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Top 2010 Writing Trends

Top writers and content managers are on a new page – one without margins. This absence of borders is a direct result of the digitalization of content, and the fact that information is more available than ever before. And that means it interacts with the audience, and we can see the results.

Results are becoming real-tangible, present, palpable for writers of all stripes, as well as for their managers. The experts say the world of content creation is indeed creating itself quickly. Yet today’s professional writers are, for the most part, sitting out the big game on the sidelines, discussing style guides, grammar and linguistic drift, while touchdowns are scored by those who put function over form.

Writing Trend #1: Gutenberg is so dead, even his bones have rotted.

Writers are married to a system and a process that’s extinct in most cases. Writing itself doesn’t need to respect old formats-but writers have been taught them, and are now challenged to separate form and function. Thinking about writing’s function is a new idea for most writers, who by nature of their art, are traditionalists.

According to Scott Abel, “Writers need to get over it.” Scott is a writer among writers-a charismatic and self-proclaimed Content Wrangler who’s created the Web’s liveliest online writing community. He spends his time jet-setting from conference to conference, discussing how to improve content development today. Scott touches more writers in a week than most editors marketing managers do in a decade.

For Gutenberg and those who used his press to communicate, the reader was invisible and the writer, or author, was lord of the page. Even before Gutenberg, illuminated manuscripts still gave power to the wielder of the pen, which created phrases in our lexicon like, “the power of the pen” or “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

Here on the eve of 2010, the page doesn’t exist and even its ghost is up for grabs. So what happens to all that latent power?

It’s bleeding into form, when it should empower function. Writers are imprisoning themselves in a static, long-form, narrative content that has more to do with the medium that delivered (past tense) content than the message. Writers are swaddled by their own education and ego, wrapped in the grave linens of essay form, report form, and paragraphs with topic sentences and great transitions. That’s not how today’s audience necessarily reads.

“Back in the day, it was all about the printing press, the play, the novel-things that could be delivered by the quarto,” says Scott.

And then, there came the PC-badly named, because it made writers feel it was “theirs,” a true, “personal computer.” Even worse, Scott goes on, the PC soon sported a “My Documents” folder. “Writers take that nomenclature much too seriously,” he says with a smile.

And writers started to horde digital content, while still delivering static long-form work:

The white paper
The article
The essay
The page

Is the page user friendly? Scott dares to ask. Top writers in 2010 go off-page into the wilds of what content consumers want.

“Let’s say you go to the doctor,” he says. “You like your doctor-she’s a great person, and you keep bringing her your troubles. But time after time, your condition just doesn’t improve. What do you do?” Scott pauses. “You STOP going to that doctor.”

He relates that today’s professional writer is no different. Businesses and companies turn to the writer, and ask to be healed of their lack of connection with audiences. And writers think because they went to school, love language, know their grammar and swing around a stellar vocabulary, that they have the answer. They churn out pages, papers and pap that have been done for decades, just like they learned in school.

“Writing is becoming a commodity. High level writers in 2010 won’t be known for the writing-they’ll be known for the thinking that went into it, and the usefulness that delivered to the reader,” he mandates.

For example, he pointed out how marketing firms are known for pegging 1-3% ROI as the typical success of direct mail campaigns. “Ridiculous. Great campaigns have 18-20% ROI. The difference is, smart writers weed out non responsive people using PURLs or other scientific techniques, so the overall ROI of their message is much higher than the traditional benchmarks you’re used to seeing.”

His advice to writers is straightforward:

Learn a field beyond grammar and vocabulary.
Apply your verbal skills to that field in deep, rich ways that broaden human understanding.
Apply math and science to your results so you know your ROI and the people who pay your bills have every reason to pay you what you’re worth.

In 2010, Scott foresees lots of jobs that require writers-but few that mandate English students and grammarians that pay above minimum wage. “Writers want success to be about writing. It’s not-it’s about the publishing process and the end result-the engagement with the reader. Until writers start focusing on readers, they’ll be chained to Gutenberg and suffer the same fate-burial.

Writing itself doesn’t need to respect old formats-but writers have been taught them and are now challenged to separate form and function.

Writing Trend #2: Mastering the immediate

Founder of one of the most successful etailers, Amazon, and the passionate inventor of Kindle, Jeff Bezos has spent some serious time thinking about ideas and their distribution. So how does that play out in his every day business strategy?

“We base our strategy on customer needs instead of what our skills are,” Bezos told CNET last year, speaking with Dan Farber, Editor of CBS Interactive News. “Customers will eventually need things that you don’t have skills for, so (you) need to renew yourself with new skill.”

Dan Farber got this from the interview:

Regarding the fate of physical books, Bezos said the vast majority of books will be read electronically. Just as horses haven’t gone away, books will be around, he quipped. “We see Kindle as an effort to improve the book, even though it hasn’t changed in 500 years,” he added.

Content is not hoarded and updated on a strict schedule-it’s always on. The sifting and judgment of editors and “the worthy researcher” is removed-allowing the person seeking knowledge to directly interact with all the grit, grist and grind of information in its raw and ugly form.

