5 Major Marketing Trends to Prepare for

With 2011 coming to a close, lots of PR/Marketing industry experts have reflected on the year behind us and made some wise predictions for the year ahead. It’s important for us as industry professionals to stay on top of trends so we’re armed with the best and most current information for our clients. Additionally, as the media landscape evolves, it’s important that we evolve with it so that we can offer our clients the best counsel and strategy to deliver the best results.  Below are a few things for PR agencies to keep in mind when planning for clients in 2012.

 

Decentralized Social Media

I don’t need to stress the importance of social media to brands, because it should be obvious by now. However, the way we, as marketing consultants, view social media, is beginning to shift. Rather than a PR or social agency “owning” the management of a client’s social media channels alone, it needs to be a more integrated experience. Several departments (e.g. sales, product development, customer service etc.) should be collaborating in the social process for it to be truly effective and represent a company accurately. Social media in a silo will become a concept of the past.

 

More Sophisticated Measurement

Measurement is an increasingly important part of the job that not even the smartest communications professionals always take into consideration. But as clients with budgets big and small are looking more closely at their marketing and PR spends, we must continue to prove ROI if we want a seat at the table. As clients expect more from us, we’ll continue to seek out more effective and sophisticated ways to measure traditional media metrics and social media influence.

 

Increasing Importance of Mobile Marketing Campaigns

With the proliferation of smartphones and connected devices and the rapid growth of the applications market, it’s important for brands to stay in tune with their customers’ evolving habits. People are using their phones more than ever to help them shop, eat, play and socialize. To stay competitive, brands need to figure out where their customers are and how to engage with them in smart, creative ways because there’s certainly no shortage of competition for consumer mindshare in the mobile space.

I’m sure there are lots more things that we should be tracking as we plan for another exciting year. What are the big topics on your mind for 2012?