Looking back on 2010

As I sit in a very crowded airport, I find myself reflecting back on this past year. For the Interactive Marketing/Search industry, 2010 was very active with mergers/acquisitions, partnerships, innovation and constant change. Although it’s been a wild ride, as we look toward 2011, advertisers should leverage the knowledge learned this past year and prepare for what’s ahead.

Here is a sampling of some of the more eventful happenings from this year:

    * Google Caffeine, Instant & Preview
    * Partnership between Yahoo & MSN/Bing
    * Promoted Tweets
    * Facebook Pages to “Like” not ‘Friend/Follow”
    * LinkedIn Company Page Feature for “Products/Services”
    * iPad and entry of the Tablet
    * Introduction of Droid and Windows Phone
    * Remarketing Ads
    * Invasion of all things Mobile
    * Enhanced features (extensions) in AdWords for more robust ads.

As we finish out the year and prepare 2011 marketing budgets and goals, here are the areas I predict will be on most company’s radar:

    * Measuring Social Media Results and Monetization of Those Efforts
    * Crafting Multi-Device, Robust Mobile Strategy Beyond Basic Visibility
    * Improving on Analytics and Integration With Other Important Data
    * Refining Paid Search Campaigns – More Experimentation With Other Engines, Portals, Networks, etc.
    * Multi-Channel Strategy Development & Execution … Holistic Marketing
    * Content Maximization for Enhanced SEO Value
    * Experimentation – Multivariate Testing
    * Identification of Metrics & Goals

As an incentive to companies who are looking to get a Jumpstart on 2011, we are offering 10% off any consulting program initiated by December 31, 2010. Let us help with a laser-like focus on search and interactive marketing.