5 Web Trends for 2010:
Where Are We Headed?

This past year was a rollercoaster for interactive marketing. Social media was moving up, budgets were moving down, and the industry as a whole continued to evolve at the speed of sound. As the year comes to an end, the Boston Interactive team has a few predictions about what to expect in 2010.

Websites get bigger. As websites continue to increase their importance as an organization’s storefront, the demand for immersive, brand-extending web experiences will correspondingly grow. It’s even more vital for consumer brands to embrace this shift in user expectations. Users expect to see highly image-based, animated screens or video. Take it from www.gap.com which recently added videos of their jeans to their website so that users get a more comprehensive look at the fit and style of the jeans. Website design will shift towards big imagery, big headers, and even extended footers. In addition, the “above-the-fold” standard will become obsolete as web users adjust to scrolling.

Web 2.0 is out. Finally! The term "web 2.0" will be phased out. This vague and all-encompassing term that was overused in 2008 and 2009. For some, “web 2.0” was a design style with gloss and sheen, or the idea of the internet as a platform for collaboration, or the functional integration of social applications. We’ve moved on to reference specific functional elements, design styles, or interactive applications rather than leaning on one term to represent all of these.

Social media gets serious. While marketers were still adjusting to social media in 2008 and 2009, the upcoming year will demand that marketers put a social strategy at the forefront. In order to succeed in the “social marketing” space, marketers need to approach it with the mindset that this is a complete departure from traditional marketing. Marketers can learn from the brands that have led smart, creative campaigns through social platforms like IKEA’s Photo Tagging contest, Vitaminwater’s new flavor contest, and the (RED) campaign’s World Aids Day campaign. Be prepared to allocate marketing staff to these new channels.

Mobile is mainstream. There are now more mobile phones than personal computers. However, only one in five Americans has a smartphone. The marketers challenge in 2010 will be aligning the discrete mobile channel with the target audience and considering the choice between SMS (text message), ads, applications, and location-based advertising. While ads might be the answer for some companies, most are finding the most value in Apps. Apps offer what ads cannot – an involved experience. In addition, Google’s acquisition of the mobile advertising network AdMob for $750 million is a clear endorsement that Google sees enormous potential in “location-based marketing” - a market that's still small. AdMob’s founder and CEO sees the real potential in location-based advertising on mobile phones.

Designers become Data Analysts. With Adobe’s acquisition of Omniture, the tools that are used to create websites (photoshop, etc) are going to be fused with measurement and analytics tools, giving designers and developers more optimization capabilities. This closed-loop way of designing, delivering, engaging, and analyzing will enable companies to realize greater ROI from their digital media investments and improve the end users experiences.

Overall, we are seeing a significant shift to interactive marketing because of it’s opportunities for engagement, information, and measurement. Web users expect informational, compelling websites and interactive applications that are then used by brands to maintain an engaging relationship and deliver value. Keep an eye out for more creative, intelligent interactive applications that are created more for engagement than sales. Is your interactive strategy ready for 2010?

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

- From all of us a BI: Chuck, Scott, Jackie, Jim K., Virginia, Sara, Slim Jim, Matt, Karolina, Dan, My Lien, Lynn, Andrea, Lewis, Mike G, Mike R, Jim B., Roderick, Paul, Michelle, Susan, Jason, and Victoria!

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