Digital trends and strategies in 2009

This is the year to get it right

An extract of Paul Honey’s article in Marketing Week

The online industry will continue to grow in 2009. But not everyone will get their strategies right and, with constricting market conditions, there will be less room for error. This will be the year to take a long hard look at your online strategy and perhaps even your digital partner.

Those who get it right will do very well, while those who don’t may suffer

Almost a quarter of the world’s population will use the internet regularly in 2009 and half of those people will make online purchases. These stats from The Economist make ecommerce the only major business sector to have a sunny outlook for the year. But this means there will be more competition online, with savvy consumers forcing etailers to work much harder for their money. Those who get it right will do very well, while those who don’t may suffer.

The most successful companies next year will be the ones that recognise the value of online in their overall business model, not just in their marketing model. Although many companies who have embraced online from the start, we still see missed opportunities.

In some of the most successful campaigns we have been involved with, we worked as online specialists right from the planning stages. These highly co-ordinated campaigns have included ATL agencies, PR agencies, media planners and buyers, along with a range of different media.

Benefits of specialists

A good online agency will open a dialogue with consumers and keep them engaged

What does a good online agency bring to the table? First, and most obvious, is the use of websites as the hub of campaigns. They enable you to open a dialogue with consumers and keep them engaged. Properly done, websites can also give brands personality and credibility.

A specialist online agency can also bring effective social marketing strategies, search engine marketing and display advertising. All three can be powerful but require detailed knowledge of where consumers are, and establishing a credible presence in those places. (One of our highly targeted social marketing campaigns in 2008 achieved a conversion rate of 55%.)

Providing your target audience with a reason to return to your website and keep them engaged with your brand will become more challenging as budgets tighten and consumers are presented with ever-growing choices.

Fast-moving parts

The world of online is fast-moving, technical and complex, and things are only going to getmore complicated in 2009 as the sector, and the technology supporting it, develops. Its many moving parts are inter-related and dependent on a whole series of business and technical issues (which is why we, as an agency, specialise only in digital).

Growth and re-evaluation

The increasing number of online channels will require re-evaluation of the online marketing mix

Next year will be an exciting year with growth in an increasing number of online channels, such as mobile-based devices connecting to the internet, as well as the rising popularity of interactive/IPTV. But these developments will also cause re-evaluation of the online marketing mix.

We have identified 16 online marketing trends for 2009 that will impact advertisers’ use of the net. Some are the result of more people flocking to online channels, such as keyword inflation, others are the result of device changes, such as the netbook’s shorter “page”. Other trends include changes to the Google algorithm and the impact of Windows’ Internet Explorer 8 on display advertising. Full details are available at:

Online Marketing Trends for 2009

Disciplined approach

As online grows in importance, a disciplined operating model will become increasingly important and fundamental to many organisations’ success in 2009. A proven model that many organisations use consists of four stages:

• Aquire
• Convert
• Retain/Grow
• Measure/Optimise

This model demonstrates a level of process maturity and makes it possible to measure, analyse, repeat and predict. This allows the production of accurate metrics, that can be used to fine tune digital campaigns. With the economic downturn taking its toll on both consumers and marketers, 2009 will be a time when analytics, especially qualitative analytics, come to the fore. We believe that success will require carefully thought-through strategies and constant reappraisal.

For those who are unsure about whether their online marketing is as good as it should be, the best place to start getting it right would be a thorough assessment of your digital strategy. This will give you a good understanding of your capabilities and limitations, and provide you with a roadmap that will see you through 2009 and into the future.