Judith Aquino, associate editor of CRM Magazine, posted an article this month on 5 Hot Marketing Trends for 2012. CRM magazine asked analysts, experts and practitioners what marketing technologies excited them for the coming year. Here are a few of them:
Mobile marketing is hot, hot, hot
Smartphones and tablet computers are front and center for social media marketing dollars. As we reach more than 50 percent adoption, mobile becomes mainstream enough for retailers to start planning entire mobile marketing campaigns. The best ones will be completely integrated with all their other marketing channels, putting out a consistent message about their brands, products and services.
Creative QR codes
Consumers haven’t embraced the QR code like marketers thought they would, but with some creative thought behind ways to use the code, it will become more successful. The biggest barrier has been customer education. As people learn and businesses find the best way to use them, QR codes will become the best way to push information quickly or provide instant coupons.
Social media monitoring tools with voice of customer integration
When business tech company Salesforce.com acquired the social media-focused Radian6, it was a sign that social listening was going big time. No longer happy with just listening, companies are looking for the best way to engage and respond to customers through social media. These tools let companies slice and dice their social media marketing data in order to precisely target customer segments.
Targeted social media marketing
Companies are finally learning that people trust their peers more than they trust marketers, so they are making it easier for consumers to review, “like,” and, share their favorite brands. The number of Facebook shops will expand and new services will help companies build social media marketing campaign to find their “brand lunatics.”
Video, get ready for your close-up
The obstacles to making and releasing video content are falling rapidly. It is more affordable and easy to use than ever. Smartphones and cheaper bandwidth are helping to expand this technology, but video will be most successful when paired with effective analytics.
Fading away
Although group buying services like GroupOn made waves when they first entered the tech scene, there are growing concerns about whether the now-crowded field can sustain profits and continue to lure consumers to their deals. Yelp, for example, significantly cut back on their daily deals service recently.
Get more details about the 5 hot trends here. Check out more articles here on Social Strategy1 to find out how you can leverage these trends to build the right social media marketing strategy for your business.