MarCom Corner: Latest Digital Marketing & Advertising Trends

MarCom Corner is a monthly feature that brings you tips, insights and answers from your fellow Chamber members on marketing and communications topics. This month, Matthew Clyde, president and chief strategist at 2011 IMPACT Award Recipient ideas*Collide, shares the latest advertising and marketing trends including a few insights gathered at the prominent digital advertising conference, Ad Tech.

Tablets and Mobile Devices are Replacing Traditional Desktops
It’s predicted by information technology research and advisory firm Gartner that by 2015, 82 million U.S. consumers (one-third of US online consumers) will be using a tablet. Between tablets and phones, screen time continues to grow exponentially and entertainment, social networking and e-commerce are the consumption benefactors. A key to a campaign’s success may hinder in its design functionality on a mobile device and tablet.

As Much as Tablets and Mobile are the ‘Real Deal’, the Same can be Said for Social
Year-over-year data shows time spent engaged in social media online continues to grow. This marks an entire business strategy shift. Brands are no longer competing for the future, they are competing for relevance now.  Direct brand messages are more likely to be rejected by consumers who want to go to their network of friends to get opinions on the brand versus going direct to a brand’s website. This is all happening within social sites and shows that the future of new media is defined through shared experiences.

Social Games are the New Daytime TV.
As soaps decline and get canceled, more daytime is spent in social networking sites and social gaming applications with over 324% growth in the last year. The most popular social games have bigger audiences than American Idol. Consider the impact, Frito Lay recently did an integrated campaign within Farmville and saw their Facebook LIKES go from 45,000 to 1.9 million in a single day. Are you using social outlets to reach your audience? Consider a fun application where users play games on your Facebook page. Keeping users engaged, rather than just pushing out messaging is key.

Though some of these tech trends may seem out of reach or unrealistic for your business, it is always critical to know the shape of what's coming so you are preparing and considering how it will impact your business.

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