Key digital trends for 2013

The Year of Content

Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing: Digital Trends for 2013, produced in association with Adobe, a infographic about what marketers see as the most important trends in the next 12 months. 

The top 5 priorities for marketers in 2013 are the following:

1. Content Marketing
2. Conversion Rate Optimisation
3. Social Media Engagement
4. Targeting and Personalization
5. Mobile Optimization

If you are not satisfied with this infographic I recommend reading the article "17 digital marketing and ecommerce trends for 2013 by Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein"

Platt Retail Institute 2012 In-Store Marketing Trends and Opportunities

We have read a variety of prognostications for all matter of big trends for  2012. At PRI, we do not pretend to know and see all, but we have spotted  several noteworthy developments that have been building for a while and represent significant business opportunities.


2012 holds many promises in terms of retail innovation. Smart phones,  mobile POS, experimental devices, and digital signs quickly come to mind.  As retailers leverage these technologies into their stores, the challenge of presenting a uniform, cross-channel message experience becomes  exceedingly complex.  Add to this equation all of the data that retailers collect  and achieving an integrated in-store marketing approach presents both a challenge and an opportunity.


Several themes we see presenting themselves to address this in 2012 are: 
• Business Analytics.
• Marketing Metrics.


Business analytics enable a retailer to understand and predict customer  behavior. Data mining results in segmentation and analysis, against which  multi-channel campaigns are executed and measured. Although not frequently linked with analytics and metrics, we are also of the view that content must be a part of the equation. 


We use the term Digital Marketing Systems to describe the end-to-end platform that embodies:


1. Behavioral merchandising (powered by business analytics).
2. Automated content management and generation.
3. Return on promotion.


Behavioral merchandising embodies business analytics that result in understanding, predicting, and influencing consumer purchase behavior instore by messages delivered via a digital communication network. The objective of behavioral  merchandising is to stimulate the consumer buying process by mass customization of targeted messages. At its core, behavioral merchandising advocates that by providing consumers with meaningful store, product, and service information, customer trust and loyalty can be increased. 


Automated content management refers to content that is created based upon directions received from business analytics. It encompasses the systems and processes to create, manage, optimize and distribute content on a cost effective, timely basis in response to instructional sets received from the www.plattretailinstitute.org behavioral  merchandising process. Automated content management drives  down production costs, dramatically reduces production time, and greatly expands the ability to “mass customize” high quality digital messages systemwide.   


Return on promotion is an advanced set of digital message performance metrics. Traffic, conversion rates, and results (POS data or inventory movement, for example), are monitored in response to in-store promotions. ROP provides the promoting firm with feedback on the impact of its displayed content. This information enables the brand to determine its return on investment, and continue to fine tune its content strategy. The network operation, in response to this feedback, will be in the position to instantly adjust pricing relative to demand. As well, this information is shared with the business analytics, so that the messaging intelligence is constantly improved upon.  


In 2012, automated solutions that deliver the intelligence, content, and metrics to produce successful integrated in-store marketing campaigns will be a big business.



Platt Retail Institute (PRI) is recognized worldwide as an industry-leading expert in research and consulting to retailers, media companies, financial institutions, hardware, software, transmission, and other business enterprises seeking to impact the customer in-store experience. PRI serves as a knowledge bridge between the academic world and industry, by synergizing the wealth of knowledge being produced at the university level with the need for more advanced yet practical business research and insight at the customer level. In addition to its global consulting expertise, PRI also publishes pioneering industry research.

Add This - Social Sharing Trends

AddThis, the sharing platform owned by Clearspring. which as  11 million domains world wide and sees 1.2 billion uniques a month, shares the social sharing 2011 trends.

 sharing trends from 2010

The Top Twitter Trends of 2011

The of 2011 is near, and by this time is usually the time to review the year. 


2011 was a marked change for Twitter. Many more people joined, especially those from nations outside the US, and that influenced the type of items that made the trending topic list. The tone of conversation changed, with hashtags becoming a far more prominent vehicle for discussion.


What the trend  a company specialized in tracking Twitter trends, published some of the 2011 Twitter Trends as you can see bellow:

"TV's Scariest Generation: The Cable Nevers"

Like Zombies.... They are the UN-cabled! And here's the scary part -- they are multiplying!

A Credit Suisse analyst this week projected that the multi-channel TV universe will fall by 200-thousand subscribers in 2012. They had previously forecast a GAIN of 250-thousand subs. The report said "the real challenge to the pay TV business model are behaviorally-driven cord-nevers.". Who are these phantoms? They are young. They are growing up watching online video. When asked to PAY for TV - the answer is often "WTF"!

Separately, comScore reported this week that online video watching hit a record 43 BILLION views in October. The average viewer consumed over 21 hours of video.

We've heard plenty of talk about "cord-cutting," which really means "cable TV cutting" because everyone still needs a broadband connection. But who's doing it?

