I just barely remember a time when I would have taken that YellowBook inside and given it a loving home in the closet next to my mom’s cookbooks, extra light bulbs, and flashlight. Now, it’s propping up my snow shovel so it doesn’t tip over. For me, this visual is a strong reminder of the risk traditional marketers are taking when they don't look to the future and react to the marketplace.
It’s impossible to tell you exactly what will happen next year or even 5 years from now, but I do know this: outbound tactics that worked well-enough in 2009 for your business will not work 5 years later in 2014. Companies must continue to evolve with the marketplace or face extinction.
As Augie Ray, Sr. Social Computing Analyst at Forrester points out, “2009 we witnessed the most profound evolution the marketing world has seen in fifty years or more. The pace of change is not going to lessen in 2010. Core elements that have driven marketing practices for decades--such as messaging strategy, mass media, PR, advertising, and others--will continue to change rapidly.”
Could this be the year when Inbound Marketing crosses the chasm? It very well could be. The signs are all there: Big Brands like Pepsi and Dominos have traded in million-dollar advertisements and PR campaigns for online communities and social media. Fortune 500 CEOs are warning vendors that Outbound Marketing is annoying. Small Businesses are blowing their competition out of the water by 55%, simply because they blog.
To prepare you for the rapid changes that are sure to come, I’ve asked some members of HubSpot’s marketing team and even Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, to share their 2010 marketing predictions.
2010 Will Be the Year of Integrated Inbound Marketing.
The euphoria of social media marketing will turn into a hangover, followed by the epiphany that social media is just one tool, and the path to success is paved with a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy, not using individual tools. (@MVolpe)
Press Release Services Will Experience a Decline in Business.
As more companies adopt social media marketing practices and find more (free) ways to disseminate their news via social sites/networks, fewer will turn to press releases to distribute news and press release wire services will experience a decline in business. (@Pamelump)
Business Blogging Will Continue to Rise, Encouraged By Increased Awareness About Social Media
As PPC costs continue to rise, companies will begin to hunt actively for other, organic ways to boost ROI and target attractive keywords, eventually settling on blogging as a way to generate more organic leads. Social media will also help accelerate interest in business blogging next year. A recent report on Social Media Usage by the Center for Marketing research says that 44% of the Inc's fastest growing companies that do not currently maintain a blog, plan to start a business blog in 2010. Interestingly enough, in the same study, a whopping 91% of respondents also claimed that they use at least 1 social networking site for their business. I believe as companies begin to experience success using social networking tools, their desire to share and create their own content for these mediums will increase. (@shaxxon)
Inbound Marketing Will "Cross the Chasm"
2. Consumers will get even better at blocking out advertisements, email blasts, and cold calls.
3. Consumers will get even better at finding what they want in Google, blogs, and social media sites.
4. Google's growth will stall as Adwords becomes an "efficient" market.
5. Traditional advertising (tv, newspaper, radio) will shrink faster than in 2009.
6. PR & Advertising firms will either transform or start to go away.
7. Serious journalists like the NYTimes and Wall Street Journal will shrink, but will remain as relevant as ever.
8. Companies will start turn their marketing departments into production studios for creating content.
9. Companies will be even more transparent and even more authentic.
10. The economy will roar (not limp) back (@BHallign)
Google Will Disrupt the Mobile Industry Providing More Opportunities for Marketers.
Rumor has it, that Google will be putting their full force behind direct sales of a handset that works on the wireless network of your choice. They'll then take on Apple with their own Android app store by promoting it heavily. As more Android phones sell, they'll reduce the margins of all of the other maps players by giving away GPS-like maps and directions on your handset. They'll do all of this in order to move more local online advertising dollars to their pockets, leveraging their newly acquired mobile ad network.
For marketers that don't want to get left behind, you should start building mobile apps and positioning yourself on mobile networks. If you're a local business, you should get yourself in tune with Google's maps and local listing capabilities.(@Pc4Media)
In 2010, Content Director Is King.
The position of Content Director will be critical to any marketing department as they try to leverage existing resources (ie human, digital, content assistants) to communicate with prospects and customers (@JeanneHopkins)
Do you have a 2010 Marketing Prediction you'd like to share? Post it to Twitter with the hashtag #Marketing2010
Tweet Your Marketing Prediction for 2010!
