By Nicole Petrak, Assistant Editor
I recently stumbled upon a fun and informative blog post from HubSpot, a marketing software company, on 33 Statistics that Paint a Picture of the Future of Marketing.
As we head into the new year and a new round of evolving and changing our marketing plans, I thought it would be helpful to capture some of the key takeaways of the marketing trends we're likely to see in 2013 and beyond. For the entire list or to see where these facts were sourced, check out the original blog, and stay tuned in January for more on this topic.
The "Hot Spot" - Social Media
Currently, marketers spend about an average of 4-6 hours of their time weekly on social media, and about 7.6 percent of overall budget. Chief Marketing Officers predict that budget allocation will rise to almost 20 percent by 2018. However: only about 7 percent of marketers think that social media is "very integrated" into their companies' strategic plans, while almost 17 percent say it is not integrated at all.
Clearly we still have a disconnect between the growing ubiquity of social media and our ability to measure and integrate it. Where do you see the biggest challenges?
On Personalization, Relevancy and Content...
Are you using geo-location for on-the-ground travelers? A whopping 80 percent of mobile users prefer seeing ads relevant to their location.
What are you offering them? 75 percent of people want to get offers from companies over any other type of content.
The new generation: 62 percent of adults under the age of 24 would share their location to get more relevant content online.
Are you helping past customers tell your story? "High-impact" recommendations from friends and networks are up to 50 times more likely to compel a purchase than lower-impact (out of network) recommendations. See some of ATTA's tips on how to help people tell your story.
Channels
By 2013, online campaigns using four or more digital channels will outperform single- or dual-channel campaigns by 300 percent. How many channels can people find you on?
Mobile Marketing and Apps
Almost half of all marketing companies will increase their efforts around mobile app construction in 2013. Meanwhile, commerce on mobile devices will represent one-fourth of all online commerce revenue by 2017. Are you moving to mobile yet? If yes, are you only optimizing, or have you ventured into taking payments, experimenting with apps, or other levels of engagement?