The document outlines 10 marketing trends to watch in 2011, including customer engagement becoming a permanent focus, the growing importance of data integration across online and offline sources, and the maturation of social media marketing from experimental to fully integrated strategies. It also notes trends like the increasing sophistication of marketing analytics capabilities, challenges in customer segmentation approaches, and the explosion of mobile marketing as smartphone adoption grows.

1. 10 Marketing Trends to watch in 2011March 2010

2. 10 Marketing Trends: Overview1/24/20112Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010We recently completed a new point-of-view for our firm which outlines how we think marketing will be changing in the next few years. It’s surprising how many times we’ve revised it in just a month, so my top 10 predictions for next year will probably change just as quickly.Given that disclaimer… Here’s what I see as the big issues facing marketers in 2011. Kenyon Blunt, CEO@KenyonBlunt

3. Trend #1 Customer engagement is not a passing fad.Customer engagement is described as customers engaging with one another or with a company - which can happen either online or offline. 1/24/20113Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010There have been similar terms in the past, such as “customer intimacy,” but engagement won’t be a short-term fad.It’s here to stay because customers now engage directly with one another often before they engage with a company.And this new step in the sales process is here to stay.

4. Trend #2Data integration becomes mission critical. 1/24/20114Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Now that there’s so much more data with the advent of social media, marketers must look beyond their traditional sources of data warehousing. The process of integrating online & offline data is becoming increasingly complex. To put it in perspective, Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, recently said that “we create as much information in two days now as we did from the dawn of man through 2003.” Marketers will need to create customer hubs which integrate data from all sources so it can be analyzed and used to make a multitude of business decisions (see Customer Intelligence Trends to Watch in 2001 at www.forrester.com.)

5. Trend #3 Marketing analytics are red hot.1/24/20115Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010If you think about it, this avalanche of data is also fueling the growth of analytics.After all, the goal is not to collect data, but to develop insights.The social conversations are giving marketers an unending stream of incoming data, but marketers need advanced analytical capabilities to identify, analyze and describe patterns amidst all the digital garbage.Unfortunately, people who are skilled at doing this are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Many marketers will look to outsource this function from their database marketing service providers, consulting firms and boutique analytics service providers.

6. Trend #4 Social media marketing will mature.1/24/20116Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 20102010 was the year social media exploded onto the marketing scene. In 2011, it will evolve from experimental campaigns to social tactics that are fully integrated into the overall marketing strategy.The social media marketing process will become a never-ending cycle of 1) research 2) planning, 3) engagement and 4) measurement.Even advanced strategies like listening platforms will move beyond their primary functions of customer service and brand monitoring when social data becomes connected to other forms of customer data.

7. Trend #5 Segmentation becomes a schizophrenic.1/24/20117Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Dave Frankland, in the aforementioned analysis by Forrester, said that “today’s firms are schizophrenic about customer segmentation.” *Brand and research teams use cohorts. Customer experience professionals prefer personas, and the analytics staff likes clusters.Expect some change in these approaches as marketers begin to overlay various segments as a first step to creating a more holistic picture of the customer. However, Frankland points out that in order to do this, “the internal political minefield will be equally important.”* Forrester Research: Customer Intelligence Trends to Watch in 2011

8. Trend #6 “Touchpoint Attribution” emerges as the new buzzword for 2011.1/24/20118Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Multichannel marketing was the hot topic in 2009.But if you think about it, multichannel marketing can only be effective if it’s measured. It also means that multichannel marketers have to become a lot more sophisticated by doing more than allocating sales to the most recent customer interaction.Other are calling this “fractional attribution” but the goal is the same, to understand the relative value of different channels and gauge the success of marketing programs accordingly.

9. Trend #7Technology vendors are blurring the distinction between products and services. 1/24/20119Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010The technology vendor landscape is transforming quickly.Consolidation by big service companies (e.g. IBM’s purchase of Coremetrics, Netezza and Unica) means they will increasingly offer a smorgasbord of services and products.This is making it very difficult for marketers to determine who does what. Marketers typically prefer best-of-breed solutions, but vendors push for integrated online suites runs. Expect moreconfusion, not less, in 2011.

10. Trend #8 Mobile marketing explodes.1/24/201110Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010A number of things happened in 2010 that set the stage for an explosion of mobile marketing in 2011. Apple’s iPhone, Google’s introduction of Android, and Apple’s launch of the Ipad mean that smartphone adoption has escalated. Mobile marketing can now move beyond mobile messaging; mobile email, mobile websites and mobile applications will become viable channels for marketers. The explosion will happen when the new devices, fast networks and new location-based technologies converge.

11. Trend #9 Privacy wars heat up. 1/24/201111Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Online marketing relies on a dirty secret - it needs cookies to track and target behavior. But consumers are rising up and demanding change. So much so, that legislation is now looming in Congress.Privacy experts don’t believe it will pass in 2011, but you can expect to see a much stronger emphasis on self-regulation. Facebook and Google are continually adjusting their business models as a result.As marketing becomes more social and mobile, privacy issues won’t be going away anytime soon.

12. Trend #10“Right Touching” makes sense.Multichannel marketing will continue to increase as more channels are in the marketer’s toolbox. Measuring these touches are important (as noted in Trend # 7) but selecting the right ones in the first place will get more attention. 1/24/201112Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Another new buzzword, right touching, describes the process of selecting the right online and offline channels that best meet customer’s preferences. To do multichannel marketing with the right touchpoints means that marketers will need to invest in technologies to support this in an automated fashion.

13. Parting Thoughts.These trends will continue to evolve in 2011… Perhaps they already have.How will you work with your marketing partners to ensure you stay educated on the latest marketing trends and technologies.1/24/201113Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Are you prepare to evolve with the ever changing marketing landscape? Or are you guessing which marketing tactics will work best for you?

14. Engaging your customersthrough analytics, strategy and technology1/24/201114Confidential © SIGMA Marketing Group 2010Our Blog: FifthGearAnalytics.comWeb: SigmaMarketing.comTwitter: @SIGMA_MktgGrpCall Toll Free: 888.277.9837Email: SIGMAinfo@sigmamarketing.comChamelion Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.Net / africaMobile Marketing Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.Net / Salvatore VuonoRight Touching Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.Net / renjithkrishnan