Marketing Trends for 2010

With the beginning of a new year it is inevitable that people look to discard the old and begin anew, reviving their efforts with the latest and greatest methods and trends. This statement is especially true when it comes to the ultra-competitive business of marketing.

With the economy in the state that it is it becomes even more important for a successful marketing strategy to have an ear to the ground and a finger on the pulse of their audience. To do so requires not only an understanding of local trends but global trends as well. In depth knowledge of the up a coming economic and consumer trends can make the difference between hitting the nail on the head and missing the boat entirely. The proper research and information can put a company in the forefront of not only economic and consumer trends for the foreseeable future but more importantly the right marketing trends to reach them.

To understand what marketing trends are going to expand business one needs to understand which ones no longer will.

The Yellow Pages have been a staple of society for years and years. However, people are not as quick to grab the heavy, cumbersome volume like they use to. Now people are more likely to grab a keyboard or use their phones to look something up via the internet. Any marketing strategy that relies on the Postal Service is doomed for failure. Catalogs are more likely to find their way into a waste bin rather than inspire a consumer to shop. Direct mail fliers and promotional pieces are just as likely to find their way to the waste bin as well. Society is more fast-paced now and people do not want to have to slow down to sift through a bunch of junk mail to satisfy their shopping needs.

Telemarketing, while still common will eventually be a thing of the past. More and more countries are passing laws which allow consumers to be placed on a no-call list meaning telemarketers have to leave them alone. The fact that the laws are even being discussed should be an indicator to companies how unpopular the form of marketing is making success unlikely.

A common aspect of traditional marketing trends has been the one-sided nature of them. Advertisers and marketers were talking at the consumers leaving little to no room for interaction and feedback. Future trends in marketing are veering away from this aspect and gearing towards creating marketing strategies that develop more of a relationship with the consumer, allowing the consumer to feel more invested in the whole shopping experience.

The following are some of the current and future trends in marketing.

This form of marketing has been around for some time and will likely continue to grow. Look into your wallet, purse, or glove box ad count how many member cards you have for different grocery and department stores. Companies know that one sure fire way to get you to come back is to give you discounts. However, in order for you to receive their discounts you have to sign up for a member card (which allows them to track the success of the program) and then shop at their store. In many cases the more you shop the more discounts you can receive creating a loyalty to the store. Who doesn’t want to save more money simply by shopping more?

This marketing trend was in the making just when MySpace was the main form. With the advent of other social media markets like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn this form of media has become a rather inexpensive, surefire way to reach potentially millions of consumers. The ability for constant up to the minute interaction keeps users coming back multiple times throughout the day giving the marketing strategists numerous opportunities to influence users. The key to utilizing social media marketing is not to simply broadcast your message to users; that will only succeed in turning them off to your product. Instead, a successful strategy will look to engage and interact with users in order to form a relationship.

Mobile marketing is one of the marketing trends going into 2010 that will look to grow by leaps and bounds as mobile devices continue to grow. As phones like the iPhone become more common more and more companies will be able to increase their marketing capabilities through the creation of new and innovative applications. This trend will look to expose users to a company’s product when they do things like look up a movie time, search for an eating establishment, catch up on news, and check their email. As mobile devices continue to grow, so will this future trend in marketing.

This marketing concept is the one future trend that is still in its infancy stage. Twitter feeds are starting to show in Google searches and in time virtually all social networking site feeds will be able to be harvested through search engines. This will give the consumer a tremendous amount of power since the information network will no longer be limited to the specific user’s network, but anyone making the subsequent search.

Real-time search is not real common right now but look for this to be the future trend which will have the most potential to define marketing efforts.