Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

According to a new 2012 Marketing Trends survey from StrongMail, 92% of business leaders polled plan to increase or maintain marketing spend in 2012. Email marketing (60%) and social media (55%) were cited as the top two areas for increased marketing spend. The top email marketing initiatives for 2012 are increasing subscriber engagement (48%), improving segmentation and targeting (44%) and growing opt-in email lists (32%).

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Conference Centers and Exhibition Halls. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

As marketers look for ways to connect with their customers, companies in some sectors are moving back into sports sponsorship in a big way. In particular, the automotive and financial services industries are expected to invest more heavily in this area.

As 2011 comes to an end with the pace of auto sales accelerating, industry analysts expect the trend will continue in 2012. An estimated 13.6 million new cars and trucks will be sold in 2012, as many consumers still have pent-up demand for new cars. Improved selection and loosening credit conditions will also help entice buyers.

With the economic outlook improving, consumers may be in the mood to buy jewelry in 2012. Last year, consumers exhibited a clear preference for specific types of jewelry. This year, jewelers are sure to be promoting those items and they’ll be advertising other services to consumers as well.

A new survey from PwC forecasts the top health care trends for 2012. Among the key issues, we’ll see value move from theory to reality, investments ramp up in informatics, and healthcare increasing its social media presence. Consumers are also becoming more comfortable with data sharing if it helps to improve the coordination of their care.