I'd put the "cord-cutters" in three buckets:

1. Cord-cutters - These are the REAL "cutters", they have had a cable box in their home for years and now have had it. Or they've found better alternatives. This number is still small. MSO execs have rightly diminished the impact this group has on their bottom lines!
2. Cord-shavers - This group is downgrading service. They are canceling premium channels or getting a more basic service plan. It's been hard to find any publicly available numbers on this category.
3. Cord-nevers - This is the most troubling group for the traditional operators. They are graduating college, leaving the nest and have become comfortable finding their viewing choices online. They don't recognize networks - they know "shows." They like on-demand viewing. They like skipping commercials, too!

If you have a better name for this group than "cord-nevers" - please speak up! "cord-zeros"? "cord-less"? "cord-wtf"?

The Credit Suisse report also states that "other than content rights protection and content cost growth, we view the generational culture shift surrounding video consumption as the biggest challenge pay TV will face over the next ten years."

This point is really important! This is not a blip. This is the new paradigm for the next generation.

In some ways it mirrors the generational shift when this age group stopped acquiring land line phones. Remember the term POTS? Stands for Plain Old Telephone Service! Well, if you know the term you probably still have cable. The landline phone business is in rapid decline. You probably won't leave home without your mobile phone. If you have a landline phone, it's probably still connected to your fax machine.

I predict that a true OTT (over the top) player will emerge in the next twelve months. This service will offer 40-50 live TV channels, a rich VOD offering, cloud DVR functionality and portability. Portability is key. A service that will truly live on your iPad or smartphone and not be tethered to a cable box in your home.

Clearly, we are seeing a changing dynamic in video consumption. This will play out over the next few years. There is clear opportunity for smart entrepreneurs and there are also major threats to the current incumbents. Thoughts?

Article written by: Bernard Gershon 

Published: 02 December - AdAge Digital

7 Digital Trends You Should Know

Changes in the digital world of marketing keep coming fast and furious. As a marketer, it can be challenging to know which online trends are important and which are nothing but fads. One thing most marketers do know by now is that digital marketing is marketing -- in other words, with your audience having fully migrated online to search for suppliers, products, and services, digital marketing is the most effective way to connect with your prospects and customers.

Here, then, are seven digital trends worth paying attention to.

1. Online events

According to a recent GlobalSpec Marketing Trends Survey, 47% of industrial companies are increasing their spending on online events. Online events, sometimes called virtual events or online trade shows, are a trend made possible by high bandwidth availability and emerging technologies that allow media companies to produce and host highly interactive experiences. Online events targeted to your specific audience offer you an excellent opportunity to showcase your product line, build your brand reputation, provide content to your audience, and connect with prospects and customers. What’s more, you can do it all from the comfort and convenience of your desktop -- as can your audience.

2. Video

Video is experiencing a significant growth spurt. In fact, a high percentage of companies are increasing their spending on video, and it’s easy to see why. In the age of YouTube, videos are cheap to produce, and homemade production quality is not only acceptable, but cool. Also working in video’s favor is the fact that many people like to watch, not read. Looking for some good ideas for video? Try brief interviews with executives, conversations among product managers, product demonstrations, or on-site visits to customers where your products are being used.

3. Social Media

Although many companies have begun implementing social media, make sure you understand the specific reasons and goals for your own social media strategy. For example, the top reasons companies use social media for branding and lead-generation purposes, yet only 3 percent of companies state that social media is one of their top three sources for leads. At this point in the maturation of the social media market, increasing brand awareness and building relationships are the outcomes most effectively achieved. LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for sectors such as the industrial industry, followed by Facebook and then Twitter.

4. Digital Content

A few years ago, everyone was saying “Content is King.” Well, in many ways, content still is king -- digital content -- as attested to by the huge growth of e-readers, the iPad and other devices for consuming digital content. And it’s not just Web pages. There are videos, Webinars, downloadable PDFs, e-books, interactive tools and more. Your customers and prospects are hungry for content to help them do their jobs and make better purchasing decisions. Your job is to create that content and get it to them in digital format.

5. Internet Banner Advertising

Internet banner advertising has become a strong value proposition for marketers because of the availability of highly targeted advertising networks that can place your ads on specific sites frequented by professionals in your industry. Online advertising networks also offer the convenience of reaching many sites with a single buy, helping you save time and make the most effective use of your budget. Banner ads are highly visual; they offer great branding opportunities and can drive qualified, targeted traffic to your Web site.

6. Testing and Analytics

One major advantage of digital media is that it is easy to test and measure. A/B testing is becoming a popular way to optimize e-mail campaigns, Web pages and other online media. A/B testing basically means you split your list in two and send each list a slightly different version of what you’re testing, changing only one thing at a time and measuring what performs better. In addition, every company should be performing some type of Web site analytics such as measuring traffic, page popularity, and visitor behavior to help make informed decisions about optimizing your site.

7. Online Marketing Budgets

The top eight channels for increased marketing spend in 2011 are all online — from social media and SEO to Internet banner advertising networks, online newsletter sponsorships and more. In addition, according to GlobalSpec’s 2011 Industrial Marketing Trends Survey, companies spend an average of 38 percent of their marketing budget online and 50 percent report that online marketing is a larger percentage of their overall marketing budget this year than last year.  Online marketing should continue to take a bigger slice of the marketing budget in subsequent years, as more marketers experience the ROI associated with online programs and discover they can connect better with customers and prospects online.

article written by Chris Chariton