Steve Rubel and David Armano curate what Edelman sees as the key trends that clients and teams need to think about in the year ahead.

1. INSIGHTS @ EDELMAN DIGITAL
ELEVEN DIGITAL TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2011
CURATED BY STEVE RUBEL AND DAVID ARMANO
Photo by pumpkincat210

2. INSIGHTS @ EDELMAN DIGITAL
Ideas that inspire innovaKon

3. TREND #1: ATTENTIONOMICS
In 2011 marketers will begin to realize the value of aRenKon – and not
just reach and impressions – in driving conversion.
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4. BEST PRACTICE: LEVERAGE DATA AND UTILITY
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Scale your surface area
with digital embassies
• CapKvate aRenKon with
visualizaKons and games
• Fight content decay with
dayparted engagement
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5. TREND #2: DIGITAL CURATION
This is the age of the digital curator: those who can separate art from
junk. Some will be automated. Others will be powered by humans. And
a subset will uKlize the best of both.
Photo by chrisjbarker
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6. BEST PRACTICE: OWN YOUR ZONE
RECOMMENDATIONS
• IdenKfy under‐served
niches and meet them
• Frame up issues and
discussions; editorialize
• Make curaKon
collaboraKve and social
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7. TREND #3: DEVELOPER ENGAGEMENT
Photo by bugbbq
Developers drive innovaKon across all key pla`orms. MarkeKng leaders
will begin working with these stakeholders to scale their digital
programs and surface area.
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8. BEST PRACTICE: HELP DEVELOPERS WIN
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Make valuable assets
available to developers –
e.g. art, text, videos, data
• Build APIs and culKvate a
rich developer network
• Adopt developer creaKons
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9. TREND #4: TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING
If there's one constant in a world of change, it's that humans crave
stories. Technology constantly advances the art of storytelling and
creates new expectaKons. But it also help marketers connect.
Photo by felix_nine
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10. BEST PRACTICE: CONNECT THE DOTS
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Recognize that a narraKve
is no longer a whole
• Equip employees to tell
their own stories
• Hand‐crah your content
for each venue
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11. TREND #5: THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Companies will recognize that to stand out they must acKvate credible
individual expert voices who can propagate new ideas and engage in
meaningful conversaKons around them.
Photo by wallyg
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12. BEST PRACTICE: LAUNCH AN EXPERT HUB
RECOMMENDATIONS
• IdenKfy a cadre of internal
subject maRer experts
• Equip them in situaKonal
awareness and storytelling
• Fan them out across the
cloverleaf of media
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13. TREND #6: THE INTEGRATION ECONOMY
Social media efforts will no longer exist in fragmented, non‐formal
iniKaKves but will begin to integrate into more holisKc communicaKons.
Look for an increase in collaboraKon across departments to occur.
Photo by Rajesh Vijayarajan Photography
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14. BEST PRACTICE: CENTRALIZE PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGIES
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Set up a standardized
listening infrastructure
• Integrate & share
intelligence across enterprise
• Modify exisKng processes
and protocol
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15. TREND #7: UBIQUITOUS SOCIAL COMPUTING
We will connect wherever, whenever as compeKKon heats up in consumer
electronics space, ushering in cheaper and beRer mobile soluKons that
lessen our dependency on PCs.
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16. BEST PRACTICE: DESIGN FOR DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Plan content for mulKple
digital experiences &
pla`orms
• OpKmize for mobility, not
just mobile
• Combine social sharing
integraKon
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17. TREND #8: LOCATION, LOCATION, FACEBOOK
With tons of data, Facebook is well posiKoned to actually make locaKon
based services useful to business.
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18. BEST PRACTICE: BLEND LOCAL, SOCIAL, PHOTO & MOBILE
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Think “LoSoPhoMo:”local,
social, photo and mobile
• Combine real and digital
world engagement
• Reward with status
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19. TREND #9: SOCIAL MEDIA SCHIZOPHRENIA
Social overload is nothing new to tech mavens, but it will become
something that more and more “average” users experience.
Photo by DeaPeaJay
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20. BEST PRACTICE: MAKE SOCIAL PARTICIPATION EFFORTLESS
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Maximize the dominant
pla`orms and don’t get
overextended
• Keep it simple and
convenient
• Allow users to self select
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21. TREND #10: GOOGLE STRIKES BACK
Google could prove in 2011 that the best way to beat Facebook &
TwiRer is to do what they do best— index them to pieces.
Photo by sheeshoo
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22. BEST PRACTICE: INTEGRATE PAID, OWNED, EARNED AND SOCIAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Move beyond tradiKonal
keywords – think visibility
• Emphasize Google friendly
pla`orms (NYT, Yelp etc.)
• Produce regional, relevant
& high quality content
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23. TREND #11: VIVA LA SOCIAL WEB SITE
Aher several years of being told to “fish where the fish are” businesses
realize that integraKng social funcKonality into their web sites not only
helps them become more relevant, it’s what users increasingly expect.
Photo by turkinator
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24. BEST PRACTICE: MAKE SOCIAL ELEGANT
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Incorporate social data
from connecKons, friends
• Design for funcKon & form
• Be conservaKve on privacy
and explain the benefits in
clear human language
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25. edelmandigital.com
@edelmandigital
@steverubel @armano