subject: Top 5 Predictions in 2010 [print this page] How can advertisers more effectively target key audiences? How can non-profits grow in a time when penny-pinching donors are closing their wallets? These are a few of the many challenges we faced in 2009. In our 2010 Trend Report, we have explored these many other topics to deliver a comprehensive list of key trends, statistics, insights and predictions. We have selected the top 5 predictions that will help you think more strategically and creatively whether youre a marketer or non-profit owner about what we can expect in 2010: 1. Web of Intelligence
Everyday we are bombarded with a seemingly endless stream of information and we need clarity. The average American receives 5,000 advertising messages per day and there are an estimated 200 million blogs. How can brands reach target audiences more effectively and how can consumers find relevant content? We should expect web intelligence tools to enable advertisers to target audiences based on user opinions on particular issues. Based on browsing history, advertisers (think Facebook) could target psychographics and lifestyle, not just demographics. For web users, 2010 should be the year of relevance. With personalized search and Google Magic, technology should adapt to each individual user and learn from their browsing history to deliver highly relevant content. 2. Agile Development Often times, large, bureaucratic organizations get too caught up in the process. All thinking and no doing leads to nowhere. Agile development is about innovating on a dime. For industry leaders, it means focusing on product development and implementation over strategy. Google thrives on agile development. The search giant is a strong proponent of alpha and beta testing. They work with the community (whether its developers and / or users) mid-stream to refine and perfect the product. Over the past decade, Google has developed over 40 unique products, including Gmail to Blogger to Wave. And the open-source web browser FireFox saw a 40 percent growth in 2009. We should expect more companies to adopt this alpha and beta testing and open-source development method in 2010. 3. Crowdsourcing
Nobody wants to think of themselves as a lemming or, that their efforts are an inconsequential drop in the bucket. With the advent of the internet, though, crowdsourcing has changed the way we look at the crowd. The crowd-funding non-profit, Kiva reached the $100 million in 2009 just four years after its inception. And the crowd built upon discounts, Groupon, boasts over 500,000 members. Dells IdeaStorm, GMs FastLane blog, 99Designs are all leveraging the crowd to innovate and create impact. However, blur Group might have tapped into the next evolution of crowdsourcing select sourcing. Select sourcing is about hand-picking and curating your crowd members. Moreover, blur Group believes select-sourcing creates transparency by establishing a competitive pricing model, while providing value and perspective that cant be attained at even the largest agencies. We should anticipate more quality crowds (via select-sourcing) and more... To read more about 2010 predictions, go to Sparxoo, a digital marketing, branding and business development blog.
