Several digital trends impacting modern marketing

Technologies get attention, yet they"€™re fleeting suggests Steve Rubel in this presentation for Edelmen PR. I couldn"€™t agree more - remember MySpace, bought by Murdoch 5 years ago for £330m. And, only yesterday Google Wave went belly-up.

Rubel notes that trends develop more slowly and are timeless, and for this reason it"€™s the trends that we need to take note of.

So many "€˜new trends"€™ have been there all along, after all what"€™s really so new about social media - aside from the changing technology? Our desire to connect and share isn't new, and forums were one of the first web services online. Was that early social media or "€˜word of mouth"€™, both? So what trends are new according to Rubel...

I like the presentation - though several are pretty well explored already? If you're a trend follower you may also want to see McKinsey's Ten Tech Trends.

Here is my summary including some of those comments from people on the Slideshare site:

1 Marketing in the age of streams

• We"€™re bombarded with information so cut-through is difficult for brands, people need to hear a message several times for it to sink in - absolutely and this is not so new - I remember a guy teaching me about media buying and "€˜opportunities to hear"€™ (OTH) and "€˜opportunities to see"€™ (OTS) in 1997
• Rubel notes about employees becoming ambassadors for the brand, I think this trend has become really important, simply because so many technologies create the need
• Embrace multiplicity and diversity
• "€œUse the force"€ says Steve. Erm, not sure what that means? Cool pic though  🙂

2 Googlization of media - build a digitally visible business

• Quality content drives visibility. Content has always been king - the difference is now you need to market it to be successful - the idea of adding value, real value, at multiple touch-points through useful or entertaining content is central to success in gaining cut-through
• Social connection drives visibility, so appreciate that you need to fuel those connections as best you can with that content and allow your brand to add value, or simply entertain

3 The data decade: DIY insights and situational awareness

• This is a great point from Steve - the internet is information, it"€™s at your finger tips - check out the cheap apps that join the data dots for you, it"€™s never been so accessible
• Steve suggests we become "€œdata junkies"€ - I am not convinced when we agree there's already too much information, the Avinash Kaushik approach would remind that we focus on what is actionable and don"€™t let your day drift too much with the "€œinteresting"€ data
• Map networks and so map how to use them effectively

4 Business become social, social media expands into the fabric of business

• From communications, to how consumers become co-creators and employees become advocates - it requires a plan and some organization
• Convert empowered individuals to empowered groups and collectives, for example crowd-sourcing around innovation initiatives
• Encourage employees to advocate responsibly and prepare them for public engagement. Probably worth remembering that social media is not one department - it is cross company so it"€™s not just the marketing team

5 Location, location, location

• This is really key from Steve. "€œWhere are you"€? is the new "€œWhat are you doing"€? as mobile and the new "€˜local"€™ dimension come together. Popular platforms are critical to mass adoption and we"€™re seeing this with Foursquare
• Physical meets digital so integrating the real with the digital is going to be key, bring people together locally. Think gaming, reward participation and loyalty

6 Private becomes public

• Facebook loosening privacy and GenY advancing in the workforce realises that what was private becomes public - or at least has significantly more chance of becoming so
• We have to be sensitive to more data becoming available as individuals are responsible for their own privacy - and this is very new. An interesting comment on the presentation at Slideshare was made by Ilina Kuriashkina who said that it"€™s the technology that needs to mirror or real world relationships where close friends are not lumped in the same network as professional relationships, forcing people to also censor what they say, what they share and what they like
• There"€™s are a lot more to think about. Rubel suggests we prepare for public engagement, create rules for participation, monitor conversations and assume all interactions are now public

7 It"€™s about niche"€™s

• You"€™re talking to real people not a mass audience, so be authentic and have a passion for what you do - that stuff shines through
• In terms of cut through you have to have a great product, embrace feedback and innovate publicly
• Love what you do and inspire that passion in your customers. Gary Vaynerchuck seriously shows us this with Wine Library TV - I also saw this (much calmer) video recently which made me smile, too - a reminder of the power of niches and passionate people in business

8 Rapid integration of technologies

• Though we"€™re saying it"€™s not about technologies, it"€™s about trends, an important technology trend now is how open and interoperable technologies are becoming, increasing the speed in which new ideas proliferate and how fast trends such as "€˜private-public data"€™, or "€˜location"€™ come to light

So, what do you think? Are there key trends that you would add, or change?