8 Trends Online Marketers Should Plan for in 2010

For many, there is lots of excitement in looking ahead to a new year.  2009 has been an exciting one, and 2010 will likely have lots of changes, filled with highs and lows, when we get there it will be fun to look back on as well.  I’m in the “excitement camp” when thinking about 2010.  Some might say it is just a manifestation of the entrepreneurial optimism disease, but I believe 2010 will be a breakout year for many… Perhaps even you?  As I was planning for the new year, I thought I’d put a summary together of the things I’ll be keeping my eye on.  Am I missing something, want to chime in, or are you opinionated? Join in with your own thoughts just below the post.

8 Trends Online Marketers Should Plan for in 2010

Google Will Continue to Mix it Up

With a rash of announcements earlier this month (discussed here) you can be sure they will continue to innovate and develop technologies to serve searchers relevant content and continue to organized the worlds information in 2010.  Things to look for?  I don’t have any “inside information” to share, but here are the areas I’ll be looking out for.

• New ways to reach mobile searchers
• More changes that will impact pay per click customers
• Better integration of Google maps with mobile phones (interesting to see how Garmin and Tomtom will respond)

Real-Time (Search) Becomes Prime-Time

Real-time search is something Google introduced earlier this month as well (read more here), and is certainly a huge part of their future.  Look for real-time search populating more search engine results pages near you in 2010.

Twitter Less Popular Yet More Critical

The popularity curve of twitter reached its peak in 2009.  2010 will have those who “get Twitter” stick with it and make it work for their business.  I think the user of Twitter and other social media should be held in balance with other priorities, but if Google is serving real-time results from Twitter (previous section) in their search pages, you know it must be worth looking at (for some a second time).  2010 won’t match the growth of new Twitter accounts as seen in 2009, but it will become more important and relevant for those who understand the value of such immediate results.

YouTube Grows in Features and Popularity

Google continues to develop this property, and may very well be on a course to make it a profitable venture in the near future.  2009 they offered the option to sync Google (Gmail/Friendconnect) accounts with YouTube accounts.  This not only helps tie everything together for social search, but also makes it easier for users who prefer to have one identity to tie all their social activities to.  Active Youtube users will continue to benefit in search results as they build social activity on Youtube.  Iin 2009 I found that traffic from YouTube.com out pulled Google search results nearly 3 to 1 (case study here), there is no evidence this trend won’t continue.  Look for tighter hooks into social sites from YouTube (already have “Autoshare” feature), and better tools for video publishers to get the word out.

Email Marketing Grows as an Essential Tool

Do you have a list?  Are you building a list?  Having an email list is essential for any online business.  There are many reasons to have an email list as a part of your email marketing strategy, perhaps I can share one concept here.  For those who are active in social media, when any of those services become unavailable (they aren’t perfect), you’ll here screams and sounds of horror on the social web, like when Twitter went down earlier this year.  As these services continue to become more critical, so does the impact of their downtime.  Don’t let those sites control your ability to communicate with your readers, build a subscriber list.  Not sure where to begin?  Consider any of these services here, or here (aff links), there is also a free version (entry level) for this service.

Making Your Site Easy for Mobile Readers

I recently read an article on SmallBizTrends.com from Lisa Barone on mobilizing your site.  She has some great tips and recommends services to help make your site prettier for mobile browsers.  I recently installed this WordPress plugin by the folks at Bravenewcode making MarketingProfessor.com easier to read for iPhone/iTouch/Droid users, they continue to upgrade the product, with a recent update supporting the latest version of WordPress.

Marketing Automation – Competitive Advantage

Leverage is the most powerful thing in business.  Technology is a tool to provide leverage.  There are many great tools out there to help online marketers leverage their content and value to the community in a personal but automated way.  Small business online marketers who invest, not only in the tools, but in the process of integrating the tools into their business to sell their products and services, will be in a position to leapfrog competitors.  Here is an account from earlier this year of how marketing automation is used with another site I operate.  Many get started with a less expensive service such as this one (aff link- pardon the audio).  If you don’t have tools in place, and have an online dimension to your business, consider subscribing to a service that makes sense for you.  If you have one, commit to integrating it’s use in your business.

Consistency and Discipline Remain Prized Virtues

The web can be an amazing place, it can also be a huge time waster.  Understand your enemy in the New Year, and strive to eradicate it.  Ideas on how to do just that can be found here, here, and here (goals).

What Say You? Lots of great opportunities in the new year, what is missing from this list?  What will you be particularly focused on?  Enter the discussion below.
(Photo: NdevilTV)