10 digital trends for 2011 & beyond + who’s leading the way

It’s always a big ask to keep on top of the ‘latest and greatest’ when it comes to online, with new platforms, apps and technology being launched before you’ve even got your head around last week’s offering. Future trends are upon us before you can say “If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour… you’re gonna see some serious shit.” (Dr Emmett Brown, Back to The Future)

So let’s take a bigger picture look at the future with this round-up of 10 of the key online and digital trends for the rest of 2011 and beyond; plus, thrown in for a little inspiration, we’ve included a few case studies of how early-adopter companies around the globe are putting emerging trends into practice…

1 – Cash-Less

What a payphone will mean to you in the future is going to change. The long predicted cashless economy is becoming more than just a digital reality.

• In March 2011 Denmark Post launched digital stamps, purchased by text message. A code is sent to the user which can be written on the envelope instead of a traditional stamp.
• In January 2011 Starbucks launched Mobile Card payment across the US. Customers purchase their mobile app which creates a unique 2D barcode they scan at the counter to pay.
• McDonalds announced they will be fitting their 7,000 European outlets with POS touch screens and swipe cards replacing human cashiers – and along the same lines, Burger King is trialing Vias’s payWave system.
• Samsung in alliance with Lloyds, TSB Bank and Visa are selling smartphones to be used during the London 2012 Olympic Games for contactless payments in over 60,000 locations.
• In May 2011 Google Wallet was launched, an Android app that turns your ph into a payment device. Using NFC technology users pay by tapping their phone on a Mastercard paypass terminal.

2 – Getting Embed With Customers

Using stories to increase the emotional attachment to a product is not a new concept. However what’s set to increase is the trend of using technology for embedded engagement, giving customers richer and more detailed ways to engage with companies linking their offline and online experience.

• RememberMe is a collaborative project between TOTeM (Tales of Things and Electronic Memory) and Oxfam, that infuses personal history into donated items by enabling people to attach stories using RFID tags.
• The IOU project is a clothing line based on fabrics hand-woven in India that uses QR codes to enable consumers to track each item purchased all the way back to the weaver.

3 – Flash is Out

With the growth of mobile and the ever-increasing trend of using other devices for digital consumption, we’re seeing a move away from online design using Flash and that put looks first, to a content-first approach with design taking a back seat.

Online design trends are noticeably shifting towards minimalism to ensure content is displayed in the most consumable way possible. Controlling the user’s online journey is losing favour towards users creating their own experience (just as it should always have been in my opinion).

4 – Automate Me

In a growingly time-poor society, signs of automated purchases and services online are appearing with the ultimate permission marketing taking place – consumers giving brands permission to make their purchasing decisions and timing for them. In years gone by we saw this with catalogue companies sending their ‘book of the month’ and other products selected for you. In 2011 and beyond this is moving online.

• Men are Useless (yes, this is a real website) sends essential grooming products – anything from socks to shaving cream – to guys in the UK by subscription.
• UK based Jangeus Design offers yearly subscriptions for not exactly glamorous but very useful designer eco-friendly kitchen cloths.

5 – Watch Your (Long)Tail

If your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and other online SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is focused on shorter ‘head’ terms, Google’s instant search means you need to sit up and pay attention.

Search results and key phrases now appear instantly as people type, meaning we’re seeing consumers abandon their first-choice, shorter search terms in favour of more relevant ‘longtail’ terms based on Google’s suggestions.

For example, a consumer searching for ‘mp3 player’ might go with the suggestion ‘mp3 player reviews’. So if your website and online marketing is optimised for those shorter ‘head’ terms, it’s time to evaluate longer ‘tail’ phrases to avoid missing potential customers. For help with SEO (or any other online services) get in touch with us at Orchid.

6 – Buy Right Now

Time has become the new ‘exclusive’ to driving sales. Groupon and discount sites have hit the big time (excuse the pun).

• Launched by Swedish retailer Papercut, Speedsale offers discounts on a variety of entertainment online, including books and DVDs – but only for 4 seconds! After viewing the item for 4 seconds on the site, the sale is over. Forever.
• Fashion giant Burberry launched the Burberry Retail Theater which showcased their latest 2011 collection. By invite only, customers around the globe could purchase their favourite pieces straight off the runway.
• In Chicago, Groupon recently launched a pilot program called Groupon Now. This allows customers to view real-time deals offered by businesses who are nearby. Each deal only last a few hours.

7 – Instant Service

With accessibility at such a high, impatient online customers are starting to expect instant answers to their questions without picking up a phone, sending an email or venturing in-store.

The reality is that lack of speed in responding to consumers can lose you sales. For companies with customer service staff in front of computers all day, live chat on-site is the way to go. Companies in earlier stages are using social media as an alternative communication channel, such as ASB’s virtual Facebook branch here in New Zealand.

8 – ROI

With the growth in online spend set to continue its rapid rise, we’re seeing more demand for measurement, especially around social media, with companies moving away from general chatter to strategic marketing campaigns run on social media and online.

Going are the days of ‘we have a website’ and ‘we have a facebook page’ then sitting back and feeling your job is done. Thank goodness companies are waking up, demanding measurement and expecting results. Just ‘being there’ is no longer enough.

• One example of this is 41% of companies surveyed in the MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Report 2011 who do email marketing did not have ROI reporting in place for their efforts – but from those who did, B2C marketers reported as average 256% ROI from the channel ($256 return for every $1 invested).

9 – User-Personalisation

Levels of personalisation of products and services continue to grow. Going way beyond color or pattern; uber-personalization is the new black.

• French skincare company Codage lets customers choose the ingredients and concentrations in selected products. Consumers follow an online diagnostic process to valuate their needs then Codage suggests nutritional supplements as well as face and eye treatments.
• In netherlands based Kunst Buzz creates a user’s image out of their tweets. The canvas printed posters come in three sizes and cost from EUR 125 to EUR 225.
• More user-personalisation websites continue to pop up from shoe retailers in particular – from snakers to womens heels – offering the ultimate level of personalizing your footwear.

10 – Filters On

As the amount of information – and consumers’ desire to access it – continues to grow, we predict an increase in sites and services that better show, filter and bundle the data into something more digestible and relevant.

• UK based Just Buy This One is a service that combines the ratings of product reviews and offers a single recommendation. It currently focuses on 9 categories, from cameras to kettles.

Tweetable Outtakes – just copy, paste & share

10 digital trends for 2011 + inspiration who’s leading the way http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Uber-personalisation is the new black. Men Are Useless website sends guy essentials on subscription. Digital trends http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Watch out McDonald’s staff – cashiers are being replaced by technology. Digital trends 2011 http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Get a canvas print made from your tweets. 10 digital trends 2011 http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Slow service online is losing you sales, try live chat. 10 digital trends 2011 http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

How Google instant search is changing SEO & SEM. 10 digital trends 2011 http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Website design trends. Flash is out, minimalism is in. 10 digital trends 2011 http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Getting embed with customers. How digital trends are changing customer engagement http://bit.ly/oAQvqy

Selected trends and examples were sourced from Trendwatching.com. Check them out for more online trends and inspiration.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Online Marketing, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.