It's the time of the year when many of us make our plans for 2011. Rather than the usual "11 trends for 2011" format, I've taken each of the elements of the Paul Writer Marketing Framework and commented on areas where changes are likely to be significant next year.
Awareness: The role of peers and friends in creating awareness for a brand will continue to increase next year. This will shift the balance of power from "financial capital" to "social capital". As marketers, we must build out our companies' social quotient. As consumers, we should look beyond big bang advertising and seek out companies that are trusted.Media Relations: 2011 will see the rise of "owned" media. Companies should realize the potential of new digital platforms to create their own, dedicated outreach channels to their customers. This will allow them to manage communication with less reliance on earned media. And keep in mind the rise of vernacular media and ensure that your communication is in a language relevant to your audience.
Influencer Relations: While India still does not have a strong and pervasive consumer guide culture, in B2B influencers continue to evolve. Using the digital media and social networks to communicate their opinions, they can help educate buyers and shift purchase decisions. For example, we published the Red Book of Tech PR which helps potential buyers select agencies based on online research of over 100 end-users. This free to download report has generated over 500 reads in less than a month. Marketers should constantly track the landscape to ensure they benefit and manage these opportunities.
Customer Mining: If you haven't already got one, you must build a self-sustaining customer community next year. The best ones are those that use multiple channels ranging from face to face gatherings, to newsletters, to webinars to discussion boards. As peers become more influential in buying decisions, managing your customer network becomes business critical. Even if you don't build a full-fledged customer platform, you can use platforms such as Ning or LinkedIn to kickstart this initiative.
Thought Leadership: The Whitepaper, the mainstay of thought leadership for decades, appears to be declining as readers migrate to shorter formats, and authors are unused to writing long essays. Create 500 word points-of-view instead that you can promote through your "owned" media. And if you do have great content, revisit the old-fashioned print newsletter. As readers suffer digital fatigue, they value paper more than ever!
Collateral: Move away from relying only on printed brochures. Look at making your website interactive, providing downloadable documents, and visual demos of your product on channels such as YouTube. Webinars are gaining popularity in India. Do invest in the quality of your video - expectations of users are high and most firms under-deliver on the experience.
Prospect Mining: Review your prospecting practices and ensure that your telecalling programmes are in line with new privacy guidelines. Customers are getting increasingly sensitive to unsolicited mails, SMS, and phone calls, and these could damage your brand. What you can do is increase the focus on creating value so that prospects opt-in to your marketing programme.
Online: Welcome 3G! This will spur adoption of social media across strata. You may want to explore custom applications that your customers can download and use on their smartphones. Mobile internet penetration may also make visual channels like YouTube more powerful in India. Relatively low cost powerful computing devices such as iPAD, Adam and Samsung Galaxy will also change usage patterns. As adoption levels of social media takes a quantum leap, new marketing channels will evolve - keep an eye on this space. And if you haven't already done so, do publish the Social Media Guidelines for your firm and educate employees on the need for adherence.
Partner Marketing: B2B is all about collaboration and this trend will continue to rise, facilitated by emerging technologies that enable companies and employees to stay in touch. Think of creating an online platform for your channel partners that can be accessed with a mobile device. You can either create your own, build one based on open-source, or use a platform such as LinkedIn.
If you've identified a new trend that you think is relevant to fellow marketers, please share with your peers as a comment!
Thanks and have a fabulous 2011
Jessie Paul is the managing director of Paul Writer, a marketing advisory firm. She is the author of No Money Marketing (Tata McGraw-Hill).
A low-down on the areas within marketing that are most likely to change significantly in 2011 and how to harness their potential.
I know that this time of year I find myself in a time crunch sorting out all of the loose ends and that would be completing my goals and preparing new ones for the coming year.
Hope you enjoyed this article and Season's Greeting To You and Yours.
OnlineDon
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