This is where the great writer will shine in 2010-master of the immediate.

There are still knowledge aggregators you can rely on-if you want to pay for the fine tooth comb, or are in a hurry, or like subscriptions. Gartner, Forrester, and the New York Times all come to mind, but these outlets are under pressure.

Yet for the masses, knowledge is not a luxury as it was in the past-for royalty, scribes, and literati. Now, it’s a service industry-and an increasingly public service industry. The content provider that serves it up fast and hot gets the billion burgers served, and with today’s channels of information, that superstar is the writer.

Trend #3: Resurgence in research

So what does it take to serve up solid content today? Relevance. It’s not enough to repost, retweet, and mash up information-although this can be valuable. Real value for readers comes from taking disparate sources of information and braiding them into a cogent, creative new piece-fast. There’s one secret to doing this well: expert research skills.

Consider today’s writer-solidly grounded in their career, 28-48, years old, managing 90% of the ideas that flow through and around corporate America, 100% of the creative copy, 80% of the social media mania and… Got that writer solidly in mind? Wait a second. Where did those stats come from?

Exactly. I made them up. Like much of what you read on the internet, material that sounds like research isn’t.

In fact, let’s look at BLS data from 2008-facts-about writing professionals. The median hourly wage for a writer of any stripe, technical or media, is .51. There are about 300,000 employed writers–a number not expected to change as a percentage of the population, and BLS coyly calls the writing job market “competitive.” Claire Morgenstern, a student writing in the Carnegie Mellon student newspaper The Tartan, expresses the frustration talented young writers feel:

Unfortunately, there are so many fledgling writers out there (and even non-fledgling writers, as veteran reporters from the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and The Baltimore Sun, to name a few, have been thrust from their offices with floor-to-ceiling windows to cubicles at a temp agency, or more commonly, their own kitchen tables, staring at their laptops, wondering if they have the stamina to make a podcast) who will pitch and write stories to be posted on news sites for free that writers who want their living situation to include walls and a roof can be hard-pressed to find gigs that actually pay. And by pay, I mean not in the form of “experience,” “exposure,” and “a flexible work schedule and the ability to work from home” – all choice phrases used by publications who solicit this kind of voluntary slave labor.

Writing has no barrier to entry.

In a world where:

Hundreds of thousands of “wanna-be” writers enter the job market annually, like Claire
AND many of them are willing to work without pay,
AND the Internet globalizes the industry (India speaks English as a first language, for example),

writers who want to rise to the top are going to have to look for ways to reinvent writing-new and improved for 2010. One of those ways is by paying attention to “source work.”

Source work is such an old fashioned term that when I Googled it just now, it had no links on the first page that were thematically relevant. That even surprised me. Back in the 70s, when I had the joy of hanging around press rooms and breathing in the last exhalations of hot lead type, source work was the kind of thing editors screamed at writers about. That one phrase meant a host of things, including relevancy, accuracy, and immediacy.

In 2010, writers who want to land on the top of the heap need to do their source work. In the content meritocracy writers live in, better content is the only currency. Real research is one way to tilt the topics in your favor, by covering them with more care.

Why will this be a winning 2010 copywriting strategy?

The internet delivers lots of “information,” less knowledge.
Much of what is posted is banal, bland and baloney. (Think: white papers written to sell, not teach–and these are often cited.)
There’s more posting every day.

Writing Trend #4: Smart writing

Peter Shankman, serial entrepreneur, skydiver, and the founder of HARO is a hero for journalists and public relations professionals, because he updated venerable and outdated database services like Bacon’s, ProfNet, and other services in one fell swoop when he invented Help A Reporter Out (HARO). Help A Reporter Out is an email that goes out 3 times a day to over 100,000 would-be experts and public relations firms, with requests from journalists about what they need to make that all-important deadline. It’s self-regulated, entirely free, open to anyone, and completely revolutionary. The one caveat? If you break the rules, you’re out. We asked Peter a few questions and here are his responses about what it takes to stand out in the wide open world of writing:

Looking forward into 2010, is writing the same career today that it was 10 years ago? 100?

No. Writers have to be smarter-quicker-understanding of the fact that the majority of the writing they’ll do will be for the digital realm-where they’ll need to be much more aware of trends, breaking information, and sentiment-lest they be looked upon as “slow,” or “left behind.” And even more-they can’t be quicker by sacrificing quality, content, or integrity.

Writing is one of the world’s oldest professions. What makes a writer competitive TODAY that wasn’t in play 2-3 years ago?

The ability to spot trends before they happen-previously, writers only had to spot trends to write about them-that made their content compelling. Now, they also have to spot the trends that are threatening to put them out of business, and be better/quicker/faster than them.

What does it take to be a profitable professional writer in 2010? Top three ingredients?

Stamina, determination, and the ability to be relevant.

For established writers, what do they need to add to their bailiwick in 2010 to stay competitive?

