Experian report: Digital Trends 2013
Experian Marketing Services today published its Digital Trends 2013 report; a comprehensive analysis of how data and technology will impact the digital marketing environment in 2013 and the key trends for marketers to watch across social, search, mobile and email.
The report also explores the next big developments for Big Data, and how the digital revolution has impacted on consumer behaviour.
Key findings from the report include:
Social: measuring the immeasurable becomes reality
2013 will see the evolution and more mainstream adoption of tools that provide straightforward ways to measure the value to the business of social sharing. In turn, this will help businesses return to the challenge of creating the social media campaigns that are necessary for word of mouth to flourish.
Search: consumers will become increasingly dependent on search
Search engines are becoming more like content portals and less like navigational tools. Information is increasingly posted in search results keeping users on the search page rather than navigating away to a specific result. Experian believes this shift will increase consumers’ dependence on search yet further.
Mobile: optimise, optimise, optimise
Despite advertisements and POS urging consumers to search on the go and the rise of QR codes only a third of websites currently have optimised versions for mobile.
The report urges brands to turn this around in 2013 if they want to engage with consumers on the go. Experian warns that consumers will increasingly navigate away from clunky, non-functional and not even the quicker loading times of 4G will save a non-optimised website.
Email: personalised experiences based on data and real time content
The days of being able to send an email that contains content broadly tailored and see good levels of engagement are limited. In 2013 and beyond, brands will need to learn from each customer engagement and link transactional data together in a clever way.
The ability to update email content once it is in the inbox will also become an increasingly important trend in years to come, as consumers become increasingly used to real-time engagement with brands.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Ben Hammersley, the Prime Minister’s Ambassador to TechCity and leading internet technologist said: “We find ourselves in the middle of a revolution. The potential that digital technologies give us – commercial, social and intellectual – is unprecedented in human history.
“Over the next few years we will see a complete transformation of the way we live our lives, driven by the internet, the smart phone and new connected devices.”
Jon Buss, Managing Director, Digital, Experian Marketing Services, added: “Yesterday, it was all about having a great functioning website, today it’s about having a mobile optimised site – but I believe that tomorrow the focus will shift to mobile applications.
“Apps will quickly become the norm for consumers wanting to simplify their engagements with brands.”