Video: by far, video traffic has become the dominant application on the internet; and it is not just YouTube traffic, but TV shows, Ads, online training, and viral advertising. This does not mean that you have to get TV production capabilities anytime soon, but that you have to change up your business communication and use more videos, such as customer testimonials, store or business walk-throughs, product showcase, tutorial videos, explanation of how your services work, etc.
Social Business: with the exponential growth of adopting social media in consumer applications, there are major gains to be realized in the business context and application of social media, such as the traditional Public Relations (PR), Marketing, Services and support systems as well as the fields of customer ideation and crowd sourcing (i.e. engaging your clients at the product creation stage as opposed to the product distribution stage).
Cloud Computing: you’re probably tired of this term already, but it is a field that is still in its infancy. The next frontier for cloud computing is integration. As all these silos of cloud platforms, software, and services are emerging, those that will prevail will have the advantage of integrating with other providers and traditional software applications in order to provide seamless user experiences.
Mobile Computing: this trend is not slowing down any time soon. With the proliferation of mobile phones and tablets, your business needs to gear up and get ready for these emerging trends. Your website is where you should start. Make it mobile friendly and if you’re already advertising online (if you’re not, you should!), make sure you factor in the mobile segment in your ad buying strategies.
SoLoMo: that’s not texting language. It stands for Social, Local, and Mobile. If you watched the recent acquisitions, you probably noticed that many social powerhouses, such as Facebook and Google, are buying local and mobile start-ups in anticipation of new business trends, involving these three elements of online and offline marketing. Depending on your business and industry, you may want to gear up and explore these new marketing venues and opportunities.
* Some content used with permission from:Managed Newsletters. “January Edition” 30 December 2012 <http://managednewsletters.com/>
