When it comes to marketing your business, are you staying open to the latest trends? Are you adjusting your strategy to incorporate them? Not every trend will be right for every business, but there may be new developments that can take your business from humdrum to hot.
Check out the social and technological trends that are happening and decide what’s best for you:
Social Trends
According the latest data, the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing segment of the US. This population represents approximately 25% of new births so expect them to have an impact on your future business. Businesses will accommodate this fast-growing market with more localized websites and localized online marketing.
Video
According to Comscore.com, over 78% of the US internet audience views online videos and you’ve probably noticed more video blogs. You’ll also see both online and mobile-based video especially with new improved phones.
Mobile and Text
With nearly 50 million people in the U.S. accessing the web on a mobile device now, some researchers predict that by 2014 over 20 billion mobile applications will be downloaded yearly. While there’s been a lot of hype about mobile use for years, the mobile web market is here. Start planning now on how this technology will change the way you communicate with your customers and leverage this technology.
(My Virtual Assistant was proofreading this article and snickered as she viewed it from her digital phone! How people get work done is rapidly shifting!)
Targeted Marketing
With massive online traffic overwhelming the inbox, there will still be a market for regular mail but it is expected to be used to develop relationships with prospects you’ve already met and as part of a follow up to business you’ve already secured.
Just a little over two years ago, marketing became more social and 2009 saw the social elements of marketing accelerate. Social media went from being on the cutting edge, to approaching the mainstream with word-of-mouth relationships.
Businesses realize they need a social online media marketing strategy and will want to make sure they target the right social media platforms for their specific target market.
Authentic Marketing
People want to know the people they are doing business with. The logo will continue to play a much less central role than it did years back especially for the small business owner. Customers want to see a face so they know who they are dealing with before engaging services.
Business people are connecting one-to-one through social media sites and this activity will continue.
Consider these ideas to take advantage of these trends:
• Using video to record testimonials from your satisfied clients is only one way to add value to your prospect’s experience. Give your business an added boost for your visitors. Invite your customers to videotape themselves using your products. Have a jewelry store? Show the latest wedding proposal on your Facebook site. Have a restaurant? Show a short video on your YouTube page of customers enjoying their special occasions at your place.
• Use your real name on sites like Twitter.com. People like to do business with people they know, like and trust.
• Conduct market research with your customers to find out what’s really important to them. Use free tools like Google docs or SurveyMonkey to collect your data. For larger companies, you may want to use more robust analytics, like Infotool-online.com to get to the root cause of your customer (and employee) wants and satisfaction.
• Membership sites are great ways to work with your customers and are in line with the trend of creating an online community. While consultants, coaches and financial service providers use membership sites to educate their clients and provide special online events, a growing trend is among restaurants and jewelry stores who use memberships to successfully even out cash flow and consistently entice customers with special member benefits.
Savvy entrepreneurs who continuously grow their businesses keep track of these trends and engage their creative thinking to see how the trends can be applied in their own unique businesses.
What creative marketing are you doing? Share it!
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Lisa Mininni is President of ExcellerateAssociates.com, home of The Entrepreneurial Edge System showing entrepreneurs how their prospects find them, choose them, and buy from them. Get tips, techniques and resources to grow your business at www.freebusinessplanformat.com
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