Internet marketing is now a critical piece of just about
any company’s marketing mix. There are few marketing options with the
speed, efficiency and reach as internet marketing. And so you should
take the time to ensure you are focusing sufficiently on your internet
marketing to maximize your revenue and growth.
The year 2013 will prove to be another year in which the array of
internet marketing vehicles, tools and techniques will continue to
increase. To help you capitalize on the opportunities, here are 13 hot
internet marketing trends for 2013 that you should consider when
planning your marketing initiatives throughout the year:
13 Hot Internet Marketing Trends in 2013
1. Design Matters
Design matters, because design sells. Just look at the success of
Apple,
Pinterest,
Desk.com or
Nike.
All four websites are stunning, and that’s no coincidence. Apple is the
most valuable company of all time. It actually carries very few
products, though. It’s the design that powers Apple’s value. Nike is a
shoe and apparel company, yet pays just as much attention to the design
of its website, videos and ads as much as to anything else. Focus on
great design for all of your internet marketing in 2013.
2. Marketing Goes Visual
Similarly, communication through visual means is hot, and only
getting hotter. Whether the explosion in infographics, or the dramatic
rise in the popularity of Pinterest, or the redesigns of Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter, we are going through a visual revolution. Start
figuring out how to make more of your marketing visual in 2013.
3. Parallax Design
Parallax website design incorporates special scrolling techniques
whereby background images on the screen move slower than foreground
images, creating an illusion of depth on the screen. You can see
examples at the following websites:
Volkswagon Beetle and
Activate
(be sure to scroll down the page!). If you are planning a website
redesign in 2013, consider incorporating elements of parallax design.
4. Mobile Mobile Mobile
Wordwide, there are over 5 billion mobile users and 1.1 billion
smartphone subscribers specifically. The iPad was the fastest growing
technology product EVER! Wow, if you need further convincing that you
should start planning how to connect with your audience via mobile
channels for your business, you’re nuts!
5. Video Video Video
More than 4 billion online videos are watched every day. Sixty-eight
percent of video watchers share video links. So it’s clear your audience
likes video. On top of this, consider that after 72 hours, a typical
person can retain about 10% of text that they’ve read, 65% of an image
they’ve seen, or 95% of a video they watched. Think that video might be
helpful with communicating your message to your audience? Just a bit,
huh?!?
6. Cloud-Based Tools
To be uber-efficient with your internet marketing efforts, you should
be using cloud-based tools. For email marketing, you might be using
MailChimp. For SEO, you might be using
SEOmoz. For landing page testing, you might be using
Unbounce. For heat map analysis, you might be using
CrazyEgg. For website analysis, you might be using
BoostSuite. Check out all the unbelievably useful options available to you.
7. The Multi-Screen World
With 86% of mobile internet users actually using their devices while
watching TV, and with more than 10,901 Tweets PER SECOND being issued as
TV viewers watched Adele win Record of the Year at The Grammy’s, it’s
clear that we all live in a multi-screen world. Make sure that your
internet marketing accounts for not just desktops, but ALL screens.
8. Social Media Gets Smarter
Facebook has more than 1 billion users, and Twitter has more than 500
million. Social media is an opportunity for your business, but it’s
been difficult for many businesses to make sense of it all and to gain
solid business value out of it. With a growing number of marketing
platforms such as
Wildfire by Google and
ShortStack, and with more granular social media analytics as provided by tools such as
SproutSocial,
Followerwonk and
PageLever, extracting clear meaning from your social marketing will get easier over time.
9. Retargeting Goes Mainstream
Retargeting is a means of placing your advertisements in front of
your audience after they have left your website without converting. What
many marketers fail to realize is that retargeting is one of the most
effective internet marketing techniques available. If you are already
investing in your site and your marketing campaigns for more site
traffic, then it typically pays big dividends to remind the people who
left your website without a conversion of your value in solving their
needs. Your options for retargeting include
Google Remarketing,
AdRoll,
Retargeter and also
Bizo (for exceptional B2B retargeting).
10. Email Remarketing
In lead generation campaigns or retailer email marketing, there are
always going to be occurrences of form or cart abandonment. However,
it’s a waste to just let the prospect go without reaching out and
finding out if you might indeed offer exactly what they want or need.
After the abandonment of a registration form or online shopping cart,
through email remarketing you can send out an automated email to give
your brand another chance at winning the heart and mind of the prospect.
According to
SeeWhy,
26% of those who abandoned an online shopping cart will return to
complete the purchase in the case they receive a remarketing email.
11. Search, Social & PR Collide
Organic search has been incorporating social signals for some time,
and the integration of search and social has accelerated with the
introduction of Google+ and the Google Knowledge Graph. With Google’s
Panda and Penguin search algorithm updates, it’s become extremely clear
that quality and value matter. That means high quality content, combined
with sincere, transparent social marketing, combined with targeted PR
is going to be a triad that’s hard to beat.
12. Attribution Measurement
If you run multiple forms of internet marketing, such as paid search,
SEO, email marketing, display advertising, and retargeting, then it can
be difficult to assess the value of each piece of your marketing
puzzle. If someone encounters your brand five times in a given week
through the different marketing vehicles, who’s to say how much credit
to give to each of the different pieces. That’s where attribution
measurement services come in, whether
Google,
ClearSaleing or
VisualIQ.
13. The Hispanic Market
Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the US population. And
as they represent approximately 25% of new births, expect them to have
an impact on your future business. Research points to Hispanics spending
more time online than non-Hispanics and being more active online than
non-Hispanics. If you have been ignoring the Hispanic market, perhaps
2013 is the time to start providing the market with the attention and
customization that it deserves.