Alterian predicts a new decade of
marketing trends
Social media monitoring, customer engagement and
analytics take centre stage in 2010
London, UK – 15 December 2009 – Alterian (LSE: ALN), a leading
international integrated marketing platform provider, has released
their 2010 forecast into the changing marketing trends for the next
12 months and beyond. These are focused around more effective ways
to engage and communicate, as well as the importance of measurement
and accountability as companies are under increasing pressure to
show value for their marketing spend in a downturn. The
predictions highlight that the right marketing software will be
critical for business survival and to continue to drive
productivity through the turbulent times. Social Media Monitoring
and Web Analytics will become central in measuring the Return on
Investment (ROI) of relationship-based online strategies.
David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian said, "The recession has been
the catalyst for highlighting the importance of online monitoring
and analytics for marketers. More and more consumers are sharing
information about brands online so when once upon a time an
unsatisfied customer would tell their neighbour, now they can tell
the whole world in seconds. Advancements in technology have
turned consumers from passive observers of brands into active
participants who are shaping brands. The other challenge for
marketers is the ever deepening consumer cynicism towards corporate
behaviour and messaging, and both these factors are forcing the
emergent role of the marketer. Smart businesses are listening
to the conversations their customers are having, where these are
happening and engaging in conversations with consumers on an
individual level to add value in real time.
Interruption-based mass marketing that simply shout
messages blindly to customers is not only ineffective but hugely
damaging."
"However you cannot simply stop there - the next logical step
after engagement is acting on the information acquired on your
audience. Building customer databases are pointless if you
don't manipulate this data to help plan successful marketing
campaigns in the future. Engagement is key, but those businesses
that ignore the final stage of measurement and analysis will not
survive."
At the end of 2008 Alterian encouraged businesses to focus
marketing investment through the economic downturn on areas of high
return rather than cut costs across the board. This year marketing
has become the life blood for every business, as marketers compete
to connect with their audiences on an individual level. It
was predicted that marketing activities would be increasingly under
the microscope throughout 2009 and marketers would be held
accountable for their success or failure.
The trends outlined at the end of 2008 will remain important
into 2010 but as social media has really started to take hold, and
online monitoring tools and analysis will come of age in the new
decade. The industry will continue to move at an ever-increasing
pace and as we emerge from the recession there will be a hunger to
discover new and exciting things to attract, engage and convert
consumers, first. The top ten marketing trends for 2010 are
as follows:
1. Social media will move towards ubiquity:
IDC survey data shows more than 50% of worldwide workers are
leveraging the free, public social media sites like LinkedIn,
Twitter and Facebook for business today. Rather than being hype it
will simply become normal and part of the everyday mix that works
alongside email as a principle form of communication online.
2. Companies will have a social media
policy:
As social media continues to integrate into the marketing and
business mix, formal rules of engagement will become more
widespread. Many companies are likely to come up against conflict
when they try to extend their social media efforts across the
board. There will be a need for a significant culture shift in
order to overcome these barriers. As social media continues to
raise its profile amongst corporate divisions, more companies will
invest in Social Media specialists to guide their efforts both
internally and externally.
3. Doing more with less:
This has been the mantra for all businesses throughout 2009 but
will continue through the adoption of analytics and marketing
software. Marketing departments are under increasing pressure to
improve effectiveness and efficiencies with marketing campaigns,
and also to achieve more, all with decreased budgets. 2009 was
about how to make your business machine run harder and faster in a
bid to stay competitive in a downturn, where consumer spending is
in decline or being replaced by reason to buy at all. This
will now convert into the need to not only prove the value of your
products to consumers but also the value of your marketing
strategies as a whole.
4. Data analysts will become hot property for marketing
departments:
Introducing analytics, or better analytics means empowering
marketing with intelligence about their customers and prospects, so
they can more rapidly, and more accurately, identify the hidden
value in their customer and prospect databases. Analyzing the
operational efficiency of every marketing department and taking
action as required also means a marketing dividend can be realised.
This can either be used to increase marketing spend or to maintain
marketing spend if budgets are reduced; in essence, do more with
less.
5. Measurability of marketers/measuring
ROI:
At a time of economic uncertainty, more companies look to
uncover cost savings or serve customers more effectively through
leveraging social technology. However, the increased pressure from
the boardroom to justify marketing spend, or time investment, means
that marketing departments have to show value by measuring ROI.
6. Getting access to customer data:
This has become more possible with the introduction of social
media platforms, but gaining access to the right data, the right
channels and the key sentiments about your brand requires effective
online monitoring software. Social Media offers the perfect
opportunity to revolutionise CRM tools and build true customer
engagement programmes that are bespoke for each individual
consumer, thus helping to deliver ROI.
7. The necessary technology for effective
marketing:
Companies without the right monitoring, reporting, analytics and
execution software are companies without a future. With the
increasing importance of the internet for businesses, online
marketing and monitoring allow effective one on one engagement that
shape successful and focused marketing campaigns.
8. Integration of platforms and processes will be
critical:
There is a proliferation of things to monitor, measure and
manage, making it very difficult and time consuming for marketers
to pull together the overall picture for integrated campaigns.
There will therefore be a move towards single integrated software
platforms so that campaign planning and management are integrated
with web and email.
9. Recalibrate marketing for engagement:
Brands focus on content but with publishers desperate to protect
revenues by charging for content, brands will increasingly look to
develop content strategies that bring value to their
customers. Social Media Monitoring will be the key weapon for
brands building these strategies.
10. Consumer empowerment:
Brand value will be influenced more and more by the consumer,
making it more important than ever for a brand to have measures of
authenticity that will aid in brand differentiation and consumer
engagement – you can no longer rely on your brand name as you once
did. Organisations are being increasingly judged by their actions
and willingness to involve customers, visibly.
About Alterian
Alterian (LSE: ALN) empowers organizations to create relevant,
effective and engaging experiences with their audience that help
build value and reinforce commitment to their brand, through the
use of the Alterian
Integrated Marketing Platform. Alterian drives the
transformation of marketing and communications, making it practical
and cost-effective for companies to orchestrate multichannel
engagement with the individual.
Alterian's unprecedented integration of analytics, content and
execution through industry leading tools, such as the Dynamic
Messenger email platform, SM2 Social Media Monitoring platform and
the award winning Content Management solutions, enables companies
to build integrated communication strategies which create a true
picture of the individual.
Alterian works with marketing services partners, system
integrators and agencies who recognize the need to plan and deliver
coordinated customer engagement services in partnership with their
clients. For more information about Alterian, products within the
Alterian Integrated Marketing Platform or Alterian's Partner
Network, visit www.alterian.com or the Alterian
blog at www.engagingtimes.com.
For more information, contact:
Matt Lambert
Bite Communications
+44 (0)20 8741 1123
matt.lambert@bitecommunications.com
Karen Gibbons
Alterian
+44 (0)117 970 3200
karen.gibbons@alterian.com