Digital Marketing in 2013

As the end of the year approaches, all forms of media are doing one of two things: either they are compiling their “Best Of…” lists for the past 12 months, or they’re looking to the New Year, seeking to divine what lies ahead. In the case of digital marketing, you hardly need a crystal ball to see what the biggest noise is going to be in 2013 – the rise and rise of mobile marketing.

Mobile Marketing

Mobile Marketing

Exponential growth awaits!

It is no exaggeration to say that mobile marketing is the single biggest factor that will be dominating online marketing over the next year – it would be foolish to claim otherwise. The evidence is already all around us: the majority of online shopping already takes place from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, while these devices themselves are becoming ever more affordable and sophisticated. You will find exhortations to ensure your messages and sites are mobile-optimized at the heart of all current digital marketing advice, and it’s advice that’s well worth listening to.

Building on a firm foundation

While mobile marketing is going to take off like never before next year, it’s also the case that it has been established for some time now, with most marketers incorporating some kind of strategy for the mobile demographic into their overall game plan. However 2013 will see mobile technology become more advanced and powerful than ever before – presenting marketers and companies with huge opportunities to get their message across and make those all-important conversions. Whereas in previous years mobile marketing was a string to your digital marketing bow, in 2013 it will be the cornerstone of most strategies

So what are these new opportunities?

With online marketing increasingly focused on targeting the right demographic groups in the right places, location services are going to be a great mobile-based opportunity in 2013. Almost all mobile devices have a GPS transmitter that tracks where users are when they post online, as well as allowing users to ‘check in’ at certain locations. Both of these features create opportunities for marketers – such as offering discounts for customers that check-in and allowing all other marketing and advertising to be far more closely and accurately targeted, including building more accurate profiles of your site users and customers.

One-touch payments

Next year will be the year that it becomes as effortless to pay for items offline with mobile devices as it is online, thanks to near field communication (NFC) technology. This system allows devices to send their data to a reader in a similar fashion as modern “one-touch” Visa cards. Users get to pay for their goods with their phone and marketers gain the opportunity to create more discounts or special offers that take advantage of NFC. The challenge for marketers is to make the most of a feature that customers will find convenient and to associate that feature with your company.