best way to do this is to write useful content, content that gives value to the reader.
Of course, advertising your products and services is an important part of content marketing, but if you really want to make content work for you, go beyond that. Try sharing some tips or information (like what we do on this blog). You can also start discussions on social networks, such as asking for feedback or posing open-ended questions.
Another idea is to use incentives – such as discounts or special offers – to get people involved. When creating content, the golden rule is to think about your target market. What message are you trying to put across? What is the best platform to do it on? Is this content useful to the customer? The goal is to engage customers with your brand as much as possible.
3. Mobile Marketing
As you (hopefully) already know, an online presence is, in these days, essential.
Now, a mobile presence is becoming just as important. With the invention of devices like tablets, mobile marketing has pushed its way on to the marketing scene. Before smartphones and tablets, mobile marketing was just SMS.
It’s extended far beyond that to include branded mobile sites, banners, applications, SEO, and location-based search. Phone companies have also made downloading cheaper than ever, so most people have no qualms about accessing the internet on their smartphones. If you’re still trying to wrap your head around mobile marketing, enlist a marketing consultancy to get you started with location-based search, SEO, or an app like Foursquare.