Six Interactive Marketing Trends or Organic WOM
According to Forrester Research 2012 will the year of advanced interactive marketing, with related spending forecasted to grow to over $61 billion.
Here is a breakdown of the six trends and associated spending Forrester has identified:
- Search marketing spending will reach $25 billion.
- Conversational marketing will be the next generation of social media marketing.
- Social media will drive emerging channels to $10 billion.
- Spending on display advertising will increase to $14 billion.
- Spending for online video ads will increase 72 percent to $7.1 billion.
- Service and integration will drive email marketing spending to $4 billion.
- Mobile marketing is predicted to only grow to $2.8 billion.
And technology predictions support these trends. For instance, the total market for business VoIP and IP VPN services will grow from $6.4 billion in 2006 to $15 billion in 2012, according to "Business VoIP Revolution 2007-2012: The Opportunity. The Market. The Players." – a new study by ATLANTIC-ACM (metrics2.com blog).
But what will the marketing landscape look like in the event we lose the battle for net neutrality? Will these marketing spending figures have to revised dramatically upward? Does print advertising experience a surge? Do walking billboards make a big comeback? Or is everyone really prepared to let service providers not only dictate what we see but who gets to be visible online…and pay a hefty bill for the “privilege”?
As consumers, as marketers, as companies that service or sell through the Internet, we all should consider the consequence of leaving this decision in someone else’s hands. Then again, is the greenest approach to return to the original WOM, as in you tell somebody and they tell somebody and so on and so forth? If we’re already returning to the days of homegrown vegetables, line clothes drying, clothes made of natural/sustainable materials, eco-friendly energy sources, simpler lifestyles, is it far-fetched to consider a return to organic communications (of course, that means we would have to actually meet face to face)? Say, anybody want to be the first to launch a town crier service?
To find out about the issue of net neutrality, check out this link http://savetheinternet.com/=faq
You raise some great questions, Ardith.
I think social media IS word of mouth. There's a lot of emphasis on the conversational aspect of blogs and other social media, but I think many of those conversations are more like a crowd of people in a room shouting out monologues.
The true word-of-mouth power of social media comes from energizing influencers and thought leaders to spread your message for you. Blogs, social networking sites, et al. are just tools to build relationships with these influencers.
Are you on Twitter yet? It's a great tool for networking, promoting your blog, sharing useful content with others, and spreading your message downstream.
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Hi there Scott,
Thanks so much for your feedback. In reply, yes, social media drives WOM in a ginormous and powerful way. And yes, I am with Twitter. My point with this entry is to raise questions about net neutrality and what we may forfeit if we lose that battle. What are the consequences for social media and digital word of mouth? Does the cost become prohibitedly expensive? Does the democracy of WOM suffer if service providers have sway over who or what is visible online? These and more questions come to mind. What are your thoughts about it all?
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Ardith, I really love where you're going with this. And, yes I will go back to the organic way of communications if the so called "Business VoIP Revolution 2007-2012" takes over. What has made the web what it is today is that it's a free medium to publish, search, connect, and find information. If they take that away, I strongly believe we, the people, will band the Internet. I agree WOM comes from influencers and having something really worth talking about ie. having an extraordinary product/service/social medium. Since these influencers are such an important part of Web 2.0, 3.0, technology revolution, etc. where would the ads be? If they are gone, so will smart ad spending. We won't be online if the web evolves away from it's natural destiny of combining new technologies, businesses, and people. I don't think it will happen. And if it does, these people are really ignorant.
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So very, very well said, Christine. Thank you, Ardith
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