Marketing Predictions for Australian Marketers in 2013

Wouldn’t life be boring if we could predict exactly what would happen next? We decided to leave the crystal ball on the shelf to continue its dust collecting role and do some good old fashioned research. We reviewed some local and international marketing predictions and trends from industry leaders and experts, to find out what 2013 may entail.

While predictions and fact are obviously two different things, knowledge is still power. By reviewing and looking objectively at what the experts predict, can help us to prepare for some of the challenges and opportunities that may exist over the next 12 months. Some of these predictions you may feel state the obvious while others may surprise you. Enjoy!

Embracing a Digital Life

Think digital. We recently shared an article on the Digital Marketing Trends In Australia where Responsys identified email, social, web and mobile to be the hot spots for marketers to focus on over the next year. With the continued growth of digital and social media communication channels, marketers are going to need to continue to work at embracing a digital mindset. Media consumption across multiple devices will also continue to be a challenge to engage across multiple platforms. Many consumers are also using multiple devices at the same time (e.g watching TV and browsing on tablets such as the iPad) so brands that embrace these opportunities to connect with the consumer are likely to come out on top.
Real-time marketing on the go! 2013 is predicted to see a growth in marketing for the consumer away from home. There is likely to be a stronger focus on location based offers that are relevant to where the consumer is in real-time, offering them information and rewards on the go. Digital outdoor is also predicted to increase in demand. As digital panels become more prevalent, it provides consumers a way to interact via NFC or QR codes on their mobile devices.
All about touch. With the rise in tablet use and touch screens, the days of the trusty old desktop mouse are limited. Therefore, careful attention is needed in website design. Matt Britt the CEO of Mi9 says, “We are designing our sites so that no button is less that 44 pixel size – the size of your finger. It will be a tap, swipe friendly world.“(1)
Mobile growth. Faster internet with 4G will further increase web consumption on mobile devices. Interestingly a 200% growth of mobile advertising is anticipated in 2013. Also, expect brands to focus on website optimisation for mobile devices rather than specific mobile apps.
Video growth. As media consumption on tablets continues to grow, the expected growth rate for video advertising is 30% in 2013.
Online advertising to be Number 1. Online advertising is likely to surpass $3.5 bn in 2013. We will also be likely to see it with a primary share of 25-30% of the Australian advertising market (ahead of newspaper and TV).

Content is King

Investing in quality content. In 2013, social and quality content will impact on SEO more than just knowing about the tricks of the trade. Creating good content that is not only consumed but shared is key. It’s also time to ditch the marketing lingo. No one likes it (including marketers) and it is also not authentic. To improve customer engagement, brands will become more “human” and aim to be more relatable in through their communications. Don’t forget the basics either – check your spelling and grammar.
Emphasis on visual and typography. It’s not just all about written content. It is also the layout, typography and images used to bring it to life. Infographics will continue to become more widely used. Not only are a great way to display information, they also help to generate inbound links and are also shared via social media. Social media platforms like Pinterest help consumers digest information fast.
Social media integration. While social media accounts are free to setup, they do cost businesses a considerable amount when it comes to managing them and delivering content. Businesses will continue to seek out ways to integrate their social media efforts and focus on reaching customers in real-time. Given some of the high profile social media cases in 2012, in 2013 we may see the government push through social media legislation which would impact users and brands.
Rise of Google+. While Google+ hasn’t been overly popular amongst consumers and marketers it is not ‘just another social network’. It is a recommendations engine integrated with Google, the world’s most popular search engine. More marketers and authors will start embracing Google+ and reap the SEO benefits. To learn more about how Google+ helps SEO check out our article What Is Google Penguin written by James Richardson from Optimising.

Customer Centric Marketing

Engagement and authenticity. This will be a continued focus in 2013 for many marketers. The focus can’t just be on great products. Marketers need to turn their attention to consumers and their needs, creating engaging content for them and learning to embrace the social web. The customer experience and service delivered by brands will also continue to set them apart from competitors. The popularity of gamification is also anticipated to increase as brands trial ways to make marketing more enjoyable and engaging, instead of something to avoid.
What about me? Expectations of personalisation will also continue to increase so a customer centric approach will be important. Brands that discern the interests and create data driven personalisation (i.e. smart content) for customers will benefit. An example of a site that does it well is Amazon with it’s ‘Recommended for you’. Email is also likely change from being bulk sent to being more personalised, relevant and targeted. This is what gives rise to the next prediction.

All in the data

Big data and analytics = Market Intelligence. As in 2012, the focus on collecting, storing, analysing, understanding and delivering quality data to influence marketing decisions and campaigns from a variety of channels including internal databases, email and social will continue. As more tools become available to make big data more accessible for marketers to measure and automate this process, there will be an even stronger demand for reporting at a granular level and increased accountability. This is also likely to result in an increased importance placed on the protection of consumer privacy.
Talent shortage. Yes, marketers are great at being creative, however, do they have the analytical skills to back it up? The demand for big data and analytics is likely to see a shortage in talent which means marketers will need to upskill.

What are your predictions for 2013? We’re planning to review these predictions in December this year to see what eventuated and what didn’t. If you’d like to add to the list, go right ahead below!

Remember “the future is here, just not evenly distributed yet.” (Gibson)

Sources:
(1) http://www.bandt.com.au/opinion/predictions-for-2013
(2) http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/2013-Marketing-Trends.pdf
(3) http://digitalmarketinglab.com.au/index.php/2013/01/01/2013-digital-predictions-from-the-experts-some-of-my-own/
(4) http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/12/18/10-brand-marketing-trends-that-should-dominate-2013/
(5) http://socialmediatoday.com/oyunerdene-jenny-battulga/1097651/2013-digital-marketing-predictions

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Calie Salter

Managing Director at Marketing.com.au

Calie is passionate about all things psychology, marketing, web, social and research. She is also the Managing Director and Co-founder of the Melbourne based digital agency Clickify.