Webinar: Rethinking Marketing
 | Want to learn more about how you can use inbound marketing to grow your business? Download the free webinar to learn how to turn your website into an internet marketing machine. |
Inbound Marketing Blog Feed
stephen polinsky 8:42 AM on December 30, 2009
I generally agree. We have been setting up a number of our clients with a publishing model for content creation and distribution so they can attract more visitors into the top of their lead funnels. The key to success is the resource of employees that are subject matter experts and willing to participate.
Matt Nelson 8:46 AM on December 30, 2009
Some very bold statements made in this article, but none that I don't agree with. My only comment to add to the information above is to reiterate the fact that Inbound Marketing isn't just about social media it's about creating a smart integrated mix of quantifiable marketing communications. @MVolpe hit it perfectly, future success will be through diversification not just the application of one tool over another one. The days of the marketing "magic bullet" are long gone.
Kim Kolb 9:04 AM on December 30, 2009
I am looking at 2010 as a turning point for us as a company and for our clients. We've been preaching Social Media, Inbound Marketing, and Blogging since July 09. People have decided they want to try... Will they put up or shut up in 2010? Will they listen to the people who make this their life? Will they shift from the traditional way they know how to do things to a way they have no tangible item to take away like a brochure? Will they trust the data that is so readily available to measure their success or failure. I am looking to 2010 as a year that people finally get it! I am willing to help them move on if they are ready.
I love the boldness! If you don't say it, who will.. Somebody has to take the first step of risk to help the others follow along!
Karen Massin 9:36 AM on December 30, 2009
Bold but fascinating article. I am currently reading the book "Inbound Marketing" by Brian Halligan and I love it. Indeed, as a sales trainer and coach I want to keep my company and our clients informed about the latest marketing trends.
Michael Feinberg 9:37 AM on December 30, 2009
I generally agree with all that was stated here(save the fact that the economy will roar back: I'd love to be optimistic, but there are too many negative factors stacked against this scenario). But also, one big item has been left out for businesses that are not local and not mainstream but niche: The industry publication. I think it will remain a dominant force like the NYT and WSJ for companies with products that are neither as big as Pepsi nor as small as the pizza place on the corner.
Here's to crossing that chasm!!
Annemieke van Herk 11:53 AM on December 30, 2009
Interesting list! Personally, I don't think the "mobile revolution" is going to happen in 2010, or even 2011 or 2012. For surfing the net, you can't beat a 19" screen or taller. And judging from the ever increasing size of TV screens, a lot more people don't like to view stuff on those teeny tiny screens.
What I would love to see is a kind of prediction market for marketing tools, allowing marketeers to bet money on certain tools. Would be very interesting to find out if people would be betting on the same things mentioned above...
Craig - VAClassroom.com 1:44 PM on December 30, 2009
Great predictions - I think for the most part they are spot on. One comment with regards to your prediction on Press Release Services. I agree that while traditional PR services are gradually declining, we will see the emergence of more innovative "Social Media Release" sites like PitchEngine.com providing new ways of sharing your news worthy content through many digital media channels.
Looking forward to a great year!
Randy Kirk 6:12 PM on December 30, 2009
Totally on target, but left out the two most important tools: YouTube as Social Media and Emails to drive folks to your blogs. Every one of my clients that get email blasts and YouTube are up 20% or more this year.
MArk Gibson 12:36 AM on December 31, 2009
Hi Mary Ann, Great post, I too had a similar experience when the YP arrived this month...it was like an artefact from a lost civilization. Even though I live in a small town in the UK, I use Google for finding phone numbers and local services.
I disagree that 2010 will be the inflection point for Inbound Marketing. Certainly it will be a big year, however according to the Diffusion of Innovation (Everett Rogers) - who also refutes the existence of a chasm, the inflection point occurs when about 15-18% of the market has adopted the innovation and we have a long way to go before this happens. I think we'll see continued use of discrete tools, significant social media innovation and further integrated platform contenders emerge.
Good luck in 2010.
Jim 5:46 PM on December 31, 2009
Still, that is a mighty thick book. The outbound world has lots of legs . . . and dollars. It will happen, but 2010 seems a bit ambitious.
Luiz Carlos Conte 9:06 PM on January 05, 2010
I've alredy just finished the book. A master of piece. Inbound marketing is the knowledge to put togheter the new consumer's behavior and the tools to put our bussinees in their way, being there when they need us.
I'm from Brasil and in here the people are so excited about SEO that they didn't hear about Inbound Marketing, and i'm maybe the only Inbound Marketing Agency in the country. Hope a lot of oportunitties in those next years.
Inbound Marketing changes the paradigma.
Hope you too.