We've tapped into the MarketingProfs' LinkedIn Group to ask smart marketers–who roll up their sleeves everyday to solve marketing challenges–to gaze deeply into their marketing crystal balls in order to provide us with what they believe we will see in 2010 marketing. Eleven marketers from all backgrounds, industries, and expertise obliged us with some very interesting predicitions!
Give 'em a read and let us know if you agree, disagree or–even better–what you would add?


Integrated marketing: There will be greater emphasis on integrating print and electronic marketing tactics. The jump to Web 2.0 has been astronomical, yet many marketers will realize that print still has an important role to play.
-Elaine Fogel, marketing and communications consultant
Social Media: Now that many (or at least some) organizations have multiple areas playing in the social space the question becomes how to ensure that redundancies are kept at a minimum and there is synergize among initiatives. For example, if is there is a formalized monitoring program are all business units engaged with the same vendor to ensure consistency of data? Are there processes in place to ensure cross functional communication? Who has responsibility to ensure that all digital/social customer touch points are on point with the brand promise? One solution is a Social Media VP who sits at the C-table level, who serves as a sherpa, is responsible for coordinating overall direction, monitoring and most importantly has the blessings of the CEO.
- Toby Bloomberg, Social Media and Marketing Consultant
Integrated Marketing Communications: I see 2010 trends pointing to more intimate "conversations" between companies and their customers through as many integrated marketing communications channels as makes sense to get everyone involved in the conversation. No one marketing "tool" is dead but just needs to be used more creatively in the mix.
Data & Analytics: Tapping into customer data and campaign analytics and utilizing them for more personalized interactions is hugely underrated. More emphasis should be placed on using this goldmine of info in 2010 and beyond.
Social Media: Acceptance that consumer's expectations are for companies to communicate with them about what they want, when they want and how they want. It's no longer about control. It's about quality relationships.
-Anna Barcelos, Director, Marketing Strategy & Analytics at Mercury
Integrated Marketing: It's no secret that consumers demand relevant marketing communications. As consumers become increasingly mobile, the discipline of marketing must evolve. In 2010, marketers will see an increased demand from consumers for multi-channel marketing communications with the relevance, targeting, and addressability that is facilitated by direct digital marketing.
- Casey Barto, Public Relations Manager at Knotice
Advertising: Tailored campaign microsites with unique url's will be abandoned (hopefully) and social media networks will become destination sites / pages for product launches. e.g. Facebook.com/new product
- Andy Wright, Marketing Director - Men's at ACP Magazines
Marketing & Sales: 2010 will be the year when the practice of allowing sales and marketing to operate as separate, conflicting silos ends once and for all. The problem of "sales-marketing alignment" will disappear, because the urgency to get online and social marketing right, coupled with the challenging economy, will force the issue. Anyone in sales, and anyone in marketing, who does not get with the new team approach will be canned. It's already happening. (This may not be pleasant, but it's necessary and overdue.)
- Steve Parker, CEO at Parker Communications
Search Engine Optimization: You'll see more and more companies/organizations moving to blogs as their primary web presence. Dynamic content streams own the web.
- Benjamin Zalasky, Owner, Rockhopper Digital
Marketing: We are looking at a minimum of 18 months of extreme pain for retailers, sales professionals and municipalities, all connected, obviously, but the lack of discretionary spending. The received wisdom: stay strong, stay visible in the downturn to be among the first to enjoy the recovery. The lines between disciplines--advertising, marketing, sales, PR--are all quite blurry. We better reinvent our approach with innovate unique programs at realistic price points, or we will all be looking to reinvent ourselves.
- Deborah Barry, Member, Zoning Board of Appeals at Village of Deer Park
Marketing: Businesses will require being real or die faking it. Not as much push marketing/sales as we know it and more of a draw like a butterfly to a flower. Consumers are now able to look behind the closed doors and see our companies for what they are, good or bad. More power in the hands of the consumer requires all of us to own up more to what we say we are and what we do.
- Derek Wardwell, Owner of KreativExpert
Marketing & Marketing Research: Social Media is changing the way we approach market research. The world of market research is undergoing a period of continuous transformation. Niche international marketing in this open economy shall gain priority. The concept of integrated marketing based on creating value shall be the comparative benchmarking factor. Strategic planning on resource allocation shall focus on risk free established mega trends. Servitization of service sector & diversification of products shall be the marketing focus.
- Joy Chak, MBA, BBM
Mobile Marketing: 2010 will be the year that *true* mobile marketing takes off. The iPhone is the most popular consumer electronics hardware in history (Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley recently produced the evidence at the Web 2.0 Summit in SF), and has set off a competition that is bringing the best of the rich-media, high-speed world wide web (and even more with unique mobile apps, etc) to peoples handhelds with the additions of Droid, Palm Pre and other cool new devices on the way. This is making marketing to consumers' handhelds much more attractive, interesting, and downright feasible. SMS is "short", "plain", and even worse -- expensive for both advertisers AND customers who are charged to receive these messages. Now that brands will have more sophisticated mobile communication options that also cost their customers nothing, expect a huge new wave of investment and interest in all forms of mobile marketing. Google's $750MM acquisition of AdMob earlier this week represents just the tip of the iceberg. In the year ahead, we'll see, among other fascinating developments:

• Major growth of ad networks optimized for mobile with geo-targeting


• Revival of Email as "the Killer App", now with the ability to engage consumers anywhere at anytime, not just while they're at their desks (and replacing those costly and boring SMS campaigns)


• Explosion in digital video consumption (and corresponding opps for marketers to buy valuable pre-roll, interstitial and post-roll video advertisements). 2009 saw huge growth in digital video consumption on the PC; but with the rapid rise of high-speed access on handhelds, expect the number to grow exponentially in the months ahead.