2013 Marketing Trends: Changing Role of Digital Marketing

With any inbound marketing strategy, customer outreach must focus on multiple channels; and, as we move further into 2013, well-developed cross-channel targeting will become even more important. However, how do we know where to focus our marketing efforts in 2013? Luckily, the great minds at StrongMail, an email marketing and cross-channel solutions company, did a little digging for us!

In conjunction with SurveyMonkey, StrongMail, administered an online poll to learn how more than 1,000 business leaders saw their marketing strategies changing in 2013.

Expansion of Digital Marketing in 2013

Indicate the Marketing Programs You Plan to Increase Spending in 2013

Indicate the Marketing Programs You Plan to Increase Spending for in 2013

Based on the survey results, business leaders across various industries plan to have even more digitally heavy marketing strategies during 2013. Responders reported that they expected to increase spending on Email Marketing (55.5%), Social Media (51.8%), Mobile (42.8%), and SEO/PPC (39.8%) this year. In comparison, only 27.4% of responders thought they would decrease spending on Direct Mail efforts. Continue reading

Biggest Trends in Social and Mobile From Nielsen CEO

At this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) conference, Adam Ostrow, the Executive Editor at Mashable, interviewed Jonathan Carson, the CEO of Digital at Nielsen, on the recent trends, challenges, and anticipated changes that Nielsen has seen in social media.

The Second Screen Experience

Carson explains that the biggest trend that Nielsen has seen is the massive adoption of mobile media and smart phone usage while watching TV, possibly driven by advancements in app development.

During the interview, Carson discussed the challenges that marketers and advertisers are encountering with the rise of corresponding mobile and TV usage. The amount of people who actively use a tablet, computer, or smart phone while watching TV continues to increase. This trend has created a challenge for companies to develop a 360 experience for viewers. One of the biggest obstacles companies face when creating a 360 experience is determining how to connect with the consumer when their attention is divided between the TV and their computer or mobile device. Continue reading

Google’s Playbook for Winning at Mobile

Mobile Applications For Mobile MarketingMobile usage is on the rise as more and more consumers are purchasing smartphones and tablets. Mobile marketing, whether through advertising, a mobile site, or an app, is the best way to reach your customers at the exact point of purchase. With mobile marketing you can reach customers at the moments that matter the most.

Google understands the importance of mobile marketing and also that it can be quite intimidating to those of us that have not ventured into this media before. To help people understand and build their own mobile marketing strategies, Google has created “The Mobile Playbook: The Busy Executive’s Guide to Winning with Mobile“.

The playbook is broken down into 5 easy sections – the 5 most importance mobile questions a executive should be asking:

  • How does mobile change our value propositions?
  • How does mobile impact our digital destinations?
  • Is our organization adapting to mobile?
  • How should marketing adapt to mobile?
  • How can we connect with our tablet audience?

This playbook offers great tips and resources for serving the mobile customer, creating mobile-optimized websites, building branded mobile apps, developing a mobile search strategy, understanding mobile brand building, integrating on-line and off-line marketing channels, and adding tablet to your strategy.

In each section Google includes great examples and case studies on how other companies have successfully reached their mobile customer, including:

  • Chase
  • Walgreens
  • Delta
  • Starbucks
  • Walmart
  • 1-800-Flowers
  • Dominos
  • Coke

For a concise to-do list for implementing what you learn in the playbook, check out the conclusion section for a checklist of the top 10 things to remember when diving into mobile marketing.

  1. Define your value proposition by determining what your consumer wants to do with your business in mobile. Benchmark against others in your industry for ideas.
  2. Build a mobile website. Once you have a mobile website, check the stats and optimize based on consumer usage.
  3. Build an app for a subset of your audience after your mobile site strategy is in place. Don’t forget to promote your app.
  4. Assign a Mobile Champion in your company and empower them with a cross-functional task force.
  5. Set up a meeting with your agencies about what’s working and what’s not for your brand on mobile and tablets.
  6. Search for your brand in mobile, as a consumer would. Take 5 minutes and do this today. What’s working? What’s not?
  7. Separate mobile-specific search campaigns from desktop search campaigns so you can test, measure and develop messaging specific for mobile.
  8. Run rich media HTML5 ads to extend your branding message to reach the mobile audience.
  9. Assign everyone in your marketing org the action item of reviewing their programs through a mobile lens.
  10. Check out your tablet consumer’s experience with your brand. Take 5 minutes today and search for your brand on a tablet as a consumer would. What’s working? What’s not? Maximize the tablet environment with rich media creative.

Does your company have a mobile website? How do you plan on using mobile marketing in the future?

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