Top 7 Marketing Trends for 2011

The year 2011 has begun and is going to be a transition year in more than one ways. Marketing is going to be redefined this year. Here are seven trends that I expect to dominate this year. Let’s begin.

I know some of you are thinking that content is overrated.

Far from it. Google has built its entire empire on content. Worldwide, Internet users are growing in numbers, not decreasing.

More internet users will consume more content. But wait a minute, there’s more to it. They are prosumers – consumers as well as producers of the content.

Content will be abundant. Content will be the true asset on the internet. Of course, quality of content will matter more.

While the young generation will consume more content, the consumption will move from desktops and laptops to PDAs and other more mobile devices.

The content will need to be designed to meet this specific need in mind. People will begin to share their thoughts in real time, almost as soon as a thought is generated in their mind.

Yes, traditional marketers will have to bite the bullet and accept the fact that they will have to invest time and money in social media.

More and more consumers will not only read stories about their brands on social media, they will also share their stories there.

While it is difficult to say whether the big three – YouTube, Facebook and Twitter will continue to dominate 2011, I am very confident that social media will strengthen its position. Twitter is likely to lose its dominance. So will Facebook. We are already seeing the signs of this trend.

There will be a more simplified and specialised form of social media websites that will emerge as a trend.

Again, this is something you may have heard for awhile, and you will continue to hear this beyond 2011. There will always be certain industries and products where one of the two approaches will work more effectively.

I am not making a statement specific to a product or industry. Internet will make sure that more and more content is created and consumed. As a result, it will be very difficult for content-creators to stand out in the crowd, unless they choose a very specific niche, and go deep in it.

Sometimes, it makes sense to be a big fish in a small pond that a small fish in the sea.

“Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” Henry Ford’s words became famous and came to symbolise the monopolistic market of the early 20th century.

We have come a long way since. This year we will see that the consumer voice will become stronger. Companies will get feedback almost instantaneously. And customers will share their stories with each other in real time.

As a fallout, only those companies that can keep listening, proactively engage with customers, be part of this three-way conversation, and rapidly adapt their offering will come out as winners.

With growing democratisation of information and information channels, media and corporates can no longer control news.

Even in countries like China, where major social media sites are banned, Internet users have found their local alternatives.

Companies will need to be more honest with their customers.

If there was a time to cut all the PC and BS, that time is now.

With growing democratisation of information and of information channels, the brand noise will be louder than last year.

With everyone talking, who will listen? Brands will only increase their volume in an attempt to get heard.

Customers will get more immune to the constant bombarding of marketing messages.

In such a noisy environment, the quality of conversation will separate winners from the crowd.

Brands that make even marginal efforts to listen to their customers will get a strong competitive edge.

Listen more.