Many companies are now well into 2013 and have started to get into the grove, so to speak. New new opportunities and potential changes to the way companies operate have started to emerge, however the year is still young. The question many are asking is, “What tech based marketing trends can we expect in 2013?”
Here’s an overview of what we think will be the five biggest tech-marketing related trends of this year.
1. Increased mobile demands
With a crop of excellent, affordable and capable devices released this past year, it’s a sure thing that many of your clients will be getting new devices for christmas. This will result in an increased demand for mobile friendly sites that are simpler, lighter on text and more interactive. 2013 will be a good year to review your website and optimize it for mobile users.
2. Increasing local demand
With the increasing adoption of mobile devices many users are changing the way they use the Internet. Computers and laptops are increasingly being used for general searches while mobile devices are used almost exclusively for local searches. If you don’t have a local presence that’s optimized for local searches (e.g., Google Places) you will be missing out.
This ‘localization’ trend is referred to as SoLoMo (Social-Local-Mobile) and is the idea of businesses adding local information to their online platforms to capitalize on the increase of mobile users. 2012 has seen many companies begin to really use this by pushing locally oriented ads to mobile users. It’s highly likely SoLoMo will become even more integral in 2013.
A recent infographic from Monetate highlights the importance of SoLoMo and how mobile users shop. The most interesting finding in relation to local search is that many customers use their mobile device to find out what’s around them, and then will purchase either in-store or online. This trend should continue well into 2013.
3. Apps with better mobile ads
Let’s face it, smartphone users have gone app crazy. In the past few years many of the apps have come to include mobile ads shown to customers. Many of these ads aren’t targeted to the user, but this is slowly changing as ads that are shown are becoming more trustworthy and targeted. There should be an increase in both the number of click-throughs and apps through 2013 which means it may be the perfect time to either develop your own app or invest in app advertising.
4. Increasing adoption of new payment methods
The way customers pay for their purchases is changing. With the steady adoption of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, mobile payment systems like Google Wallet, and coupon systems like Apple’s Passbook, 2013 should see a shift away from paper and plastic to electronic.
This has already started with huge companies like Starbucks announcing they will be launching payment services provided by Square which allows for mobile payment. It’s not hard to see that 2013 will be a big year for mobile based payment.
5. More mobile marketing competition
With the general increase of mobile adoption it makes sense that 2013 will likely see more companies looking into mobile related marketing. This will make this medium a little more crowded and competitive. What this equates to is that companies should move to take advantage of mobile related marketing, or at the very least take steps to optimize their processes for mobile.
All signs point to 2013 being a year of mobile oriented advancements. Indeed, most of the customer/consumer oriented tech advancements of the past two years have almost been exclusively mobile oriented. Mobile adoption and the data that comes from the different advancements and trends should be something companies factor in when they are making operational decisions for the coming year. If you would like to learn more, please contact us.
