Top 10 Online Marketing Trends in 2012 – And How To Benefit From Them..

Wondering what this year has in-stored for you in terms of internet marketing?
Well… it may be a little difficult to analyze & forecast the present & future scenario because marketing trends are never static and keep fluctuating from time to time.  Old strategies of internet marketing seldom give results in the present era, however if you are able & willing to take a few risks and put your creative thinking in action, it might be possible to generate desired results.
An innovative & effective internet marketing strategy is like a bullet in a gun, if you aim it at the right direction, it is bound to hit the target and trigger the desired response from your audience.  Let us take a brief look at 10 most impactful and promising online marketing trends 2012:

1) Social Media marketing that targets overall demographics
If you think that internet is used extensively by adolescents & teens, think again. As per the recent statistical report, it has been confirmed that approximately 60% of internet is browsed by adults above the age of 30 on a daily basis for professional as well as personal use.
Social Media has become a significant aspect of the internet world so much so that every 1 out of 4 minutes spent online is utilized for browsing social networking websites like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter etc. Take a look at this whitepaper from the house of comsore.
This platform has not only become one of the most powerful means for people to connect with their friends but has also attracted massive market attention for branding & promotional content, mainly due to the magnitude of traffic that it encounters regularly. Internet population touring social networking websites are only expected to mount by the day.
This is precisely the reason why, you, as an online marketing professional must specifically focus on planning a powerful, creative and integrated social media marketing strategy that gets your brand/ product the right kind of attention from the target audience.

2) Content Marketing plan that simplifies your product to the customers

Face it… No one would buy your products & services unless you give them a reason to believe that this is the best deal they could ever have. Content marketing strategies that work towards highlighting the positives of the brand have optimum chances of survival & success in this industry.
Research studies have proven the fact that almost 90% of B2B Marketers use this particular form of online business promotion technique that sets their brand offerings apart from the rest of their competitors in the market. Before investing their hard earned money on a specific product or service, people always take relevant assistance from the internet for researching about the same.
A calculative & strategically designed content marketing plan is the best way to publish relevant information about branded goods & services to their target audience, thereby acquiring a desired response.

3) Customer Feedback that increases your brand value and reputation
This year customer opinion & recommendation will gain humungous importance in the world of online marketing. A potential customer’s decision on buying a specific product/service is majorly influenced by someone else’s testimonials about similar goods. Customer reviews therefore have massive impact on brand value and reputation. Anticipating this fact, several businesses have already incorporated a number of prospects for online customer feedbacks within their existing marketing scheme.
Potential buyers rely on Word of Mouth communication, which is why it would be an apt choice to build relevant forums that discuss the positives & negatives of your goods & services on different platforms including Social networking websites. This would be one of the most profitable ways of enhancing your brand’s profile credibility on the internet, thereby generating positive response.

4) User-generated Content that places your brand in the public eye
This marketing strategy received a smashing response when it was introduced last year by a few creative online marketing specialists. This year you will be seeing many more businesses incorporating User-generated Content as a part of their marketing strategy. User Generated content marketing allows users to exhibit the positives of a product through video sharing or depict their individual experience with the product in the form of a story.
If companies make it easier for their existing customers to avail relevant platform that promotes user-generated content, it would become much easier to influence the target audience positively. Check this out.

5) Online tracking of Purchase activity that supports your business marketing tactics
Google analytics site tracking system has always been extensively used for tracing and analyzing the customer’s purchase behavior with a specific brand. This year Google analytics tracking system will be combined with the brand’s search engine popularity in order to gain to obtain desired results.

6) Holistic approach to creating unique digital portfolios for your business/ brand
Up until a few years back, companies seldom took a creative approach to their digital marketing strategies. In 2012, several high-profile brands are expected to introduce a holistic line of attack which includes the finest strategies that combine digital media with online & offline marketing plans, thereby delivering the most lucrative response. Here’s an interesting write-up on the digital marketing trends for 2012.

7) Exploring the power of content & video blogs that inform potential customers about your products and services

Blogs tend to have a personalized touch to their message while informing internet users about specifications of various brand offerings. This is precisely the reason why most people prefer browsing/reading a blog rather than a formal article that carries details about a certain product/service. 2012 will see a major shift in the way businesses operate by using personalized video & content blogs to reach their customer base.

8) Adhering to conservative yet extremely powerful guidelines of SEO for business promotion
You might ask yourself,
Do I really need to follow to the same old SEO tactics to market my business in this era?
Well… the answer to this question is YES,
Regardless of being surrounding with a wide range of digitally advanced marketing solutions, SEO still remains one of the most resourceful & profitable tools to acquire the desired level of online visibility for your business. Therefore even the most sophisticated business promotion strategies are going to incorporate SEO tactics in order to attract their target audience.

9) Advanced E-mail Marketing options that attracts excellent leads

Small as well as large scale businesses have been incorporating the basic E-mail marketing techniques for ages to promote their brand name, but this year marketing media professionals are expected to take this particular strategy to the next level. Advanced E-mail marketing with the inclusion of sophisticated new features will definitely take the business world by storm.

10) Superior web presence that counts

Although it is important what you sell, what’s even more important is where you sell!
Businesses must consciously make an effort to select the right platform to advertise their products and services, failing which they might simply end up wasting time in approaching the wrong people for buying their products. This is precisely why the web presence of a particular brand holds immense significance. Internet Marketing professionals are expected to get a move on this particular trend in 2012, by advertising and promoting their brand on high-traffic websites that would certainly end-up profiting their business.
Well, what’s your take on the online marketing trends in 2012? Send in your views and comments. I will eagerly look forward to reading your comments.