Rather, work on seeing 12 to 24 months ahead-accept that social media will be come part of the lexicon-Facebook, Google, Twitter, won’t be something you “have to do,” but rather, a means to an end-your status updates automatically when you enter a location not because it’s “cool,” but because that in turn updates @foursquare, which updates twitter, and anyone who wants to find you immediately for a quick money-making freelance job can do so based on your coordinates first-and whether you respond to their text second. That’s when we’ll know “social media” is what “Google” was twelve years ago-and we’ve finally moved into the new world. And as scary as it may sound, trust me-it’s gonna be a hell of a lot of fun.

Trend #5: Agencies ask for more

Let’s describe the Average Agency. A group of bright minds working in multiple industries, demanding all sorts of talent on tap, from organic/botanical design to urgent heavy metal inspirations, from insipid to inspired. Average Agency works with a “stable” of writers.

Notice the “work horse” mentality, the implication of drudgery. If you’re in the stable…

But I digress. The agency says they have a “stable” that specializes in ad copy, web copy, annual reports-in other words, show horses, draft horses, dressage horses, horses that pace and trot and barrel race. (Yes, that’s you, writers.) But agencies aren’t getting the same mileage out of that arrangement that they used to.

Take Nona Carson, Vice President of Client Services at Cre8ive, an agency working in the heartland of Huntsville, Alabama. She’s worked in creative services for almost 20 years, and when I asked this vivacious aristocrat of attention-getting services what it takes to win the horse race in 2010, she said:

“Here’s the word for copy in 2010…shrewd. Copywriters need to think like a fox and blend intelligence and craftiness with creativity and artfulness to create engaging content. Foxy copy is transparent. If you’re writing ad copy, remember that today’s consumers can smell hype from a mile away. Tell the truth and keep it simple

Foxy copy is intelligent. Consider the medium. Are you writing for a website? Well, bless you if you are, because then you have to worry about SEO and things like keyword density and an SEO guru who believes in functionality over form. (And “form” can mean your creative prose as well as design.)

I’m a musician, so I’ll close with a music analogy. The notes (words) are the same. The instruments (channels) are changing. And your audience is not in the concert halls and venues they used to be in. They’re increasingly online – on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Plus, they are exposed to so much music (messages) every day that they have almost become desensitized to it. Sometimes all the notes run together and sound the same….like a cacophony. The challenge is to make your music resonate.

“Writing is thinking…

…It is more than living, for it is being conscious of living.”- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1906-2001

In summary, looking at what it takes to succeed as a writer in 2010, it’s simpler and more profound than previous years.

In the far past, writers were philosophers, poets and the companions of kings. In the recent past, they’ve been the workhorses of the information age. 2010 holds a new promise-a return, for the best writers, to a position of empowerment like never before. The best writers will come from the best thinkers, their work powering the distribution channels they chose to use. Writers have more tools to publish than ever before, when and wherever they want, and also greater access to a greater audience for the work.

Say goodbye to your style guide

Through widespread adoption of applications like Twitter and Facebook, wikis and blogs, ebooks, e-readers, and digital publications, the demand for this sort of always-on content is only growing.

Today’s writer will illuminate culture and commerce by applying the right tool, the right approach, and the right message-in a heady, immediate blend that showcases top intelligence as well as insight.

So rather than focus on craft-grammar, style, punctuation, topicality-the top 2010 writer will focus on the actual art and science of writing, perhaps for the first time since monasteries illuminated m

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17 digital marketing trends for 2011, by Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein

1. The Year of Pragmatism – just do it

My overall feeling for 2011 is that there isn’t anything ‘brand new’ on the immediate horizon that is going to create a fundamental shift, like search once did, or Web 2.0, or social media etc.

2011 will be somewhat less about talk and more about action. We should know by now *what* we need to be doing, the challenge is about execution. And that’s about good old fashioned things like people, process and technology.

2. Joined up marketing – still the holy grail

We ran our first JUMP event in 2010 and will do so again at JUMP 2011. It is all about how to join up online and offline marketing more intelligently. This isn’t a particularly new idea but the reality is that very few organisations are anywhere close to the nirvana of fully integrated marcoms across all customer touchpoints (including Econsultancy).

So this trend isn’t going away anytime soon and will continue to be an important focus for all marketers in 2011 and beyond.

Interestingly, if anything, 2010 was most interesting to me not for the (obvious and continued) rise of digital as a medium, but for the renaissance of ‘old media’. When I talk to the most sophisticated and advanced marketers, and the most progressive digital companies, the excitement is mostly about offline marketing. TV advertising was ‘(re)discovered’ in 2010 by many. We at Econsultancy are all excited this year by our print magazine, direct mail and telesales plans…

3. Digital for branding – and measurement be damned

I think 2011 might finally see significantly increased spend for “brand” reasons rather than direct response / sales and other ‘hard’ metrics. But I don’t think it will necessarily be the usual brand advertiser suspects leading the charge (FMCG, Automotive etc.) though they will show some increases. Nor will it be in display advertising or paid search, though those will no doubt grow.

