Drew Davies: Online Marketing Predictions for 2008
With some major shake-ups in the Online Marketing world over the last twelve months, 2008 looks set to be a balance of new strategy and contingency. As PPC advertisers grow in number, an increasingly crowded marketplace will force some to experiment with more niche engines to ensure a return while the search engines will all be tweaking their natural algorithms every which way they can (Google patenting new image reading technology for example). 2008 is going to be a year of surprises, but let’s see if we can foresee a few trends: 

Email
With the effort and skill it takes to ensure email lists are clean and the communications get through, we might see more companies providing an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) / blog alternative to email broadcasts allowing technically savvy recipients to source the info as they want it, avoiding “inbox overload” with a demographic quick to unsubscribe.  

PPC (Pay Per Click Advertising)
Yahoo’s much needed PPC Platform update last year has paved the way for Advertisers - distrustful of the clunky old system - to head back for a look, especially if they’re finding it increasingly expensive over at Google. Yahoo’s new Platform is in some ways a carbon copy of Adwords, however there are cheap clicks for the diligent, and the similarity between the two systems will make it easier to duplicate PPC campaigns across the Engines.  

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Future Proofing for SEO has always seemed an oxymoron, but 2008 will be the year sustainability gets serious. Forward thinking companies with a history of search engine marketing should look at their on-going strategy to ensure a synergy between process and results. Can in-house or agency teams make effective changes quickly (especially after Algorithmic updates)? How will new copy evolve and be optimised? What are the long term link-bait goals? 

Link Building
With Google stepping up the war on link buying, Link Builders will branch off into two camps – increasingly covert campaigns on one side and transparent link strategies on the other. Covert will mean closed door link “arrangements” between sites, especially in engineering those all important editorial links. Of course there are high risks to this approach, which leads us nicely to the more ethical option…  

ePR (Online PR)
Already a vital tool when building online influence for our clients, 2008 will see ePR recognised as that must-have ingredient when sourcing links from highly credible websites and blogs. Avoiding the money-for-links trap, ePR puts the emphasis on relationships and trust, connecting key influencers with content and opportunities for mutually beneficial results.

1/7/2008 2:57:44 PM (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)    Comments [0] 

 


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