Online Marketing Predictions for 2012
It is easy to look back over a year and say what worked and what didn’t? However, making predictions for the year ahead can sometimes prove a bit disappointing when you review them at the year end and realise you were completely wrong – but it’s all for a bit of fun!
In 2011 we saw Google make some massive changes with various new algorithms and also they entered into the world of social media through Google+ but Facebook and Twitter are still playing such a huge role in product promotions and with the increase in mobile searches it gives us a hint at what 2012 will hold and so here are our predictions:
Mobile Marketing
More and more people are choosing to purchase mobile devices which have access to the internet. They are using these out of convenience to access a whole range of websites and in some cases you could argue that mobile devices are pushing the standard PC out of the way – so move over PC!
It is for this reason alone that Brick technology is advising customers to get a mobile website. Yes of course PC’s will not cease to exist completely but with a target audience using mobile devices in order to aid users when they visit from a mobile device you should think about mobile websites.
Although all of our web designs will show on a mobile device and a whole range of platforms mobile versions of websites usually incorporate larger buttons so it is easier for the user to click around. Big button technology as it is know is going to be needed for use within the creation of many mobile friendly websites and in 2012 we predict there will be a increase in the number of mobile friendly sites that are being requested.
Facebook have already got a mobile friendly version of their site: http://m.facebook.com
Smartphone Apps
As smartphones become more and more popular and more of the public actually purchases one we predict that around 23% of people will purchase a smartphone by 2012. On these smartphones you can find apps and as people are always looking for ways in which they can make their daily tasks easier they turn to apps who can do this with ease.
Brick technology can create you your very own mobile phone app which can be smart, addictive or simply a bit of fun! They are designed and developed for use across all the leading mobile platforms such as iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian as well as many more.
Speak to us today about getting your mobile app created as we predict there will be lots more companies and businesses choosing mobile apps to make things simpler for their customers.
Social Media
This was something which would have to make our 2012 predictions! Social media has been making a bold appearance in 2011 and is becoming more and more popular. In 2011 social media was a clear winner for both PC and mobile marketing with sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Foursquare its popularity is destined to increase throughout 2012.
In 2012 Brick technology are predicting that social media will provide businesses with the ability to build up customer relationships as they will be able to develop personal marketing tools and more personal relationships with their customers. Not only will this but social media give customers the feeling that a company is friendly and more humanised.
As more and more people sign up to join social media sites we predict that companies who choosing not to get involved on sites like Facebook and Twitter will actually end up missing out.
Paid Advertising
Internet marketing is proving to have a better return on investment than the more traditional methods of marketing and so more companies are engaging in paid advertising to get more traffic to their sites. Paid advertising will work well for a number of businesses in 2012 so long as they keep an eye on the overall costs and measure their actual return on investment.
Brick technology are predicting that for paid advertising much of the advertisements will be on social media sites and with Google and Facebook incorporating social likeability and sentiment measurements into their ad rankings we will see an increase in advertisers investments on promoting “+1’s” and “likes”.
Search Engines
One of the two leading sources of website traffic in 2012 it will be extremely important that your website’s visibility and accessibility remain the two major factors in order to keep your audience engaged.
Google have changed the algorithm so in 2012 websites will no longer get search traffic for obscure items that they do not have good, strong results for. Known as the Panda update in 2012 we should start to see increased quality of relevance for longtail searches.
In 2012 Brick technology predict that many businesses will be closely watching their bounce rate so that they can improve what Google names, “engagement related metrics”.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article there is no guarantee of what will definitively happen in 2012 with online marketing. Whatever the outcome it is pretty certain that the future of internet marketing is looking pretty rosy!