5. Trends &
Opportunities
Technological Trends :
Enhanced Wireless Technology resulting in
an increase in the number of tablet and
Smartphone users
Image by Statista
5
6. Trends &
Opportunities
Time Spent in Social Media Sites
has increased
6
7. Trends &
Opportunities
Marketing Trends
Traditional Marketing is starting to
diminish
Marketing strategies are starting to
focus on users of wireless devices
Internet marketing has evolved to
content marketing
Business-to-Business (B2B)
marketers show confidence in Social
Media
7
8. Trends &
Opportunities
Mobile Commerce is on the rise
8
9. Recommendation
Social Media Networking sites
simply can no longer be ignored.
Because of the steady increase in
popular support for mobile devices,
social media and online
purchases, we should begin
concentrating our marketing efforts
in Social Media.
9
11. Works Cited
Blunt, Kenyon. "Top Ten Marketing Trends for
2012." Business 2 Community. Business 2 Community,
1 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 June 2012.
Cole, Devin. "6 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in
2012." Boston.com. NY Times Co., 10 Jan. 2012. Web.
14 June 2012.
"Forecast - Smartphone Users in the U.S. 2010-
2016." Statista. Statista, n.d. Web. 14 June 2012.
Hahn, Andreas M. "Motivations for Using Social
Networking Sites in 2011."Andreas M. Hahn Blog.
Andreas M. Hahn, 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 June 2012
Lake, Laura. "Marketing Methods and Trends - What's
New for 2012?" About.com Marketing. About.com, n.d.
Web. 14 June 2012.
11
12. Works Cited
"LinkedIn Top Social Site in Corporate
America." MarketingProfs. Marketing Profs. LLC, 24
May 2010. Web. 17 June 2012.
"Measuring the Digital World." ComScore. ComScore
Inc., n.d. Web. 16 June 2012.
Mershon, Phil. "How B2B Marketers Use Social Media:
New Research." Social Media Examiner. Social Media
Examiner, 24 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 June 2012.
"Technology Trends 2012." WiFiNotes. Web Tech., n.d.
Web. 15 June 2012.
"What Is Social Media?" Social Media Defined. Social
Media Defined, n.d. Web. 17 June 2012.
12
These are today’s agenda geared towards our proposal for the next steps in marketing for your company.We will first discuss the area in which we believe our marketing efforts should also be focused on – Social Media. To support this, we will show the current technological and marketing trends from which we can extrapolate opportunities which we can capitalize on.We will conclude with our recommendation and then open the floor for questions and discussion.
Social Media / Social Networking is a new form of media where the dynamics of communication and data / file sharing have been enhanced. (What Is)The icons shown represent just a fraction of the social media sites available right now. Among the most popular are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, RSS, Reddit, Google+, MySpace, Multiply, etc.These sites have their specific purposes. Some focus on the interchange of pictures (e.g. Multiply). Some act as a want ad for professionals (e.g. LinkedIn). Some are for simple chatting (e.g. Yahoo Messenger). And some have combinations of these and other functions.In short, Social Media is a platform for an exchange of ideas, information, videos, files, etc. across the globe.There is no discrimination on these sites as anyone of any sex, age, profession, religion, ethnicity, etc. are members of such sites.
Take note of the various motivations for joining social media. (Hahn)
The projected trend in wireless technology for mobile devices like tablets and Smartphones is on the upswing. (Technology Trends)Note the projected number of Smartphone users alone in the attached table. (Forecast)To date, there are 250+ million Americans who carry mobile phones. (Lake) Gradually, ordinary mobile phones are being substituted with smartphones, through which the internet and online commerce can be done.
Social Media is the new “Television”. From the graph, it should be noted that the time that social media members spend in these sites have been steadily increasing (Measuring)Note that this signals a significant increase and therefore can be considered the emergence of social media as a platform for whatever the television or radio has been providing (from videos / audio, to actual commerce – like iTunes). As TV viewers are now shying away from this media and shifting to Social Media, so too have marketing efforts been shifting.
Note that traditional marketing has started to decline. (Lake)It appears to be shifting to the internet and wireless device users. (Cole)Content marketing is fast becoming a cornerstone in the internet. (Blunt) While the traditional content being shown in the company’s websites, third-party supporting sites like blogs and case studies are now being considered an integral part of marketing. Social media marketing is evolving from simple ads to providing content and customer support. The popularity of such sites seem to have been contributing to the companies’ sales.B2B marketers have a positive outlook in Social Media because of their past experiences. (Mershon) This is in spite of the fact that their “fan base” is significantly lower than those of B2C (i.e. Business-to-Consumer) pages. This means that there is a significant opportunity to take advantage of this established support for our products and promote these virally through these fans’ social networks.
Purchasing of goods and services through mobile devices have increased. (Measuring)It must be noted that this significant purchasing habits are being made on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, whose sales have also been going up. Both of these devices are constantly being used to access social media sites.
Given the increasing popularity of Social Media and the steady decline in traditional marketing in other media, we can no longer ignore the opportunities for focusing our marketing effort here. Statistics do not lie. Memberships in social media is on the rise, online commerce is also growing, mobile devices from which a significant portion of online commerce is being made, is also on the uptrend.
We have to consider also the specific Social Media site that our target members prefer to join. (LinkedIn) Since our products are geared towards corporate professionals, we should focus our efforts on the sites that they frequent. For our first phase, we will have to focus our marketing efforts in the top two or three sites that they join in order to capture as wide a range of them as possible. At this time, it appears that they have a very significant presence in LinkedIn, a substantial membership in Facebook and to a certain extent, in MySpace too. (Note that although Flickr is tied for 3rd with MySpace, it is a photo exchange site and we can include it in our second phase of implementation to include Flixster and Twitter).
These are the various resources from which our study was based on.
These are the various resources from which our study was based on.
The floor is now open for questions and discussions.
