While 2010 saw the emergence and popularization of a number of novel marketing techniques and devices, 2011 is expected to be the year businesses both large and small begin to grasp and make full use of these trends.
Last year, social media, search engine optimization and mobile hit the scene as marketing phenomena, but this year they will become marketing necessities.
While social media has already taken off to a certain degree, mobile marketing may revolutionize the field this year, as smartphone adoption continues to skyrocket, spurred by new developments in mobile payments technologies, tablet devices, cloud computing, 4G networks and other key advances.
In fact, last month, the Mobile Marketing Association projected mobile advertising to soar over next year.
"The global mobile advertising market is expected to grow to $13 to $14 billion in 2011, and Asia Pacific is expected to bring in the majority of this revenue, followed by North America and Europe," said Rohit Dadwal, managing director of MMA Asia Pacific.
Among other predictions, the MMA projects greater personalization of mobile marketing campaigns, such as SMS advertisements. In addition, the continually growing demand for free services will drive how marketers target their audiences.
What's more, location- and GPS-based services will also allow marketers to target consumers based on their proximity to a marketer's location, allowing retailers to target passersby with the immediate delivery of rebate offers, greetings or other services. The MMA report also projected that by the end of the year, 85 percent of mobile devices shipped will have web browser capabilities.
As economies worldwide begin to emerge from the recession, albeit gradually, small and medium-sized businesses in particular are expected to boost their spending on marketing in order to keep up with growing competition.
One marketing channel many small firms are already familiar with is social media, but businesses can expect presences on Facebook, Twitter and possibly even new networks such as Groupon and foursquare to become vital marketing practices.
The style of social media marketing will also continue to evolve, as businesses strive to keep up with consumers - especially younger generations - who are increasingly wary of business advertising and marketing strategies.
"The idea that you need tens of thousands of Twitter followers, blog subscribers, LinkedIn connections and Facebook friends to build your business via social media is dead," writes Susan Gunelius in Entrepreneur magazine. "Quality connections with those who are loyal to the business and the brand are far more helpful to spread your message than large groups of connections who disappear after the first interaction."
However, modern marketing does not imply digital marketing. Print, although in decline across most sectors, will remain an important aspect of businesses' promotional initiatives.
Especially as social media and mobile marketing dominate coverage of the evolving global marketing landscape, it remains as important as ever for businesses to adopt cross-channel initiatives that utilize everything from print newsletters to direct mail to mobile text alerts to email and, if possible, TV and radio.
"Cross-media campaigns present an opportunity to increase contact with customers across multiple touchpoints, enabling you to reinforce your message and keep your product or service top of mind," said Barb Pellow, a group director at market research firm InfoTrends. "While many have recognized this and begun to offer these capabilities, cross-media is a new and changing phenomenon."
Another recent phenomenon is that of "quick response codes," which are essentially barcodes that can store larger amounts of company, brand and product information. With photo-capable smartphones, users can snap a picture of a QR code and instantly be transferred to a website, email address, telephone number or any other communicational medium.
For small businesses, this revolutionizes marketing, as companies will be able to embed their print materials with these devices, providing a crucial bridge between print and digital.
