Introduction: For many companies, 2009 may present a significant challenge as the slowdown in economic growth casts a heavy shadow over business development. However, digital marketing appears to be relatively unaffected. As marketing budgets continue to be cut and more constraints are imposed, the advantages of digital marketing are increasingly evident. Below are the 16 online marketing trends we foresee for 2009. We have analyzed these trends and proposed appropriate strategies to address them.
1. Keyword Price Increases Will Continue
Advertisers are demanding greater control over ad effectiveness. With an increasing amount of advertising budgets being allocated to digital marketing, competition in this market will become fiercer. The growing demand is driving up the cost of paid search. Keyword price increases, or pay-per-click (PPC) ad costs, rose by 20% in 2008 (source: Jupiter Research). Despite the economic downturn, we believe keyword ad prices will continue to rise in 2009.
Strange's View: The rising cost of PPC ads will directly lead to higher costs for performance-based ads. Advertisers need to improve conversion rates to counteract this trend.
2. Conversion Rate Optimization Becomes Crucial
If keyword prices continue to rise at the current rate, maintaining constant performance-based ad costs will require an increase in conversion rates. Advertisers face immense pressure to optimize their search ads, display ads, integrated marketing campaigns, and email marketing efforts in order to find ways to enhance return on investment (ROI).
Strange's View: Controlled testing is the best approach. A/B testing and multivariate testing (evaluating the impact of simultaneously changing various ad attributes) along with click tracking are essential tools for improving your website. Eye-tracking tests also become necessary evaluations.