Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

If over half of consumers are now getting most of their news online, what can traditional media companies expect for the future? Most consumers say that within 10 years we will no longer be picking up a printed newspapers to get our information, nor will we be tuning into the network news. This was one of the key findings from a HarrisInteractive poll on the topic of news consumption.

Blogs began life as a way for individuals to report news, put forth opinions and generally engage in self-promotion. Before long, marketers began to see the value in using a blog, sometimes as a form of two-way communication and sometimes as an extension of the static website. Blogging has become so widespread that eMarketer reports up to 34% of U.S. businesses are now using blogs for marketing purposes.

Today’s consumers have shown a huge interest in social coupon promotions. Industry leader Groupon has grown so quickly that analysts believe the company’s 2010 revenue picture is in the range of $100 to $300 million. The idea behind this coupon site is simple enough. Groupon works with local retailers to present bargains to consumers. Because of the sheer mass of consumers interested in the bargain, the local retailers get a sales bump and hopefully new customers, the consumers get a deal, and Groupon cuts a cut. But what seems like a no-fail strategy has encountered some rough going.

Small businesses continue to invest in online search. In general, this sector spent more on search in Q3 2010 than it spent last year. However, the latest numbers from WebVisible show that the phenomenal growth rate in the use of search advertising by small businesses may be slowing.

The growth of online video has been well publicized this year. Consumers are viewing everything from video ads to TV shows on their PCs and mobile devices. Now, BtoB marketers are trying to improve their webinars by using video to reach a wider audience.

For now, marketers spend considerably more of their ad budgets on paid search than they do on newer formats like social media. If a marketer bids enough on the right keywords, potential shoppers will see the company’s name appear near the top of the first page of generated results. Can it be that easy to get a shopper to visit a website or is something more involved? Performics addresses this topic in its 2010 Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Insights Study which was conducted by ROI. The goal of the study was to determine how consumers use search engines and if they are employing some of the new features that have become available.