I believe the spend will come under headings such as ‘engagement’, ‘experiential marketing’, even ‘customer service’. The spend will be focused increasingly on content, apps, social media and service rather than on bought media like display advertising or paid search. And it will come from small companies as well as large ones, across all sectors, notably B2B. But essentially it will be about building a brand presence online that people can engage with, relate to, and, ultimately, trust.

And, despite my love of data and analytics, I think the endless demands for super-granular ROI analyses of such activities will actually fade a little in 2011. It will become more accepted that these are things you just do. That doesn’t mean they won’t be measured but I think there will be less scrutiny. In the same way that people have rediscovered the power of TV advertising because of the hard-to-measure emotive power and halo effects on other channels, “digital branding” will be considered more of a ‘no-brainer’ because it’s obvious it drives purchase intent across all channels, even if that’s hard to measure (or not cost effective to do so).

4. Business models – continued innovation and disruption

There are a lot of interesting things happening around business models, driven largely by the impact of digital, that I’m looking forward to tracking over the year. Among those:

Business models which radically disrupt existing value chains, typically by involving customers much more directly in the business model itself. For example Naked Wines (wine retailing) or Made.com (furniture retailing). This is not ‘social media’, it is ‘(social) business’.
“Pubtailing”. This is the blend of publishing and retailing. Many publishers need to sell stuff to fix their broken business models, whether subscriptions, apps, content, affiliate revenues etc. and so need retailing skills. At the same time retailers need to have skills in content, community and social media which publishers are typically better at. Also, many e-commerce sites (and stores) increasingly need to look at advertising (i.e. a publisher skillset) revenue streams to continue to grow, or make up for the fact that the likes of Amazon, Google or Apple might be hijacking their sales (largely via m-commerce in store). My post on The “unbundling” of the shopping experience across channels: implications for retailers talks more about this.
Virtual currencies and “gamification” – obviously coupons are currently hot but the whole area of gaming, virtual goods and currencies, should make for some interesting business models this year. More on gamification in point 11 below.
5. Organisational structures, teams and infrastructure – not sexy, but vital

We can talk all we want but, as I said in point 1, in the end we have to execute. And that requires the right talent supported with the right processes and technology infrastructure. Following a few things I’ll be expecting this year:

No let up in the war for (digital) talent. If our digital marketing jobs board is anything to go by, 2010 saw a BIG increase in recruitment (and salaries) for digital specialists. I don’t see this changing in 2011 almost irrespective of what happens macro-economically.
Many more agencies, and corporations, will move to a more ‘connected / networked’ model with a greater use of freelance specialists on demand. This is obviously made more possible by remote working and globalisation. It also allows for more flexibility and greater cost control.
There will be an ongoing dissolution of organisational silos as ‘digital marketing’ becomes just ‘marketing’ but this will take time and there is still a need for digital specialists. And there is a need for increased speed and agility. Along with the ‘connected/networked’ organisational model, expect to hear more about “hub and spoke” or “matrix” organisational models.
“Social becomes part of the job description not the job title” – our blog got there before I could… although I also think that large organisations will probably have people in their (digital) marketing teams who have ‘Facebook’ in their job title.
A rise in recruitment of editorial / content resources (see point 6 below)
(Web….) Engineers / Techies / Developers will not only become more valued but they will increasingly be headhunted, and employed by, ‘creative’ organisations e.g. ad agencies. This is principally because these businesses are increasingly about understanding and manipulating data (think ad exchanges, demand side platforms etc.).
Cloud computing is clearly the big one in terms of IT infrastructure both internally and anything customer facing. SalesForce’s database.com is a fascinating play and shows just how big we might think in terms of the transformation of “IT”.
6. Content strategy / Content marketing – the King is back

The rise of ‘content marketing’ is well documented and for all sorts of reasonably obvious reasons: sometimes driven by a desire for greater ‘engagement’, sometimes as a form of linkbuilding for SEO, sometimes to save customer service costs, sometimes just to drive traffic, sometimes as part of a move away from ‘bought media’ to ‘earned (or owned) media’, sometimes because of a more fundamental change in business model (see ‘pubtailing’ in point 4 above).

Many have also realised that it’s difficult to fuel the flames of “social media”, or “engagement”, without content in the broadest sense – including apps, video etc. And, of course, it’s not just about content *creation* but content *curation*.

I predict a rise in “online customer publishing” (most people call it ‘contract publishing’… except those who work in that industry), and a rise in content licensing and syndication, and a rise in the “internationalisation” of content (including translation), and a rise in internal online publishing or content/asset management teams (even at banks, retailers, travel companies etc.), and a big demand for lowish-cost short-form video content for online use.

Specifically, I think the kind of content most in demand will be a) ‘smart’ in as much as it can be re-used and repackaged in as many ways as possible (think metadata, formats etc.) to extract the greatest value from it and b) ‘evergreen’ in as much as it won’t be short-lasting ‘advertising campaign’ type content but content with a longer shelf life e.g. guides, practical information, tools etc. (also good for linkbuilding and thereby SEO).

This should be good news for those journalists and TV folk who may be looking for work, having seen their former employers’ business models failing. And it is better news for publishers and content owners generally, as well as related providers like translation services.

