Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

For one group of U.S. consumers – blacks – the smartphone revolution is well under way. Blacks, more than any other ethnic group, have embraced the use of smartphone technology. As a result, marketers should be focusing their efforts on mobile to reach this segment.

It might seem like people are perfectly happy to communicate with each other solely through social media. But event planners have noticed that corporations are increasing their activity and experiential marketing budgets this year because people really do like to meet face to face. The latest twist is that social media is now driving more interest and participation in these events.

It’s not too early for marketers to begin considering their strategy for email campaigns during the upcoming holiday season. New research shows that the kind of email a marketer sends out plays a big role in whether a message gets opened. As a result, more marketers are likely to increase their use of triggered email messages.

Ad-ology Research recently updated their report for Health/Natural Food Stores. The following are the predicted Top 3 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

Digital advertising expenditures continue to provide impressive ROI for marketers. Analysts believe that search, especially with respect to mobile and social media, will be the main growth vehicle in 2012. This format has already exhibited impressive returns, year to date.

Consumers have a variety of information sources to draw from when they enter the purchase funnel. Marketers will likely be pleased to learn that one of these sources, digital advertising, has an improved reputation with consumers. But, for many consumers, there is no substitute for online reviews, a belief that may prompt marketers to increase their efforts in the earned media channel.