photo credit: David Boyle

One online marketing expert has made his predictions for the major areas of interest in the sector set to dominate the New Year.

Hit Search founder Andrew Redfern said that copywriting skills will become “more important than ever” in 2011 as quality of content starts to be the decider in many online advertising campaigns.

He said that marketing teams will have to raise the bar when it comes to their knowledge skills, as they respond to the increasingly fragmented nature of the online marketing arena.

A third area in which online marketing is due to develop is in terms of planning, he went on. The new ability on search engines such as Google to carry out localised searches and focus on cross-platform resources, ­­­means that online advertising campaigns will need to be better integrated over the next 12 months if they are to be successful.

The final major area of development in the world of online marketing in 2011 will be cross-platform marketing, as previously alluded to. Mr Redfern stressed that “HTML5 will allow for a more strategic view to function over multiple platforms.”

When it comes to SEO marketing, he said that the localisation of Google would have a significant effect over the next 12 months, with more complex systems of management and delivery required. The year will see the “blurred lines” between SEO and social media such as Facebook and Twitter becoming even more so, especially as local additions are placed on Google and other search engines.

Google itself is likely to remain the number one search engine, although as the year progresses the likes of Bing and Yahoo will be clawing back a small amount of the market, Mr Redfern predicted.

However, Facebook is also set to launch its own search listings in 2011, again with the focus on localisation.

An internet expert said today that online marketing professionals – and indeed all marketing professionals – need to raise their game and prepare for the vast potential of social media.

Dan Oliver, who is the editor-in-chief of .net magazine, admitted that at the moment it is early days for online advertising and marketing via social media such as Facebook and, increasingly, Twitter, but stressed that over the next few years, the size and importance of the social media market is set to grow exponentially.

The tentative nature of the sector is one of its biggest attractions, Mr Oliver argued.

“At the moment there’s little best practice in this area, which means most companies and social media specialists are still in a period of experimentation,” he said – adding that businesses reliant on their web presence would be “crazy” to ignore online marketing through as many media as possible.

“Even the most traditional forms of marketing, such as print brochures, can now be enhanced and personalised via digital campaigns,” he noted.

The magazine editor also said that although there is no established best practice right now for businesses seeking to exploit social media, this will change as the medium itself matures.

Mr Oliver made his remarks following the 2011 Travel Report by Bigmouthmedia, which revealed that the holiday sector is defying challenging economic conditions to ramp up its investment in online advertising and marketing.

Recent statistics from the USA illustrate how popular social media is becoming on the internet – with social networking now accounting for 22 per cent of all time spent online.

The Office of Fair Trading has warned companies that sponsor Twitter messages and blog posts that they must disclose their intentions as online marketing promotions or face possible fines and censure.

The watchdog took its first action this week, after finding that a London-based online advertising firm broke the OFT rules on disclosure. The 18-month old firm Handpicked Media was the target of the regulator’s wrath yesterday, but the incident raised questions as to whether it is now set to go after other online marketing companies that are just beginning to explore the potential of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Although the OFT has not revealed whether it now plans to make online marketing companies apply the rules governing disclosure for newspapers and magazines to the Internet, its decision will nevertheless be seen as a precedent giving more power to the elbow of the Advertising Standards Authority, which will take over internet regulatory duties in March next year.

In a statement, the OFT said: “The OFT has received undertakings from Handpicked Media, an operator of a commercial blogging network, requiring them to clearly identify when promotional comments have been paid for.

“In taking this enforcement action the OFT has confirmed its view that online advertising and marketing practices that do not disclose they include paid-for promotions are deceptive under fair trading laws. This includes comments about services and products on website blogs and microblogs such as Twitter.”

The world of online advertising will surely now be watching developments with interest.

Picture the scene your SEO work is going well your happy with the conversion rates of your google AdWords campaigns. Your site is generating good levels of traffic and sales. 

How else do you improve your e commerce sites ?

One source totally un tapped by lots of companies and being used by more and more companies is You tube. If used correctly You tube can be used to generate large levels of relevant traffic to your website and help provide a more informed view to any potential customers on your website. The use of “un boxing style videos” are a fantastic way of providing a detailed view of a product. If this video was used with the purpose of informing the customer of a particular product and also showing exactly what the item looked like your improving the customer experience.

The informed customer knows exactly what item they are going to purchase and doesn’t have to rely on stock photographs used by other retailers.  Alongside any standard image should be a informative video that shows in detail the item being sold this has been proven to improve bounce rates  and costs to conversions. When it comes to the crunch a more informative site that lists an item has a much better chance of generating a sale and new customer.

There is no doubt certain retail industries will benefit more than others that goes without question. A industry such as promotional gifts it suited perfectly to this not only can you see a stock image on the page but you can also see a video detailing how exactly a personalised golf ball for example will look with a logo printed in black and white or colour. Quite frankly the scope is massive and it is only a matter of time before industies such as promotional gifts have each of there items listed and videos optimised for the search listings taking advantage of this huge marketing niche online.

What video and especially personalised company video shows more importantly to new customers is that you care about your customers and want to inform them totally on any purchase. It is something worth seriously considering for 2011 to keep ahead of the pack online.

An online marketing expert said this week that the future looks bright for the sector thanks to the increasing use of apps among owners of smartphones, iPhones and iPads.

Renegade Media account manager Dave Barton said that the growing popularity of mobile apps is set to vastly increase the number of opportunities available for online marketing and more chances than ever to interact with the target audience.

Mr Barton said that mobile apps presented “unique and innovative ways” for online advertisers to promote their brand and reach out to customers.

He urged online marketing professionals to focus on the human interaction facet of mobile apps, however, rather than the techie side of things.

“What I feel is most important is that marketers don’t lose sight of adding value to the consumer experience – they shouldn’t just exploit technology for its own sake,” he insisted.

There have been many reports recently stressing the importance to online marketing of the new wave of mobile devices and the apps that accompany them. In October, the Mobile Marketing Association published research stating that 47 per cent of consumers in the UK that respond to online advertising on their iPad or smartphone then go on to buy a product or service.

Indeed, online marketing is generally expanding, according to figures published yesterday by ZenithOptmedia Group.

The group said that businesses across the world are forecasting an overall 4.6 per cent increase in spending on online advertising, with the USA, Japan and China being the three countries who are set to spend the most.