Digital in 2011

What to expect in 2011:
2010 brought many exciting changes and developments in the digital space. We wanted to take a look ahead to 2011 and get an idea of what we expect to see. Here are ten things we expect to see happen in 2011.

1. Mobile Tipping Point

Mobile is here to stay and that has not changed. What is changing, and quickly, is the adoption of smartphones. We expect large growth in this segment, based on a number of important events. Those events include the holiday season with incredible deals on smartphones, the pending sale of iPhone through other carriers (Verizon and T-Mobile), and the emerging tablet trend. As users get smartphones, their data requirements go through the roof and they require more and more mobile content. This is a call to advertisers that mobile is just about ready for Primetime.

2. Website Development is no Longer Website Development

Yes, you still need to build your website and make it user-friendly, easy to navigate and impactful, but it’s no longer just about the computer. Companies need to understand how people are using their website. Look at your analytics and see the rising trend of mobile and tablet users. Does your website experience translate to those device experiences? You must look at your website as a multi-platform tool and ensure the experiences translate accordingly. Think outside the second screen and look at all four screens.

3. Higher Spends in Digital

Digital budgets have been rising year over year. Advertisers see the importance and are enamored with the trackability of it. What advertisers are also beginning to see is the positive influence that digital has outside the performance targeted media. The realization that online actually is a branding vehicle is changing the way advertisers think about the medium. Imagine a place where you can brand and drive metrics. As this change occurs, so does the move from typical branding related media to online media.

4. Continued Growth of Social Media

The last two years has seen the rise of Social Media into an important channel for branding, sales and customer service. That trend continues as advertisers continue to jump into the space. The channel will evolve with metrics and tracking taking dominant roles to justify the effectiveness. The channel will bring even more engagement as advertisers try to break free from the message clutter. This will result in even more involved campaigns, highly designed experiences and the continued trend of focusing media towards the channel.

5. The Dawn of Math Men and Women

Marketers and advertisers will demand more and more metrics as the channel continues to grow, and as an agency, we are constantly pushing the envelope on metrics because we want to understand exactly how our media is performing. It’s easy enough to keep the status quo, but a deep, thorough understanding of how and why things work will only help to make them work better in the future. The metrics we’re looking at for 2011 include attribution analysis across all media and sentiment analysis to conversion.

6. Rise of the Banner Ad

The banner never left…it’s just been in a strange state of limbo – meaning advertisers use it and see the value, but they just don’t give it enough credit. That is about to change. Going back to the notion of online as a branding vehicle – the advances in rich media, larger and more impactful ad sizes and better all around metrics – the banner is coming back. The caveat is that if you’re expecting search performance, it is going to be very difficult to match that. However, if you look at the channel as a whole, you will notice that the banner is effective in driving search and driving your business. Don’t discount it.

7. Changing Search Landscape

Search is going to go through some changes with none of them being negative, just different. Search usage will see a shift to mobile and Social Media with the same results, just in different platforms. There will be the continued integration of Social Media and the open graph. This will make search much more personal and specific to the user. This brings up the changing role of SEO and the need to be much more targeted and specific. Broad targets are good, but now it’s about being local and being personal.

8. Video Content Becomes Even More Important

Video online is usually said in the same sentence as YouTube. Online video will continue its breakthrough and become an important way for advertisers to get their messages across. It allows for storytelling and more in depth information. Online video will also become more than just YouTube video, but the reality is that online users are watching TV and movies online. Bandwidth usage will continue to rise and opportunities for advertising will grow as publishers find ways to monetize the medium.

9. Geo-location Moves Product

Geo-location (or the ability to pinpoint where you are using GPS on your phone) had huge increases in 2010. In 2011, we will see the continued growth, with this growth starting to show opportunity for retailers and businesses. Using apps and services like FourSquare, Facebook Places, Gowalla and shopping apps, retailers will jump on this channel and use it to drive business for their locations.

10. Digital Creative Drives Offline

Creative ideas span all mediums, but typically the idea is thought of in an analog world. Digital ideas tend to be more interactive and drive another level of engagement. We will likely see digital ideas weave themselves into larger ideas that span offline media. As always, great creative will be great creative; the only difference will be whether it’s coming from a digital idea or an analog idea.