The Year Ahead in Digital Marketing

2011

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Executive summary

The year 2011 promises to be a landmark one for digital marketing industry, withthe industry coming to terms with a raft of legislative, technical and economicchanges that look set to make a fundamental impact on the sector.Legislative change will strike in March, when theAdvertising Standards Authority plans to expandthe Committee of Advertising Practice to coverthe digital sector. The precise details of how thiswill affect online advertisers are yet to emerge,but PPC, Display and websites themselves look certain to be affected by expansion of theregulations.While discussion over its practical implicationswill dominate much of the year, the change willresult in a tougher approval process for PPC &Display creatives following ASA’s code of conduct launch. Digital marketers will need tobe careful of the competitive claims they make,ensure that quoted prices are inclusive of VAT and other added charges, provide limited stock warnings and cope with increased regulationaround the health, medical, gambling andcharity sectors.A rash of technical innovations are also likely toimpact upon the sector as marketers expandtheir activities to cope with increased interest inmobile marketing and the introduction of internet TV. Taking into consideration a flourishing apps market and theexpected growth in demand for Apple’s iPad and competing tablets, retailers inparticular will be focusing far greater effort on exploiting this kind of technology. The increasing importance of such technology will also herald renewed interestin the technical infrastructure upon which digital campaigns are run. Consumerexpectations over speed and ease of use are likely to see more emphasis placedon site usability, with an increased focus on both site architecture and trafficmeasurement and analysis.

“In 2011 consumers will continue to drivechange and new habits and usage of social networking will bring to light opportunities for companies to react. Owned social mediachannels will become increasingly important asbrands become more confident in the ability tomanage the B2C conversation in the public domain. We will definitely see social mediabecome an integral part of the marketing mix.The brands that will win the battle for the heart of the socialised consumer will be the ones

whoinnovate and inspire by creative use of social media.”

Eva Keogan

Head of Social MediaLBi

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Three separate disciplines will be fighting for control of digital budgets in 2011.While companies continue to ponder whether social media is a function of either digital marketing or PR, CRM departments are also likely to begin makingclaims on the channel in the year ahead.2011 will also be the year that many businesses become publishers, withcompanies around the world placing increased emphasis on creating originalquality content at the core of their marketing strategies.