Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

Not everyone is consuming their content via digital platforms, but the latest release from Deloitte on this topic contains some impressive numbers. Consumers are turning to PCs, smart phones and tablets to access everything from books to movies. Marketers who don’t have at least some of their media mix allocated to these channels are missing key opportunities to connect with their clients.

As consumers continue to discover the best ways to search and shop using their smart phones, they’re also downloading apps. This acceptance of free apps is the first step in connecting marketers to shoppers. But many shoppers say they click on ads in limited situations.

Small businesses are clearly on board with online marketing overall, but interest in mobile is up sharply, according to Ad-ology Research. More than 20 percent of small business decision-makers say they plan to commit more resources to mobile marketing in 2012, up from the 12 percent who said the same last year. Compared to previousRead the Rest…

Pharmaceutical companies have been stepping slowly and carefully into the world of online marketing. With their direct-to-consumer advertising efforts being closely monitored by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), many pharma companies have been content to spend a large portion of their ad budgets on TV. But more consumers are looking online for prescription drug information which means that pharma companies need to improve the way they’ve been handling one of the most basic online marketing tools – search engine optimization (SEO).

Consumers are well-accustomed to being presented with ads online and many times they click on these ads. But sensing that some ad forms are so yesterday, marketers are scrambling to find new ways to attract consumer attention. In 2012, that new format may be the rich-media expandable ad.

Marketers who have been using search solely to drive online sales are marking a mistake. So says Greg Sterling who writes for SearchEngineLand. It turns out that retailers can garner huge in-store sales increases by using paid search.