It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone! On behalf of my team, I’d like to take a moment to thank all of our clients, vendors, key influencers, fellow bloggers, and everybody who has contributed to the conversation. We appreciate all your support and we would not be where we are today without you.
As we ring in the New Year, we’d like to share with you our 2011 predictions for online marketing. If you are a small business, take note.
My thoughts: I think there will be a significant increase in the amount of businesses redesigning their websites—not only for mobile compatibility but also for a greater user experience. With this redesign will come the need to tighten brand messaging, re-evaluate service offerings, and overhaul how consumers are currently being sold products and services. I also predict that 2011 will see a growing gap between companies who are excelling online and those that are still dabbling with social media, have a brochure-like website, and refuse to join the online community.
Brittany: “With more and more consumers using mobile phones to communicate and search the Internet, blog platforms and writing techniques have slowly begun to conform to these users. My prediction for 2011 is that blogs will become more concise, shorter, and scannable as a way to help mobile users quickly and easily move through the content, while still extracting value.
I also think that blogs with a large readership will create mobile applications for users, making it much simpler to navigate through the blog and find what they’re looking for. In fact, according to an article by ReadWriteWeb, ‘Data collected by market research and consulting firm Parks Associates, found that this young demographic (consumers under 35) is starting to ditch the Web browser in favor of apps, and are especially put off by mobile websites not designed for the small screen.’
So look forward to some great mobile apps for your blog in the future and remember, always cater to what your audience wants and needs!”
Spencer: “No matter where people fall on the issue, online is where it’s all happening. I often hear people say blogging and social media are just fads; I’m sorry, but fads come and go, they don’t come and stick around for a couple of years like blogging and social media.
While search is still important, blogging and social media will continue to satisfy that immediate response people are looking for. Why depend solely on website or print information when you can access immediate information from a variety of outlets? Also, with the introduction of the Android and iPad and the continued growth of iPhones, I see more and more businesses going mobile. Companies that tap into the power of mobile in 2011 are going to be ahead of the game.”
Melody: “Businesses are going to need to have a website that is mobile friendly. Web copy will continue to be king and more businesses will realize that they cannot write their marketing message themselves. I also predict that marketing departments will cease to exist in many businesses as they’ll get better results by outsourcing.”
If you want to continue the conversation, follow us on Twitter @writtenbysumer.
