Marketing Trends

 
According to a HubspotVideo content can be a valuable asset in your inbound marketing content mix. In fact, by 2020, 90% of internet traffic is expected to be video.

There is no doubt that traditional advertising is slowly fading out and that social media marketing is stronger than ever.

I still feel that direct marketing has its place in any marketing plan but social media marketing is like the visible tip of the iceberg and one of the marketing trends that any entrepreneur should hone!
Online Marketing Trends for 2013As time goes, the tip of the iceberg is showing more and more of its surface with Video Marketing taking a unprecedented place on the online landscape.

Of all these online marketing strategies, here my top 4 marketing trends to watch out for:

Word of Mouth Marketing

WoM marketing is an unpaid form of advertising and the ultimate sales tool. It is accessible to all businesses and online entrepreneurs and is more likely to get you new customers or clients than traditional advertising methods. Best of all, Word of mouth marketing is free since it consists of referrals and testimonials of current customers or clients.

If you are just starting out, why not provide your services for free or offer some of your products for free. If you are not sure how to get referrals, check out this quick video below by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Content Marketing

Blogging and content creation should be the core of your activities by now. Small businesses owners and entrepreneurs need to create more content on their blogs, write new ebooks, publish white papers, create infographics and shoot content-rich videos.

Social media platforms are merely distribution platforms and shouldn’t be the base of your original content, whereas your blog is!  We already can see this trend being confirmed since Facebook page updates are reaching less and less people unless you pay for advertising (ie. sponsored posts).

Need some help with Content Marketing?
22 Content Pros Help You Master Content Marketing

Experts like Mike Stelzner, Joe Pulizzi and Michael Hyatt reveal their content marketing tactics at Content Success Summit. Online event.

Video Marketing

“…90% of internet traffic is expected to be video”. This is HUGE!  

Video marketing is much more than YouTube, it is a way of engaging with your readers/viewers in a very interactive way. You can upload (or embed) your videos on your blog, include them in a course that you sell and of course you should share your videos on all social media platforms to promote the great content you have on your blog.

You´ve probably noticed it yourself, you may be more inclined to watch a short video than reading a blog post. Nowadays, we want things to be simple, fast and that catches our attention from the first few seconds, otherwise, we just go somewhere else. So we need to learn to grab our readers’ attention fast, very fast!
YouTube Videos

Community Building Marketing

If you are a brand new entrepreneur, my advice would be to join as many groups and forums (relevant to your own audience) and see how people interact, how they share information, recommend products or services and then learn from the more experienced members.

If you are a more experienced entrepreneur, then you should start your own online tribe/community. The level of interaction will be greater if you are able to dedicate enough time every day to your community. And as always, you get what you give!

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Please note that none of these marketing trends are new but these are the 4 trends that I’ll be watching and focusing on this year.

Can you see something else coming up? Please share in the comment box below any other marketing trends that you think will be prominent in the coming months and share this article to your friends around the world!