Online marketing and communications aren’t what they used to be. By that, I mean yesterday or the day before. Technology and innovation are advancing at a fevered pace and marketing communication is being rebuilt on a foundation of trust – whether we’re on board or not.
The rules of online social interaction have spilled over from our personal lives to define the new economy of trust in marketing and advertising. To reinforce this point, ABI Research reports that 78% of consumers polled trust peer recommendations as opposed to 14% who trust advertisements.
Knowing this, we have to embrace the social media model of opt-in, trust based interactions and drop the hard-sell. If we don’t, we take the risk of quickly becoming irrelevant. We can’t follow our old path of email marketing barely within the constraints of the CAN SPAM Act of 2003. What CAN SPAM was created to enforce is being trumped by the masses who pick and choose what and who they hear, ignoring the rest. CAN SPAM will be rendered moot when email becomes consumers least relevant tool in their arsenal of communication options. Social networking and mobile are the present and the future. We’ve been saying it for years but the coup is coming faster than even the most evangelical of us could have imagined.
ABI Research predicts that, utilizing technology, consumers will be 55 times more mobile in 2014 than they were in 2008. In one year, overall mobile web visits increased by 34%, Social Media sites overtook porn as the #1 destination on the web and Twitter alone grew 1,382%.
How can your organization move toward trust marketing and trust servicing and away from the push and pull of traditional efforts? How can your organization evolve to accommodate for the immanent influx of mobile consumers who will expect a mobile experience from you? Email will not go away any time soon, your website is just as important as ever (even more), and Facebook and Twitter won’t be the last, or the best option, in future years. Innovate with what is available and get your feet wet if you haven’t already. Don’t plan away 2010, do it!
