Rhythm’s 2012 Digital Marketing Forecast

2012 is just around the corner and it’s that time of year when we reflect on what has transpired over the past year and attempt to predict what the future has in store for us. So to get right to the point, here are some predictions for 2012.

•    The Internet will blow up, causing a global cataclysm of epic proportions.
•    People’s lack of Internet access will cause them to mutate into zombies that raid strip malls and consume everything in sight.
•    Aliens will appear in the nick-of-time, hooking our planet into the galactic Internet.
•    Upon appearing as our saviors (the aliens) with the galactic net, once everyone is jacked into their matrix, they will turn on us and we will become slaves inside a digital universe.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the 2012 end-of-the-world play. On a more serious note, here are some actual predictions for the digital marketing landscape in 2012.

•    Social Media Consolidation. People will start to get a little burned out on so many social media tools and options. Facebook will continue to dominate on the consumer side and look at LinkedIn to completely dominate the B2B social landscape. The biggest players will start to gobble up the little guys (it’s already happening). Specific players will rise to the top and will start to be recognized as best-in-class.

•    Apple will crush it. Despite the passing of Steve Jobs, Apple will continue to gain market share and completely dominate the tablet market. Apple devices (desktop, laptop, phone and tablet) account for approximately 25% of email clients in use today. This is a big indicator on how Apple is winning the hearts and minds of consumers and professionals alike.

•    Marketers will continue to allocate larger percentages of their budget towards digital marketing. This has been an ongoing trend but in 2012, digital will finally get a fair share within the marketing mix.

•    Marketers will start to demand competencies in an integrated approach. The pain of managing so many different vendors will become overly burdensome, especially with the explosion of social media vendors.

•    Marketing automation will be in great demand as marketers develop customer lifecycle communication programs. Email and social media will be major components in these programs.

•    As shopping centers struggle to compete in the physical world, e-commerce will continue to experience double-digit growth.

•    Daily deal sites will continue to flourish, but towards the latter half of the year, burnout will set in and more consolidation will occur. However, the precarious economy may stimulate ongoing growth in this sector if things do not improve by mid-year.

Those are my predictions for 2012. Oh, one more is that the interactive/Internet industry will become the backbone of the economy since everything else seems to be falling apart. Just kidding…well, kind of. Let’s hope things improve, but on a serious note, the digital economy will be a major driver of growth in jobs and commerce. Let’s all gear up for 2012, it’s going to be one incredibly interesting ride.

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