7. Data is the new oil – let’s work on refining it

The buzz phrase from our 2010 Future of Digital Marketing conference was ‘data is the new oil’. I get nerdily excited by data and love a good API as much as the next man. Where to start with what’s interesting with data in 2011? A few things I’m excited by:

Attribution modelling – OK, we’ve talked about it long enough now. Let’s see more examples of us actually doing it well rather than talking about it.
“Social CRM” – broadly speaking how we can take “social data” and apply and use it intelligently across the whole business online and offline. For example, the Facebook ‘Like’ as a new customer profile data attribute – how might we use that in our DM campaigns? How do we take Open Graph data, or similar data sources, and use it not just online but offline?
Joining up online and offline data – all sorts happening in this area e.g. the Yahoo/Nectar Consumer Connect project, the recent Starcom Mediavest and DirecTV deal, the whole world of coupons generally (where offline redemption of an online coupon, increasingly via mobile devices, gives all sorts of interesting cross-channel measurement opportunities) etc. etc.
Retargeting – privacy issues notwithstanding, I expect we’ll see more retargeting in online marketing and, indeed, it will extend into other areas e.g. myThings focus on retargeting but for the affiliate sector. I also expect to see the greatest relative growth in the use of retargeting data to come from ‘owned’ media rather than bought media i.e. not so much retargeting for offsite advertising but retargeting of users on your site, or via email, or social media etc.
Sentiment – accurate and useful sentiment analysis has been a hard nut to crack for all the various sentiment analysis solutions out there. But it isn’t going away. And, indeed, it seems highly likely that sentiment will become an increasingly important factor in search engine optimisation which in turns means sentiment as a data point could suddenly become very valuable indeed.
“Lead nurturing” – some of the B2B guys are actually starting to do some pretty clever stuff in this space. Maybe B2C online can learn from B2B online for a change.
APIs, semantic stuff, Web 3.0… – just too much to write about it to cover here but some really interesting stuff starting to happen, from governments starting to open up rich data sources to organisations making intelligent commercial uses of web services to open up new business models and/or markets.
8. Privacy

Privacy will be a big topic for 2011 and beyond. Cookies, digital fingerprinting, the FTC, Ofcom, the EU, tracking, behavioural targeting, Facebook… however, it’s hard to make specific predictions in this area and I’ll leave that to those who cover this area best, like the industry bodies and trade associations.

9. User experience – getting all touchy feely

All sorts of interesting developments likely during 2011. Among them I’d pick out the following:

The “Humanisation” of the user experience online. Broadly speaking I’m expecting the online user experience to become more and more ‘human’. Whether that’s through the use of live chat, virtual environments, co-browsing, streaming of live events, virtual sales characters, much improved personalisation etc. As part of the integration of online and offline we need to bring more of the human/emotive/experiential power of offline to online. The iPhone, and now iPad, have brought a whole new human sense (touch) to interactive design. I expect to see more of this human/emotional/sensual connection embedded into interactive experiences with gestural interfaces being the most obvious.
The rise and rise of video. I’m particularly interested in the use of video for commerce (read Why online retailers need product videos for more), including the embedding of commerce links (e.g. French Connection’s Youtique) and also new tools and platforms emerging to allow marketers to manipulate and distribute video much more easily (e.g. buto.tv). This promises to bring the “world of TV” to SMEs in the same way that paid search has enabled SMEs to become advertisers on a level-ish playing field with bigger companies.
Evolution of search look and feel. In 2010 we had things like Google Instant but there are all sorts of further developments and experiments I’m looking forward to in 2011 as the search giants battle it out. Read our Expert opinion: What’s ahead for paid search in 2011? for more details.
Plenty of new ad formats and technology in the pipeline… not just from the likes of AOL (see Project Devil) and Apple but all sorts of niches. Read Three content-based ad units to watch in 2011 for further ideas. I’m sure Google are limbering up for further big announcements in this space too.
HTML5. It’s early days for HTML5 so noticeable changes may take until 2012 to come through but there is huge potential here to noticeably improve the interactive experience and make it richer, more immersive, more intuitive, more fun, responsive and engaging.
Fonts. I expect to see more creative use of fonts in web design over 2011 thanks to the likes of Google Font Directory, Typekit, Fontdeck etc.
Mobile… it feels like the early days of interactive design at the moment for mobile, including mobile web and mobile apps. Loads of change and learnings in the mobile user experience to come this year as this medium continues to grow and change. Our Mobile E-commerce Best Practice Guide looks at various aspects of the mobile commerce user experience.
10. Social media – becomes social business

This is another broad topic, but below a few highlights for what I expect in 2011:

