I was recently invited to share my thoughts, in a video-taped interview, on what the year ahead holds in my area of expertise – interactive marketing – and specifically how it is integrated with relationship marketing and the overall marketing mix. The invitation came from Vertical Measures, an internet marketing services firm focused mainly on search optimization, search marketing and strategic content development and management.
Here are the three areas of focus for the interview:
1) What are your predictions for the internet marketing industry in general for the year ahead?
2) How about specifically integrated interactive marketing, where do you see that headed?
2) What one critical issue should those in the internet marketing space be concerned about or focused on in 2010?
Here is a summary, and some extension through examples, of my thoughts while we wait for the video to be posted in the next few days [Update: video is now below]:
1) General Internet Industry Predictions – Shift to Digital Spending Gets Serious
Shifting $ to Digital: The recent economic and market disruption, coupled with changing consumer behavior driven by technology and media evolution, will combine to yield another wave of innovation. The shift toward increased spending in digital channels will continue to attract capital to internet solutions and digital media formats and result in a transition to ROI focus, even on the less established “fringes” of digital marketing (social media, mobile/location-based marketing, in-game, etc.). [My earlier post on marketing resource allocation to digital can be found here]
2) Predictions Specifically for Integrated Interactive Marketing – Social CRM is Embraced by Brands and Customers
Social CRM by Brands: Customers now have the power to control brand relationships. As a result, brands will seek permission to access the newest frontier in customers’ lives – their social media presence and networks. Brand marketers will seek this access through value creation (offers) that they’ll provide in exchange for access to, and/or affiliation with, customer accounts. There used to be two main types of data used by direct/digital marketers – operations/transaction data and marketing data. Now there is a third category of data that will be “harvested” at the individual customer level – social media data generated outside the brand’s “walled garden.” API’s will be used to integrate social media data with other addressable/trackable forms of customer and marketing data as the basis for deeper customer relationships and affiliations. EX: Subscribers to online business services get free renewals/subscription extensions for referring others via their own social media outreach efforts.
Social CRM by Customers: More consumers will use social media platforms to structure and support their brands of choice. This provides brands the opportunity to stimulate and support these social “badging” efforts by customers. Customers will be quite willing to show their support – especially for brands that represent lifestyle choices and social expression. EX: John Doe mentions that he supports Arizona State University, Jack Daniel’s, Mini Cooper, Slow Food Organization and Whole Foods via his blog, tweets, foursquare and Facebook accounts. Attempts to manage full disclosure of paid sponsorship will fray at the seams.
3) One Critical Issue for Internet Marketers – Customer P&L’s for ROI Assessment
Customer P&L’s Take Root as the Foundation for ROI Assessment: Marketers with direct customer access will finally begin to build real-time (or near real-time) customer P&L’s to manage customer investments and the value provided to them in exchange for these investments (customer spending). This will become the foundation for establishing “free” vs. paid product and services. EX: If the ROI model for a brand supports free content, then the publisher will provide it based on the value an individual customer is creating for its advertisers in the way of purchases and other actions. EX2: Hotels might offer free weekends regularly to frequent guests and frequent bookers of meetings at their hotels without the customer having to use loyalty points. More of these “freebies” will come as a surprise to the guest/customer rather than the customer having to meticulously track and redeem their points.
As we emerge from the Great Recession, 2010 looks to be a year of innovation and progress for those of us working in the interactive marketing area. I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead!
Jeff Walters of Strategy Outfitters Makes Predictions for 2010 from Vertical Measures on Vimeo.