This time of year always spawns a number of "prediction" articles of things that will become important over the next 12 months. Things that you need to pay attention to and incorporate into your business or risk being left behind. Some predictions are grounded in reality whereas others are hype. I've come to the decision that most fall into the hype category. This is especially true when it comes to digital marketing and social media - It's almost become a sport amongst the media to try sensationalize and exaggerate developments. However, we often need reminding that the opinion of one does not a movement make. So, below is my list of marketing predictions (hype) to ignore in 2013:
The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in three years - FALSE
All sorts of "experts" tout social media as the great equalizer and that without it you will lose out on valuable sales opportunities and forgo the ability to build a community of loyal fans. Sorry, social media is not your savior nor is it necessary for every company. It's best when used for awareness building and/or customer service as opposed to sales lead generation.
Consider this - The most valuable and popular tech company in the world, Apple, does not use social media in a major capacity. You will be hard pressed to find any social media badges or integration on their website. They do have some facebook pages and twitter accounts devoted to certain product lines but they're used primarily for promotional messaging as opposed to conversations and customer engagement. Apple has built their business through a laser like focus on design and quality, and as a result built a loyal following who evangelize on their behalf.
So, before jumping into the next social network being hyped up in the media ask yourself if it's really worth it and whether your customers care if you're using social media? If you take care of your customers they'll take care of you, regardless of your social media adoption. Using it might be perfect for your business but just don't do it because it's the popular thing to do.
Mobile needs to be a priority channel in your marketing mix - FALSE
I'm guilty of hyping up mobile in the past few years. This is mainly due to the fact I helped launch the mobile endeavours at my previous employer and then one of the first clients of Deep Dish Digital was a developer of mobile apps. I was forced to drink the kool-aid for a number of years but I'm now proud to say I've been sober for over 18 months. I'm not saying mobile should be excluded from your marketing strategy but the 2013 Technology Trends report from Deloitte found that 80% of web traffic is still coming from personal computers (desktops and laptops). Despite the growth in mobile device purchases, the focus really needs to be on usage and what devices are being used to search the web.
And don't even get me started on mobile advertising, the adoption rate for in-app mobile advertising is minuscule and from what I've heard generates weak results compared to Google AdWords. If you are eager to advertise to people on mobile devices then append "mobile extensions" to your existing Google Adwords so people on mobile devices can "click-to-call" when they tap an ad. If you attempt integrating mobile this year I recommend you start by considering how you might optimize your website so it doesn't break when viewed on a mobile device. Mobile will become an increasingly important part of the marketing mix but don't lose sleep over it this year. Make sure you can walk before you try to run.
Online monitoring and "big data" need to be integrated into your operations - FALSE
Unless you work for a large organization with thousands of customers and have deep pockets to spend on sophisticated software for data modeling, then online monitoring and utilizing "big data" will not be something you have to worry about. Very few businesses have the staff, time or expertise to spend generating reports regarding their online reputation or synthesizing data sets to find out what time of day customers are most likely to buy. If your experience is similar to mine then you'll know just having current addressees for your customers is challenge enough never mind knowing what their predicted purchasing habits are.
If you're worried about reputation then use a free service like www.socialmention.com or Google Alerts to search online mentions of your name or brand. Focus on doing simple things well before trying to leverage new technologies to make your business better. The key thing to remember is that technology may make things easier/faster but it doesn't necessarily make things better. Having customer data is important but most organizations should focus on mastering the basics by utilizing CRM software and collecting email addresses.
Email is dying and being replaced by other technologies - FALSE
It's gotten to the point that I find it humorous every time another article about the death of email surfaces. These articles used to scare me; I used to get anxiety that I was falling behind and if email was dying then how come I didn't know what was replacing it?! Rest assured, email is alive and well. An email address is one of the most important pieces of contact information you can have, especially for business-to-business organizations.
There are certainly other technologies that have become popular for electronic communications (Facebook, Twitter, Texts) but don't count on them replacing the need to send a proposal, instructions, press release, or project timelines. The need to send letters will never disappear nor will the benefits of meeting face to face. In fact, I bet a marketing practice we'll see more of this year will be hand written notes inviting people to physical events (followed up by an email).
So, there you have it, my online marketing predictions to ignore in 2013. I welcome others comments and opinions. Please comment below, tell me I'm crazy, or provide your own thoughts on what's to come in 2013. It's all just a guess anyway; there are no wrong answers.
