Digital Trends from 2011 That Will Shape 2012

All signs point to 2012 building upon the digital trends of 2011. That means more competition for established devices like the iPhone and iPad, more fluidity and interactivity between devices, and more social sharing.

Here are some of our bets for how the trends of 2011 will shape the coming year.

Social and Open

In a recent article, we discussed how the newest changes in social media can affect your business and be used to your advantage. In 2012, it's going to be more important than ever to use social media effectively. More and more customers are interested in what's going on behind the scenes in their favorite companies. They want to know your history, leadership team, social responsibility policies, what other customers think of your product or service, and how it stands up to the competition.

With the myriad of resources available at the touch of a finger, buyers are more educated than ever. They're cutting out the middlemen, from travel agents to traditional retail stores, by cross-referencing information online before or during shopping, then purchasing directly from the source. In 2011, the average American shopper consulted more than ten sources prior to making a purchase (Google/ShopperSciences April 2011). If your company's website makes the information, tips, and reviews customers want available to them in a way that is accessible, clear, and honest, they're more likely to visit again, share it with friends, and make reviews of their own. If you're not willing to pop the hood to give them a peek, chances are someone else is, and customers may look elsewhere.

You want customers to believe in your brand – not only your product or service, but your staff, marketing campaign, design strategy, digital platform, storefront, and office all need to be aligned to your company's specific voice. Customers expect consistency between online and in person, especially when they're accessing one from the other (going online while in a store or learning more about your store from online). Google/OTX reported in The Mobile Movement, April 2011, that 70% of smartphone users use their device while shopping in a store. The more dependable you prove you can be, the more they'll rely on you.

Social and Mobile

Mobile/live integration is more than just shopping, though. Think Yelp, Open Table, Shopkick, Google Places, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, TV Everywhere, GetGlue, and many more. Frictionless sharing, things you watch, read, or listen to automatically getting shared in social networking spaces, means people are exchanging information like never before. Although some people feel this is too intrusive, for those who regularly manually shared information about things they're doing or like to do, frictionless sharing is a masterstroke. From a marketing perspective, it's gold. You'll have more data on more people to use in more ways than ever, and 2012 will only see this trend expand.

Just as mobile isn't limited to home and work spaces anymore, it's also not just about phones. eMarketer estimates that there will be 81.3 million tablets sold worldwide in 2012, up from 15.7 million in 2010. We're going to begin seeing a lot more platforms and applications gravitating toward touch-centered interfaces because of it.

Multitasking on a mobile device while shopping, exercising, watching tv, or other activity is also expected to grow. In a recent poll by Yahoo Mobile and Razorfish, 60% of consumers revealed that they browse the mobile web while watching tv. 38% of that time was spent searching for content related to what they were watching. Add in a commercial break or halftime show and the amount of mobile traffic spikes up hundreds of times. It's clear: users don't want to have to wait for information, make sure yours is available and mobile.

We're excited to see just how social media will develop and grow in the coming year in ways people never expected. One thing's for sure, though, social is here to stay. If you want to expand your company's social presence to make the most of our growing mobile world, or have questions about how to update your existing social practices, give us a shout and we'd be glad to help. It's a great day at Rise!