“Social media” will increasingly become less just about sales or marketing but will touch all parts of the business. All businesses will become ‘social’ over time. I’m still predicting ‘social media’ will go the way of ‘web 2.0′ as a term in the coming years – see my post Death to ‘social media’ and seven other crazy ideas for more on this.
Co-creation and crowdsourcing will become more prevalent, especially for product development and customer service.
Customer service will become a lot more ‘social’ for a lot more companies – actually doing it rather than talking about it.
Crisis management (the world of PR) will become much more of a social media exercise than it currently it is – read Q&A: Edelman’s Monte Lutz on why PR firms are “owning” social for more on this.
Facebook (and possibly others like LinkedIn and Twitter) become their own “channels”. Some of these properties / platforms are big enough and complex enough that I predict we’ll have specialist job titles, teams, agencies, technologies and services which work solely on them. There are already specialist Facebook research services (e.g. Socialbakers), specialist Facebook ad management technologies (e.g. ONE media manager, Papaya etc.), Facebook enterprise platform management services (e.g. Buddy Media) etc.
I think location + social media will be bigger in 2011. It started in 2010 and Facebook Places will no doubt help accelerate things. But it’s clear how live events (location) and social media can combine very powerfully, just as it’s clear how coupons, group buying and location can combine. Google may have failed in many of its social media attempts (Orkut, Buzz etc.) and in its recent bid for Groupon, but I predict big attempts by Google to dominate location (primarily via mobile) and embed ‘social’ in this.
People resources will continue to be the biggest challenge in social media (see eMarketer’s Resources Are Now a Big Issue for Social Media Marketers which references our own Social Media and Online PR Report)
11. Gamification – we wanna have fun

Gaming, social gaming, game theory, badges, reward mechanisms, game mechanics… it’s fast hotting up as a new-ish realm for marketers of all types to look at.

Games are engaging, games can drive loyalty, games can make money directly or indirectly, games work well on mobile as well as web as well as TV etc, games are already BIG business (witness the likes of Zynga and American Express’ deal with them, EA’s acquisition of Playfish, Disney’s acquisition of Playdom and so on). What’s not to like?

Get inspired about gaming and the impact it will have on marketing, especially digital, with the following:

Econsultancy’s Social Gaming Smart Pack – get smart about all aspects of social gaming with our brand new 50 page guide
Jesse Schell’s DICE 2010 presentation on ‘design outside the box’ and game mechanics
Gabe Zicherman – his book, his blog, the Gamification Summit etc.
12. Biddable media – everything’s up for sale, right now

Broadly speaking I believe all media will move over time to exist in a biddable form. This will be made possible by all media becoming digital (including TV, ‘print’, radio, billboards etc.), and by platform players (primarily Google at the moment) enabling the marketplace via exchanges and tools/services with a broad range of creative, targeting and payment options.

Most exciting for me is the way this will open up all media to organisations of all sizes in a way that has not yet existed.

Specifically, for 2011, I believe we’ll see this most in evidence with online display advertising becoming more like PPC in the way it is bought, measured, serviced.

For more on all this read What does 2011 hold for display and demand side marketing? and also our recent Online Media Report.

13. Real time – comin’ atcha

Real time is obviously a good one to follow biddable media. But it’s not just real time in display advertising, it’s about the speed of everything getting… erm, faster.

Specifically, I expect 2011 to see the need for speed evident in the following:

Publishing and content generally. If you look at your analytics, you look at how social media works, you look at content distribution and sharing patterns, you look at SEO and the way links accrue… it is clear (at least, to me) that if Content is King, then Speed-to-publish is Queen.
Crisis management, reputation, PR. Shit happens very quickly online. You need to act fast, even if it is only to say you are working on an answer. Corporations and their agencies need to act (even) faster in this area.
Customer service. Companies need to respond *much quicker* to inbound customer enquiries online. Not just the ‘social media’ ones but, in particular, email enquiries where response times are typically still woefully bad.
‘Search’. It’s in apostrophes because it’s not user-initiated search but ‘pushed’ search, so not search as we traditionally know it. Read up more about how Google intends to get pushy and how this could evolve the search experience in a real time way.
14. Mobile – mobile web overtakes apps

Obviously mobile is experiencing huge growth but I’m strangely less excited about it than most – perhaps, because like social media, I hear so much about it but see relatively little really good stuff happening.

I think in-app payments will become much bigger in 2011; there are some big possible things afoot in NFC (near-field communications) wallets. However I think we’ll probably have to endure much gnashing of teeth around the challenges of mobile measurement (reminiscent of ‘measuring the ROI of social media’ from 2010).

For me the really interesting thing about mobile isn’t mobile as a ‘channel’, or indeed apps (which will continue to service specific needs), but the ‘mobile web’. Or just the web as I like to call it, which is obviously mobile as well as PC as well as iPad, TV and so on. I believe when HTML5 starts to gain momentum that much more focus will be on the ‘mobile web’ than apps and we’ll get much better at delivering the right experience (which for mobiles will be very app-like) at the right time for the right person tailored for the device.

For 2011 I expect to see this starting to happen mostly in the form of the growth in m-commerce and mobile search and companies creating mobile-optimised app-like, but web, experiences. Have a read of Mobile commerce: ten reasons to choose the web over apps and the reviews of the mobile sites of Marks & Spencer,  Rightmove, Autotrader etc.

