Top Ten Trends in Internet Marketing

From Larry Chase's Web Digest for Marketers comes the Top Ten Trends on Internet Marketing for the next ten years. That's quite a prediction, as we all know that the Internet world can totally change in a matter of 12 months in today's hyperspeed world.

Nonetheless, since many of the predictions will have a major impact on small business, I am citing the ten predictions here:

1. Pay Per Call Rings In: Pay per click used to be the height of technology, but in the near future expect pay-per-call to kick in, with clicks transforming into telephone calls to the advertiser.

2. Feed Marketing Flourishes: Expect to see ads in RSS feeds, podcast feeds and even in video feeds.

3. Email Marketing Will Survive: "Sp@m issues will recede dramatically, because they have to. Too much is at stake."

4. Agent, Personal Agent: "Watch for the growth of "agent software" to help you sift through the morass of online information. There's too much relevant stuff for mere humans to sift through now."

5. Reverb Marketing, In Stereo: "eMarketer points out that many Internet users already use multiple forms of media at once. Even as I write this I'm listening to CNBC in the background. Smart marketers will synchronize their messaging so the end user hears and sees complementary messages at or near the same time."

6. Blogs Go Multimedia: Blogs will start to offer content in audio and in video, not just text.

7. TVIP Adds Interactivity: Expect to see TV over the Internet (we already have it in pockets here and there). However, this kind of TV will be different from what we are used to, without as many ads and with more interactivity.

8. Commercial Content, On Demand: Marketing messages and ads will need to become so appealing that consumers actually want them. The old-style push marketing messages just are not working.

9. Publishing Faces Tectonic Shifts: Publishers will have to adjust their business models, perhaps by offering more free content online or special editions for online versus print.

10. Direct Marketers Will Take Over the Internet: This has already happened, although the tools are different. However, the laws of human nature that drive direct marketing have remained the same since Ben Franklin's time.

11. Internet-Free Zones Become the Hot New Trend (bonus tip): With the Internet becoming ubiquitous, expect to see travel packages with "Internet-free zones" as consumers try desperately to get away from it all.

The original article has a lot more detail, so my advice is to read the whole thing.