So here's my roundup of the trends and developments in marketing that have happened since last year that you and your small business need to know about.
Mobile. When thinking about new changes in marketing, the most important word to remember is mobile. More than half of Americans (56%) now own a smartphone. And in the last year alone, the number of U.S. adults who own tablets -- like iPads, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Google Nexus -- has nearly doubled, so that now over a third (34%) own a tablet (from only 18% in 2012). (Source: Pew Internet & American Life, 2013).
In fact, more people open their email on a smartphone than they do on their desktop or by going to "webmail" through a browser. Forty-four percent of email is opened on a phone in comparison to only 33% opened on a desktop and 23% through a webmail server through a browser such as Gmail. (Source: Litmus, 2013)
What this means is that your online marketing messages – whether a website, an email message, a web ad -- must be optimized to be readable and look good on a phone, not just on a website. Design all your digital marketing messages to be read first and most often on a phone.
Advertising on social media. Facebook. Twitter. Pinterest. While you may think of these sites as ways to keep in touch with people you know, they're actually still businesses and they have to generate revenue.
You have lots of ways to advertise on Facebook. You can pay to make certain that more of your own friends and followers see your posts (and yes, that's right – if you don't pay, not all of! your followers will see all of them). You can pay to have the friends of friends see your post. You can pay for a banner ad on the side. Or you can pay Facebook to place your posts in front of people who appear to have certain interests (hobbies, sports, music, celebrities, and so on) that you want to target.
Twitter is also happy to take your money to help you gain followers or get a message out. You can pay to promote your Twitter feed and gain more followers or to promote a specific post to get the word out.
Trending and new social media sites.
-- Instagram. Right now this picture-taking app -- designed for the phone, not for the Web -- is the hot site. If you sell something visual, start snapping.
-- Vine. What can you capture in a video that's no more than 6 seconds long? Apparently quite a lot. This app continues to grow in popularity.
-- Houzz.com. Coming on strong is this Pinterest-like site focused solely on home decor and improvement with more overt emphasis on sales.
-- Flipboard. Created for aggregating content on topics, Flipboard has recently launched a service enabling individuals to create their own "magazines," share them and gain followers. Watch to see if this takes off as a social sharing site.
-- LinkedIn. More important than ever, this site is especially important for B2B marketers. If you are looking to sell professional services (as well as find a job), make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete and flattering.
New-referral sites.
-- Uber, Airbnb, TaskRabbi. Call them part of the sharing economy, the trust economy, whatever -- what started as ways for individuals to sell unused extra space, capacity, time, and the like have become -- in essence -- referral sites for small and micro-businesses.
-- Local mobile delivery. There's a gold rush going on to become the dominant provider of same-day delivery service by some big players, including Google Shopping Express, eBay Now, Amazon Local Express Delivery. In a few larger! cities, ! these services present a new way for small businesses to be found by shoppers who need something now.
Rhonda Abrams is president of The Planning Shop and publisher of books for entrepreneurs. Her most recent book is Entrepreneurship: A Real-World Approach. Register for Rhonda's free newsletter at PlanningShop.com. Twitter: @RhondaAbrams. Facebook: facebook.com/RhondaAbramsSmallBusiness.Copyright Rhonda Abrams 2013.
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