15. Devices – phones, tablets and e-readers

Obviously there will be all sorts of developments in the mobile device and OS space with Google, Apple, Nokia, Microsoft etc. all fighting it out. And tablet computing will also grow hugely spurred by the iPad but fast joined by Samsung, Dell and everyone else.

2011 is likely to be the year that e-readers finally become much more mainstream after years of somewhat faltering advances. This is of particular importance to the book publishing world, of course.

However, the big battle I’m fascinated to see play out in 2011 in this space is Google vs. Amazon given Google Books – when I do a search, for example, on the aforementioned “Game-based Marketing” book by Gabe zichermann I get Google Books come up as first result with Amazon ranking only third. That’s got to get the folks at Amazon wondering about their no-doubt-enormous PPC spend with Google?

16. Localisation – finds its place in marketing

Again, there is lots to be excited about in localisation for 2011. Foursquare, and the concept of ‘checking in’ to a location, made waves in 2010 as did Facebook with the announcement of Facebook Places, Twitter with its location support and so on.

However, there are two main things that interest me in terms of localisation.

One is what I call the ‘internet of things’. This is essentially about IP-enabling physical objects. Suddenly things have a web life. They are on the grid. Have a look at EVRYTHNG for example. I doubt this will be big in 2011 but it will become big and not just for the obvious B2B applications like logistics. Think of the acclaimed Jimmy Choo Trainer Hunt campaign using Foursquare to hunt down a pair of physical trainers and what might be possible with the ‘internet of things’ to come… some fascinating joined up online/offline marketing opportunities here.

But my main feeling about localisation is that this is an area which Google looks set to focus big firepower on and I don’t see anyone else with much hope of competing. I’ve long predicted Google would bring about the demise of directory businesses (like Yell, Thomson etc.), but I’m not sure things look good long term for the likes of Yelp (and other user review sites, even the mighty TripAdvisor), and, dare I say it, Groupon (and other sites offering increasingly localised deals, offers, coupons).

We know that Google is massively investing in mobile and we know that Google know more than anyone about search trends on mobile devices (though they’re not telling us all the juicy detail). A large proportion of mobile search is ‘local’ in nature.

We also know Google is looking at pushing search results to users based on their location (on their phones presumably); we know that Google Places is ramping up considerably; we know Google has also launched Hotpot, a platform where Google users can rate and review local services and these reviews and ratings then feed into Google Places, Google’s business listings that appear on Google Maps.

But what is most interesting is how Google appears to be now using its dominant search position, and the real estate on the search results pages, to skyrocket its dominance in ‘local’. You’ve probably noticed how much space is taken up by local listings at the top of natural search results? You’ve probably also noticed the prominence Google is giving to reviews in its natural search results? You may have noticed how Google Maps’ interface is changing subtly e.g. when you now print off a map the local listings ads are now included at the top of the printed page whether you want them or not?

I think it won’t be long before, for many businesses, particularly ‘local’ smaller ones, their Google Business Listing *will be their website*. They’ll use biddable media of all forms (search, display, maps, pay per call etc.) to drive traffic to their Google Pages where there will also be coupon/offer mechanisms offered by Google, that can of course be sent to, and redeemed on, your (Google / Android) phone.

I think the above will happen much more quickly than people realise, indeed this year. Only a few weeks ago TripAdvisor confirmed that it blocks Google Places from sourcing its hotel reviews, saying it doesn’t think Google Places “benefits users at this time with the experience of selecting the right hotel”. Mmm…. I wonder why.

17. Connected TV – and finally…

Convergence, WebTV, IPTV… it has been talked about for years. Indeed, internet-enabled TV has been around for years. But what is now much interesting is the potential of *web*-enabled TV. Specifically, an era which promises to make the TV device and the fabled ‘living room’ a platform open to all and based on standards. So no longer such an expensive, and controlled, medium, but an “open” channel more like the web.

I predict 2011 will mostly see lots of talk on the subject, and lots of commercial and technical wrangling around standards and agreements, and it won’t be until 2012 that things really start to happen. And no coincidence that 2012 is the year of the Olympics. You can be sure that YouView, in the UK, will want to be absolutely certain that the 2012 Olympics are first the ‘Connected TV’ Olympics and there are plenty of brands who will be just as keen to jump on that bandwagon.

The big complication with connected TV will remain how differently it works across countries, or areas, globally. The UK and much of mainland Europe already appear to have diverged in the standards and technologies they are backing, for example.

While the initial take up and focus of connected TV is likely to be “catch up TV” via an iPlayer-esque interface there are lots of other areas of interest to watch and think about in 2011, for example:

T(elevision)-commerce? Tesco have already signalled their commitment to bringing their digital shopping experience to TVs.
EPG vs. Search interfaces? The likes of YouView are committed to a way of finding programs via a browseable ‘electronic programming guide (EPG)’ which brings up all sorts of intriguing debates around who should ‘rank’ where (which Sky have been making money out of for years); Google TV, not surprisingly, backs a search-based interface. Which will win out?
The technical approval process. YouView promises to be open to anyone. So, for example, we at Econsultancy quite fancy putting videos of our events on TV for delegates, or those who missed the event, to watch. And, indeed, the TV should become a big opportunity for millions of other small companies. But how will the technical approval process work? How painful and onerous and slow might it be given some peoples’ experiences of Apple’s App Store approval process?

