9 Marketing Trends for 2009

While the economy in 2009 looks challenging for most companies, the outlook of marketing executives is rather bright and upbeat.

Deborah Kania and her team at Brightworks Interactive have just released results of their survey of marketing executives' plans for 2009. The survey covered both B-to-B and B-to-C companies, as well as a mix of large, medium, and small businesses, so the survey results represent a good cross-section of marketers.

Here are nine marketing trends you can expect during 2009:

• Marketing Trend #1: Increased use of digital media and a decrease in television, radio, and print media.


• Marketing Trend #2: Increased use of quality, targeted content (textual and video) that tells a company's story well and engages the prospective customer.


• Marketing Trend #3: Increased use of e-mail to reach out to prospects and customers more frequently at a very low cost.


• Marketing Trend #4: Increased use of blogs, social networking, and other social media to create dialog and relationships with prospects and customers.


• Marketing Trend #5: Increased use of analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics) to spot ways to improve ROI.


• Marketing Trend #6: Increased focus on organic (i.e., free) search engine optimization (SEO) content targeting.


• Marketing Trend #7: Increased use of search engine marketing (SEM) techniques, such as pay-per-click and other trackable paid marketing techniques.


• Marketing Trend #8: Increased use of online webinars and decreased use of large trade shows.


• Marketing Trend #9: Increased use of outsourced marketing functions to experienced professionals.

These marketing executives plan to increase or maintain budgets and their staffs, which past recessions have shown is how companies pull out of a recession quickly.

The report also offers some practical marketing resolutions for 2009 that all marketing executives can incorporate into their marketing plan for 2009.

You can get a complete copy of their marketing survey "Marketing 2009 and Marketing Resolutions To Keep In the New Year" at their Web site: www.brightworksinteractive.com/marketing-survey.html.