As the year comes to an end, with more sales online on Cyber Monday than in physical stores on Black Friday, I see 5 key trends that a CEO needs to plan for in 2012:
Key Trend 1 – Mobile is here and is being adopted faster than any new technology in history
While you can debate whether or not an Ipad should be considered a Mobile device (I do due to the portability and touch screen), the adoption of smartphones and the move of information consumption and buying from computers to mobile devices is staggering. The Ipad is less than 2 years old, yet there will be 50 Million in use in the US by the end of the year. Smart Phone penetration is over 44%, and this Holiday season over 15% of online purchases were made on a mobile device, over three times last year. The one millionth mobile app was released last week, a ten-fold increase from 2 years ago. 7.5 Million QR codes were scanned between Thanksgiving and December 4th this year, and 65% of smartphone users used their mobile device to find a business and make an in store purchase. Amazon offered a $5 credit if you used their Price Check app to scan a bar code in the store before a purchase. And 20% of all emails are now opened on a mobile device. Whether you are a physical retailer, a B2B company, a service provider, or a wholesaler/manufacturer, the accelerating pace of mobile adoption, which is a historical trend that seems to be following a Moore’s law type of pace, means that you can’t afford to wait to see how mobile sorts out. At a minimum, you need to have at least a test and learn mobile strategy in 2012 or risk falling behind competitors.
Key Trend 2 – Digital customer engagement (formerly social media) will generate lead generation and have measurable sales impact
While Digital Customer Engagement (which ranges from Facebook to Customer Reviews to B2B blogs) has been an emerging factor for the last several years, 2012 will be the year it becomes trackable to measure true business impact. Whether it is leveraging LinkedIn groups and data to generate appropriate B2B leads, adding ratings and reviews to lift conversion rates, or starting a referral or loyalty program to enable your biggest fans to sell for you, it is critical to have a plan to leverage digital customer engagement to drive business next year. Mommy Bloggers are already making a good living by using their influence to market products and services to their readers, and 10% of people share their purchase on Facebook from the confirmation page of an E-Commerce site when that option is available. Finding a company or hiring a resource to help create a plan and track the results of digital customer engagement in 2012 will pay for itself if executed properly.
Key Trend 3 – Video, video, video (or whatever digital broadcasts should be called)
48 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, but more importantly video is playing a critical role in search and customer engagement. Whether it is online tutorials, product demonstrations, communicating key trends/whitepaper information, or just providing background information on a company or management, video will be an expectation of online customers in 2012. There is a reason television was the most dominant channel in terms of media consumption until the Internet recently surpassed it (due in large part to the consumption of television and movie content online). It is still the most powerful way to connect with a person in terms of a story or message, and the growth of animated videos to explain software as a service products has become standard (for a good example, check out http://www.hubspot.com). Unfortunately, a good online video (which shouldn’t be more than 2-3 minutes) can be expensive to produce, and not all CEO’s are comfortable in front of a camera. Think about how video can enhance your product message or create interest in your product and company, and get at least a few up in 2012.
Key Trend 4 – Data Management
The proliferation of online data, due to the power of cookie technology and increasingly powerful, cloud based servers which can crunch that data into actionable information, will be harnessed in 2012. Several companies are making inroads in terms of truly mastering online business intelligence, and we’ll see a standardization of dashboards based on business type and industry take hold by mid next year. While I don’t think we’ll see the “holy grail” of a dashboard documenting the business impact of all online and offline marketing efforts by the end of next year, we are getting closer. The key is not to just collect data, but to understand its implications and get recommendations on what actions to take to drive the business forward. Too many companies have collected multi-tab spreadsheets documenting traffic sources, on site activity, shopping cart abandonment, and customer purchase or engagement behavior without turning that data into insights. Next year, start with key business priorities and task internal or external analytics resources to figure out which data can be used to track those priorities and to provide insights on how to accomplish them. This should include a daily, weekly, and monthly dashboard with key trends/insights included to help manage and grow the business.
Key Trend 5 –The world is getting smaller
Quietly, the growth in cross-border purchasing and media/information consumption, particularly non-U.S. customers buying or interacting with U.S. based websites, has exploded. A typical U.S. business site gets 20% of its traffic from overseas visitors, and with credit cards and PayPal the payment vehicles of choice for the Internet, it is easy for an international customer to buy from a U.S. site. Cross border shipping is being figured out (check out i-Parcel.com as one example), as are translation services provided on a SaaS basis to translate your site on the fly (check out Smartling.com). Check your server logs or Google Analytics to see how much traffic is coming to your site from overseas customers. If your product or service has the potential for international distribution, 2012 is the year to start testing it.
Feel free to let me know your perspective on 2012 trends below.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
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