Strategies and Predictions for 2012…

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Cyber Monday 2011(Monday after US Thanksgiving Holiday) online sales were up 33 percent over 2010, and Cyber Monday sales were up 29.3 percent over Black Friday(Friday before US Thanksgiving Holiday).

That’s $1.25 billion (yes, with a B) in online spending, which is the heaviest online spending day in history and only the second day on record to surpass the billion-dollar threshold (if you’re interested, here’s the stats).

And the world is in an economic recession?

Google says that in 2011, 79% of iPhone users did research with their iPhones and 74% of them made a purchase. Fast Company Magazine reports that, “Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google will define the 21st century with information technology, and names them the FAB FOUR.”

• Amazon hit $34 billion in annual revenue in 2010, on pace for $100 billion by 2015!

• Apple is the most profitable company in the WORLD!

• Facebook is the most expansive enabler of human communication; i.e. largest social network in the WORLD!

• Google, with a goal of cataloging all the world’s information…will bring in more than $30 billion this year!

There was a time not that long ago when you could identify each of these giants of technology by the service they provided. No longer. There are no “business borders” any longer.

Each is technologically crossing over each other’s business lines, racing to create new products, develop new software, in a sprint to capture the most online customers.

Think about it. Everyone that reads this article today, probably sent an email, talked on a cell phone, texted, searched Google and/or Amazon for information or made a purchase, and communicated with friends on Facebook.

Technology is growing at an exhausting pace and is significantly reducing the marketing size of our planet and identifying customer buying habits with alarming detail.

So, what does all this have to do with my predictions for 2012?

Well it was just to get you to look beyond the edge of your computer screen for a few minutes, and it has everything to do with 2012, your business, and the internet marketing industry.

Without these companies and thousands of support companies; Aweber, PayPal,Twitter, just to mention a few, our businesses would cease to exist. Yes…our success! Our businesses are TOTALLY dependent upon the FAB FOUR, and each of our support companies that function 100% at the pleasure of these big dogs!

So am I really excited to see them growing, expanding their services, improving their technology? You bet, and so are you, because this means that the communication industry (email, texts, and internet) is exciting, alive, and growing at a record pace. That’s a good thing…because we’re part of that growth, everyday!

Now let’s bring this discussion a little below the billion dollar range, to our businesses, OK?

The FAB FOUR are now and will continue to beat each other up over control of the buying public. This will continue to bring us better, faster, and more customer specific marketing tools.

How you ask?

When a family (our sample family has 4 members) buys a family car, that one car statistically represents the buying preferences of all four people. Not very specific.

But…each family member has their own computer, their own cell phone, their own Facebook page(s), their own email address(s), Kindle, laptop, iPad, etc., you get the picture.

The FAB FOUR are ‘master’ internet marketers the size of which you and I will never become. They’re really in the same business, just much, much larger. Like us they want to know as much about each of these family members as possible.

Are they male, female, age, where do they live, what’s they’re education level, buying habits, time spent on the internet, what do they browse, when and how often.

They’re spending billions of research, design, and marketing dollars to get this information about each of these family members because EACH is a separate potential customer with separate and individual buying habits that they want to track.

That’s where we come in. They spend all the money on research coming up with ways to identify the specific desires and unique shopping habits of customers. This new customer-specific information always becomes available very quickly through new software products that will be available for us to use in our own marketing businesses. BAM…we’re all mini-FAB FOURS!

This kind of customer information opens a whole new list of products and services to thousands of potential buyers we didn’t even know were there or interested! More niches, more products, more services, more customers, more sales.

2012 Predictions

Boutique Markets. Services and products that are specific to a geographic or cultural area (think world).

Local Markets. With better customer information we’ll be able to market to those locally searching for our products, services, and coupons.

Cross-Communication. Marketing between TV, Smart Phones, and the internet. See it on TV, and buy it with your Smart Phone or online while you’re sitting on the couch. When you drive past a mall you receive telephone texts advertising specific products of interest.

Security. With more and more personal information traveling wirelessly around the WWW protection of that info will be important.

Fewer Scams. I wish it would be less Spam, but I’ll be satisfied with less Scam offers. The FAB FOUR know they have only seconds to grasp the customer’s attention to an online product/service. They will have filters to protect that precious viewing time from scam offers.

Friendlier Google. The Great Google and Bing have finally confirmed that Twitter and Facebook signals influence search rankings. My opinion; ‘Social content/interaction’ will become the new SEO.

Mobile Internet Devices. Coming really fast. Can you say Smart Phones? The mobile internet devices market is expected to surpass traditional PC’s within 5 years, and will grow to at least twice the size. Our websites and marketing will have to be mobile-friendly (we’ll talk about this topic in upcoming articles, stay tuned).

PPC. Pay Per Call. Research shows that at least 97% of text messages (i.e. calls) are read! You do the math.

Opportunities to Network. With the growth of social and search networks there will be hundreds more affiliate, advertiser, and merchant opportunities. They will grow exponentially with the pace of technology…YEA!

Internet Comfort. The social side of technology, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, texting, email, etc. has become very common place in both the personal and business worlds. This acceptance of communication, i.e. buying/selling, via technology has made people much more comfortable conducting business on the internet.

SUMMARY:

You’re in the right place.

Technology, the internet, social networks, all of it is growing so fast it’s difficult to hold on.

If you’re in the game, you’d better buckle-up! Its moving fast and you need to stay on top of your business. This is going to be exciting. A time of real growth and a time to stretch yourself.

I’m constantly buying and evaluating new software, WP plugins, reading articles, talking to peers, listening to mentors… all the time. It’s the cost of owning a business.

Staying on top of trends…this IS the worldwide internet. You wouldn’t buy a store and never upgrade the sign or fixtures? Same is true for your online business. Stay current. Stay focused.

This time next year we won’t recognize the businesses we have today. Trust me. The world economy stinks and you hear nothing but whining…from those that don’t have a plan.

But people are still buying new technology at unbelievable rates. This technology is how we market our products; sales.

So would you agree there is a bright future?  Let’s make it a great 2012!

Talk soon,
-Jonathan Right

P.S. – What did you think of this post? Please leave a comment below.