That’s more than enough for now! What do you think?

More Apple Ipad Publishers Articles

by The DEMO Conference

Top tech trends to look out for 2011

Top tech trends to look out for 2011

It’s prediction time! No, there won’t be flying cars, time machines or alien attacks, but some major advances in technology will happen in 2011, in terms of smarter Internet devices and great leaps forward in the area of emerging technologies. 2011 has had a promising start … Motorola Xoom, RIM Playbook and Android Honeycomb … and there’s a lot more to come … PlayStation phone, iPad 2, Google Chrome OS netbooks, and more. Technology has become an inseparable part of our lives. I wonder who’s controlling whom? Check out my list of exciting trends that will be all over the technosphere in 2011.

Year of tablets

The tablet hangover of 2010 will rock 2011 as well. Tablets had a grand start at CES 2011 with Asus tablets, Motorola Xoom and the BlackBerry Playbook. Believe me, these were just a preview. Of course there is an Apple iPad 2 in the pipeline, but more surprises will come from Acer, Dell, Toshiba, MSI and HP. Google’s next generation tablet OS, Android Honeycomb, is also one to watch out for. Microsoft might reveal touch optimized Windows OS for tablets by mid 2011, but the most anticipated will be the Palm OS on HP PalmPads.

The tablet war will be fierce with these new tablets, which might bring steep price drops into the tablet PC segment. At the same time, there will be huge improvements in tablet screens; probably more OLED adoption. Intel might also launch its Oak Trail processor tailored for tablet PCs, and without doubt there will be improvements in processor speed, RAM, storage space and cameras.

3D going the low-cost way

James Cameron’s Santrum, a 3D underwater action-thriller cost 15 million to produce compared to the alleged USD 500 million of Avatar. 2011 could start a new era for 3D, with devices and content product costs set to drop. There will be more 3D titles, 3D games and 3D channels in 2011, and this will perk up the sales of 3D televisions and 3D Blu-ray players.

3D will also come straight into your hand in 2011 with 3D capable mobile devices. Nintendo 3DS, due for a June launch will offer 3D gaming without glasses on a 3.53-inch auto-stereoscopic screen. HTC, known for its innovation, might launch the first 3D smartphone, and even Apple is getting in a 3D mood as well with its patented auto-stereoscopic display that could deliver glasses-free 3D on devices such as iPods, iPhones and iPads. From media players and televisions, 3D will enter more devices in 2011.

The focus will shift; however, to 3D content. Sky became the first broadcaster in the UK to offer 3D viewing and a lot of other satellite services might follow the suit; ESPN and Discovery are all set to launch 3D channels in the US in 2011.

Broadband to speed up with 4G this year

All of us want a faster connection and 2011 will bring more bandwidth to our mobile world with 4G. It is believed to be 10 times faster than current 3G networks and provides the speed equivalent (or more) than a standard landline wired connection. The launch of 4G around the world will vary greatly as telcos seek to balance their 3G business with 4G, and as infrastructure is still being set up in many areas. Whether it’s 4G or not, mobile broadband will definitely speed up due to more manufacturers launching cheaper 3G devices and more people switching to 3G.

Motion control gaming

65% of US households play video games and gaming will grow crazily in 2011, irrespective of the devices—smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops and gaming consoles. More mobile devices will come equipped with gravity sensors and motion sensitive controls.

Nintendo’s Wii plus, Sony’s PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect will become more widespread in 2011. In 2011 gaming consoles will start tracking your movements through cameras and follow voice commands through microphones (examples include the Xbox Controller and PlayStation Motion Controller).

Social gaming was on the rise in 2010 and it will soon get more popular on mobile phones and tablets. Smartphones and tablet PCs will primarily connect your social life in 2011, but with better graphics, more power, and more proficient augmented reality apps.

Internet TVs everywhere

Connected TVs were all over CES. Almost everyone showcased how their devices can stream Internet videos. Whether it’s a PlayStation, Xbox, Wii, Blu-ray players, or media players, the television is getting a dose of the internet. According to Forester Research, the US consumer is spending more time onlinerather than watching television and there could be a big switch to video on demand in 2011. Apple TV andgoogle TV might enrich the TV experience by offering streaming and/or downloaded TV and moves, apps, Internet and tons more to TV screens.

Google on the PC

Google entered our lives in 1998 and might revisit the PC again with Google Chrome OS in 2011. Chrome OS is currently in its public beta testing phase on 12-inch Cr-48 notebooks, but might enter into commercial netbooks in mid 2011. Acer, Samsung and many big players are planning to launch netbooks powered by a lighter and faster Chrome OS. The much secured Chrome netbooks will run on 3G connectivity and could bring netbook prices down to USD 100 or lesser. Watch out Microsoft, Windows has a lot to fear from Chrome OS in 2011. [articlesbase.com