Top 5 Marketing Trends You Need to Know

How did we compile the list? We used research and experience. We reviewed industry studies as well as primary research conducted for our clients. Our experience includes working with dozens of companies and seeing, first hand, what’s working for them and what’s not.

Trend #1: Your customers are your new sales force

Social media and the web make it easy to learn what your customers think of you. Take TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site. TripAdvisor offers advice from real travelers on hotels, restaurants, flights, and top attractions. Aggregating more than 60 million reviews and opinions, consumers read customer reviews and base their buying decisions on that input. If customers love your hotel and give it high ratings, then TripAdvisor’s users are more likely to pick your brand.

Your customers can either help you grow your business or end it. That’s why, now more than ever, you need to deliver an extraordinary experience with every brand touch. Fans can accelerate growth like never before.

Trend #2: Video’s popularity will continue to grow

85% of Americans watch videos online and they watch a lot of them — over 3 billion videos are viewed each day. Video is second only to one-on-one selling because it builds rapport and trust. In lieu of an in-person experience, video is a valuable relationship-building tool. Studies show far higher levels of engagement and customer conversion among brands that use video on their web sites. Have a product that begs for a demonstration? Offer an intangible service? Want to improve your web site’s search engine rankings? Video is your answer.

Trend #3: In-person meetings will win the business

As more and more people are tweeting and liking their favorite brands on Facebook, there’s a growing need to develop in-person connections with people. Human relationships depend on tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions. It is impossible to build a solid relationship solely in the virtual world. Think about it. The strongest relationships with co-workers are often those built during coffee breaks, cocktail hours or business dinners. Use social media, the web and videos to start the conversation, and in-person meetings to seal the deal.

A Forbes Study of more than 750 businesses found that 80% of executives said they prefer face-to-face contact to virtual meetings.

Sure, your web site is important. But it can’t fly solo.

Trend #4: Direct mail will reap greater results

Thought of as a dying medium just a few years ago, direct mail response rates are on the rise. B2B organizations found the most success with direct mail campaigns in 2011. Advances in the ability to segment the audience, personalize the message, and experiment with unique formats have contributed to the resurgent effectiveness of direct mail.

Digital printing processes have allowed companies to create personalized content down to the individual customer. Personalized URLs, or PURLs, help link print media to personalized landing pages with unique content. PURLs are easy to remember and often include the customer’s name, so that they not only catch the prospect’s eye, but also make them more likely to visit the URL. Together these advances result in significantly better marketing economics.

Trend #5: Boutique, specialized ad agencies will flourish

Sophisticated marketers are hiring boutique shops. Today, agencies that focus on specialized offerings in design, packaging or even “social anthropology” are on the verge of lapping long established, “all things to all people” agencies.

Rapid changes in technology and customer media preferences put new value on creative resources that are expert in very specific direct marketing programs.

These are exciting trends. They present opportunities for forward thinking marketers to grow market share faster then ever before.

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