1. Community of Customers
Socialization is big. Looking at your customers as a community of individuals with whom you are having a conversation is what today’s personalized marketing is all about. Taking this trend to the next level are technologies like Bazaarvoice and PowerReviews who are actually seeking to exponentially increase the conversation in your community of customers through reviews and honest information exchanged about products on eCommerce web sites.
2. Green Living (what I like to call the Green Revolution!)
The demand for eco-friendly, environmentally sustainable products and services will only grow over time. This market area tends to span demographics and really can’t be pinpointed to one specific area. While there is growing interest in these products across the board from a consumer standpoint, there is also growing interest by savvy marketers on how best to capitalize on this trend. My bet is you’ll be seeing more and more about “green” living in marketing campaigns in the very near future.
If terms like photovoltaic, hydroelectric and carbon neutral are foreign concepts, check out treehugger where a pretty cool group of individuals are on a mission to make the whole concept of “green living” mainstream.
3. Affluent Women
According to The Media Audit, affluent working women with family incomes of $75,000 or more are growing in number, and 94.3 percent access the internet during an average month. Not only are they growing in numbers but they are web savvy and actively look for information, resources and products on the web. Gearing marketing efforts to capture this market is a must for 2007. Reaching these women takes skill and credibility. They are well-educated, enjoy quite a bit of purchasing power, are comfortable making decisions and are looking for experiences that are real.
Here are some of the best places I've found to get very pertinent and targeted information about affluent women and marketing to women in general. These women really know their stuff!
- Marketing to Women Online
- Wonder Branding
- How to Reach Women
- Diva Marketing
- Learned on Women
- Lip Sticking
4. Word of Mouth Marketing
Everyone wants to create buzz! A Lucid Marketing study, "U.S. Adults: Word of Mouth Communications" concluded the following…
- women are more likely than men to share a positive experience with a business
- full-time employees made substantially more daily contacts than those not in the workforce
- people with household earnings of more than $100,000 were more likely to make recommendations than those earning less.
The biggest dilemma in word of mouth marketing is how to accurately track word of mouth marketing (WOMM) campaigns. There’s a new on demand service called buzzlogic that tracks and measures where your campaign is being talked about (web sites and blogs) and who is doing the talking (bloggers).
Just a note… There IS a bit of a debate about the difference between “buzz” and “viral” marketing among word of mouth marketers.
Thnaks for the shout out to Diva Marketing. I think your 2007 trends are right on target. Watch for more vlogs and more acquisitions.
These trends actually have been around for a while, yet recently are making greater strides. Amazon.com is the biggest social online retailer and has been around for quite some time, so has the word of mouth concept. I’d like to see more on Green Living this year. I found the women marketing topic highly interesting.
Excellent post! Thanks!