The List of List - 2010 Digital Marketing Predictions

Oh yes, the end of 2009 is right around the corner.  Many are glad to see it go.  Bad economy affects advertising economy.  Marketing evolution is stunted while consumers go right on evolving communications.

Tons love to put their stake in the ground of what the next year might bring.  As I sit and watch my DVR recorded "Inside the Mind of Google" from CNBC, I'm inspired to put my own predictions out there into cyberspace.  Most of these can be found in one of the dozens (even hundreds?) of digital marketing blog posts, articles, etc.  I'm going to pay homage to a few below but here's my favorite of all.

2010 will be the he year of mobile!
I probably said this for 2009, but the economy screwed that up - so 2010 is the YEAR!  For real.

Geolocation to further personalize marketing and messaging
The quick adoption of smartphones and the explosion of apps will definitely aid this


Better display ad units
LOVE the increased 300x600 units!


Social media as integrated into all marketing communications, not one-off tactic
This has to happen, consumers are demanding it.


And my ongoing favorite....

The Convergence of Web and TV!
Again, probably said this for 2009 but 2010 will be the year.  YES.



And the homage ensues:
See summary for a few favorites (and my own comments)

Advertising Age
- Larger, new display ad formats will follow suit of ad units past and only see temporary bump in effectiveness (oh really... people learn to ignore advertising?)
- Viral Video becomes for of a science and demands enhanced analytics (interesting, but what about cross-media analytics?)
-Gaming becomes more mobile and social (I believe that, have you MET a hardcore gamer?)
-Mobile takes a bite online (finally, usage has been growing exponentially, reminds me of the super slow marketing adoption of the internet)
- Location-aware technology to further revolutionize relevant messaging/marketing opportunities (as a Foursquare nerd, this is one of my favorites!)

Nielsen (via MarketingVox)
- Cross media convergence intelligence becomes incorporated (I like this and it's further proof that even traditional media outlets are going digital)
-Mobile advertising growth
-More cross-media ad campaigns (see first bullet)
-Social media commercialization (I feel this is a natural next step for monetization for social environments)
-Better display ad units (Go IAB - love that I'm seeing the 300x600 lots more)

iMediaConnection
- Audiences will replace channels (I think this is great and a natural step in evolution since the growth of ad networks and their premium behavioral, demographic, geographic, etc. targeting)
- Mobile will be more about lifestyle, less about devices
- Contextual location emerges
- Engagement emerges as a key metric (at last!  I'm tired of fighting the CTR battle!)

Adweek
- Automation of relevant content is king (interesting...)
- The end of the digital agency (ballsy... I don't necessarily agree but being a part in a stellar digital department in a full-service agency, I am biased toward the full-service and the overall strategic approach that comes with it)
- Social gaming (another nod to Foursquare)
- Demand-side selling platforms (I agree web advertising will continue to be a innovators, market!)
- Engagement pricing (VideoEgg and Meebo currently offering, do they have something?)
- Augmented reality grows up (I hope he's right but I'm guessing this is more 2011)
- Social media morphs into digital, meaning it's everywhere (finally!)
- Privacy wars (this is a continuation of the BT standardization discussions, etc)
- Data gets creative to actually assist people (awesome!  This is what marketing is all about - helping people find solutions to problems, right?  data can help.)
- The year of mobile, finally

CNN Tech
- Real time ramps up - social, search, etc.
- Location-aware applications grow
- Augmented reality
- Content curation
- Cloud computing
- Web and TV convergence
- Convergence of many mediums - more about application than the device

MIMA Summit-ing it up!

I was super pumped to attend the 2009 MIMA Summit this year.  Last year it was sold out before I could sign up and I knew that would be a good sign that it would be HUGE this year!  After all they had Seth Godin as a keynote speaker.

It's excited to go to these things both as a proud Minneapolis girl and a passionate interactive marketer!  I'm very proud to be part of both.  The sheer volume of attendees and the excitement accompanying the event were great reasons to be there.  Now here comes my list of likes, dislikes, and recommendations.

Likes:

-Seth Godin
-SEVEN breakout sessions to choose from for FOUR series
-Free Wifi
-Fun Swag
-Feeling a part of something very powerful and revolutionary
-Twitter correspondence throughout the day

Dislikes:

-Topics relevant to an online media girl were somewhat "beginner"
-Morning Keynote Speaker Jackie Huba using oft-reference social media examples Motrin Moms and Dominos
-Broken Wifi

Recommendations:

-Crowdsource the topics!  Find out who your audience is and what they want to know to refine breakout sessions.
- More panels and/or Q&A to bring diverse views to breakout sessions!

So there is my $.02.  Overall - good job to the folks at MIMA!

Sarah Zielie on the Evolution of Advertising

I fucking love my job.  I fucking love that I can say "fuck" in meetings and at work and in my blog. I know that my clients are very (rightfully-so) protective of their brands and wouldn't like to advertise surrounding the word fuck and I wouldn't recommend it to them.  But I'm not writing this blog to make money.  Of course I do my job to make money but this is very secondary to the fact that I fucking love it. I do know that our clients know and respect agency culture so I'm coming right out and saying it. I fucking love my job!

My friends and family who aren't in the industry may attribute to my passion for internet marketing and the company I work for to my inherent passion for life, but that's only a piece of it.  I believe that we are in a time of change for humanity, change that is being facilitated in large part by the INTERNET.  Communication, information-gathering, politics, music, art, religion, life, death and basically everything in between is somehow influenced or influencing online behavior whether it's behavior shifting online or online usage facilitating behavior change offline.  So of course it's changing advertising as well and I am lucky enough to have a front-row seat to all of this exciting goodness. 

I am pulling myself away from piles of work I have to do (why, because this internet advertising shit is BLOWING UP) just to put it out there, to practice what I preach and "keep fresh, interesting, and relevant content for the audience" by blogging.  I'm also just reiterating what I experience with my agency/clients and what I read from others in the industry.

I just finished reading Socialnomics by Qualman which was a very inspiring purchase about business and the social nature of the web.  Of course brands do not control their brands anymore, the public does!  Is this different from back in the day when people didn't have the internet and relied on their immediate peers for product reviews?  Well, it's the same general practice but it's blown up and syndicated a million-fold online.  And it's different because it's now easy for brands to monitor this and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!  Which every brand must at least acknowledge social media, it cannot be ignored.

So advertising is evolving.  Does that mean the old model is gone?  For sure not.  Will it be gone in the relatively-near future?  We'll see.  Here is an interesting perspective called "Five Reasons You No Longer Need an Ad Agency".  Now, I am employed by a very savvy ad agency filled with brilliant people who think all day every day about how we can better our client's brands and communicate to an audience.  I know that our clients need us, as much as we need them, and that isn't going away.  Will the agency role evolve?  You bet!  So while that was an interesting perspective I agree with the other side even more entitled "Why Every Brand Marketer Needs a Digital Agency", but I would argue that it shouldn't be siloed to just digital.  People do not live 24 hours a day on the internet (yet) and agencies bring a 360 approach to communication.

So, it's the end of the world as we know it but I for one, am not afraid.  Humans have survived for this long and social media helped elect a President dedicated to Change, it helps people unite on common issues and make a difference.  Yes, advertising is a pawn in a capitalistic society but I believe, wholeheartedly, that is evolving.  Dictionary.com defines evolution as gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development...?

So what do you think?