Alterian predicts a new decade of marketing
trends
Social media
monitoring, customer engagement and analytics take centre stage in
2010
London, UK – 15 December 2009 – Alterian
(LSE: ALN), a leading international integrated marketing platform
provider, has released their 2010 forecast into the changing
marketing trends for the next 12 months and beyond. These are
focused around more effective ways to engage and communicate, as
well as the importance of measurement and accountability as
companies are under increasing pressure to show value for their
marketing spend in a downturn. The predictions highlight that
the right marketing software will be critical for business survival
and to continue to drive productivity through the turbulent times.
Social Media Monitoring and Web Analytics will become central in
measuring the Return on Investment (ROI) of relationship-based
online strategies.
David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian said, “The
recession has been the catalyst for highlighting the importance of
online monitoring and analytics for marketers. More and more
consumers are sharing information about brands online so when once
upon a time an unsatisfied customer would tell their neighbour, now
they can tell the whole world in seconds. Advancements in
technology have turned consumers from passive observers of brands
into active participants who are shaping brands. The other
challenge for marketers is the ever deepening consumer cynicism
towards corporate behaviour and messaging, and both these factors
are forcing the emergent role of the marketer. Smart
businesses are listening to the conversations their customers are
having, where these are happening and engaging in conversations
with consumers on an individual level to add value in real
time. Interruption-based mass marketing that
simply shout messages blindly to customers is not only ineffective
but hugely damaging.”
“However you cannot simply stop there - the
next logical step after engagement is acting on the information
acquired on your audience. Building customer databases are
pointless if you don’t manipulate this data to help plan successful
marketing campaigns in the future. Engagement is key, but those
businesses that ignore the final stage of measurement and analysis
will not survive.”
At the end of 2008 Alterian encouraged
businesses to focus marketing investment through the economic
downturn on areas of high return rather than cut costs across the
board. This year marketing has become the life blood for every
business, as marketers compete to connect with their audiences on
an individual level. It was predicted that marketing
activities would be increasingly under the microscope throughout
2009 and marketers would be held accountable for their success or
failure.
The trends outlined at the end of 2008 will
remain important into 2010 but as social media has really started
to take hold, and online monitoring tools and analysis will come of
age in the new decade. The industry will continue to move at an
ever-increasing pace and as we emerge from the recession there will
be a hunger to discover new and exciting things to attract, engage
and convert consumers, first. The top ten marketing trends
for 2010 are as follows:
1. Social media will move towards
ubiquity:
IDC survey data shows more than 50% of
worldwide workers are leveraging the free, public social media
sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for business today.
Rather than being hype it will simply become normal and part of the
everyday mix that works alongside email as a principle form of
communication online.
2. Companies will have a social media
policy:
As social media continues to integrate into
the marketing and business mix, formal rules of engagement will
become more widespread. Many companies are likely to come up
against conflict when they try to extend their social media efforts
across the board. There will be a need for a significant culture
shift in order to overcome these barriers. As social media
continues to raise its profile amongst corporate divisions, more
companies will invest in Social Media specialists to guide their
efforts both internally and externally.
3. Doing more with less:
This has been the mantra for all businesses
throughout 2009 but will continue through the adoption of analytics
and marketing software. Marketing departments are under increasing
pressure to improve effectiveness and efficiencies with marketing
campaigns, and also to achieve more, all with decreased budgets.
2009 was about how to make your business machine run harder and
faster in a bid to stay competitive in a downturn, where consumer
spending is in decline or being replaced by reason to buy at
all. This will now convert into the need to not only prove
the value of your products to consumers but also the value of your
marketing strategies as a whole.
4. Data analysts will become hot
property for marketing departments:
Introducing analytics, or better analytics
means empowering marketing with intelligence about their customers
and prospects, so they can more rapidly, and more accurately,
identify the hidden value in their customer and prospect databases.
Analyzing the operational efficiency of every marketing department
and taking action as required also means a marketing dividend can
be realised. This can either be used to increase marketing spend or
to maintain marketing spend if budgets are reduced; in essence, do
more with less.
5. Measurability of
marketers/measuring ROI:
At a time of economic uncertainty, more
companies look to uncover cost savings or serve customers more
effectively through leveraging social technology. However, the
increased pressure from the boardroom to justify marketing spend,
or time investment, means that marketing departments have to show
value by measuring ROI.
6. Getting access to customer
data:
This has become more possible with the
introduction of social media platforms, but gaining access to the
right data, the right channels and the key sentiments about your
brand requires effective online monitoring software. Social
Media offers the perfect opportunity to revolutionise CRM tools and
build true customer engagement programmes that are bespoke for each
individual consumer, thus helping to deliver ROI.
7. The necessary technology for
effective marketing:
Companies without the right monitoring,
reporting, analytics and execution software are companies without a
future. With the increasing importance of the internet for
businesses, online marketing and monitoring allow effective one on
one engagement that shape successful and focused marketing
campaigns.
8. Integration of platforms and
processes will be critical:
There is a proliferation of things to monitor,
measure and manage, making it very difficult and time consuming for
marketers to pull together the overall picture for integrated
campaigns. There will therefore be a move towards single integrated
software platforms so that campaign planning and management are
integrated with web and email.
9. Recalibrate marketing for
engagement:
Brands focus on content but with publishers
desperate to protect revenues by charging for content, brands will
increasingly look to develop content strategies that bring value to
their customers. Social Media Monitoring will be the key
weapon for brands building these strategies.
10. Consumer empowerment:
Brand value will be influenced more and more
by the consumer, making it more important than ever for a brand to
have measures of authenticity that will aid in brand
differentiation and consumer engagement – you can no longer rely on
your brand name as you once did. Organisations are being
increasingly judged by their actions and willingness to involve
customers, visibly.