Five trends in marketing technology for 2011

As an agency, we’re in a great position to observe industry trends across clients. And things are changing fast! A critical part of our jobs as agency prognosticators is to predict the future (and help our clients get there before their competitors.) The science and art of marketing is changing faster than ever before, and here are a few key trends we expect to see in 2011.

5. Rise of marketing automation
It wasn’t that long ago that companies were just getting a handle on CRM and what that means. 2010 was the year marketing automation systems moved from “progressive” to “required.” The early adopters are already there, and in 2011 we’ll see businesses everywhere integrating new marketing tools into their processes. Startups and smaller companies will increasingly use tools like SurveyMonkey, MailChimp, Tinyletter, other cloud services. Look for enterprise marketing departments to be using Eloqua, Marketo, and others.

4. Mobile apps

It’s no secret that mobile apps have exploded, but 2010 was still a year of experimentation for many companies. New flash, mobile apps are here to stay. Companies must stop experimenting and accept that mobile is a critical part of the product mix. They must be built into product core and form a key part of the company experience.

3. Identity crisis for the corporate website
Traditionally, the corporate website has been a key player in any digital marketing strategy. But digital marketing is moving fast, and corporate websites aren’t keeping up. Innovative uses of digital media combined with campaign-specific microsites are greatly outperforming the old “banner ad click to corporate website” technique. It’s all about the ability to tell a cohesive story and, online, you’ve got to evolve your story over time to stay competitive.

Corporate websites work on a slower schedule, and while it works for core positioning brochure-ware, it’s not fast enough to play the digital marketing game.

2. Death of the fake opt-in
It’s a dirty little secret: Plenty of companies are still sending unsolicited email in an attempt to drive leads. They do so by purchasing “opt-in” lists from list aggregation companies, but how “opted-in” are these names, really? Typically, a clause in the fine print of a Terms of Use statement on some website says, “You agree to receive email from third parties” and puts that email address up for sale. Not really an opt-in.

Some typical numbers we see from email campaigns:

• Business Transactions ~25 – 80% response rate
  • Emails that are required for users to unlock value from their (paid) relationship with a company. (New account set-up, service alerts, expiration notices)
• Topical Opt-ins ~5 – 10% response rate
  • Emails that a user has specifically requested, about a specific topic, containing high value content. (Niche newsletters, member content, hot breaking news)
• Targeted Opt-ins ~1 – 2% response rate
  • These are emails sent to a group whose previous registration, opt-in or business relationship marks them as a contact with responsibility and/or interest in the topic area. The users didn’t explicitly ask for this information, but are generally interested in the area.
• Unsolicited Opt-ins ~0.0 – 0.3% response rate
  • Compiled lists, third party opt-ins, purchased names. These contacts have never heard of your company or product, and most are probably not interested.

When does the brand damage outweigh the handful of leads you get at a 0.3% response rate?

1. Social strategies become clear(er)

Social marketing is all the rage, but 2010 was still largely about experimentation, particularly for B2B companies. We’ve seen some clear trends pointing towards specific strategies that work, and in 2011 we’ll see those strategies codified into every marketing effort. Experimentation is still in order, but we’re starting to see a consistent stable of “must have” strategies emerge from the morass.

Alas, it’s doubtful we have a perfect crystal ball. That said, we love surprises. Can’t wait to see what new and delightful methods of communication emerge this year that we never even thought of!