I have many reasons to be grateful this year on many fronts for many reasons. One area happens to be the fact that I’m blessed to be working in such an amazing industry, with such amazing people. Thanks to all the people I get to work with, to my clients, to all the amazing friends I’ve come to have in the industry, my life is richer, more complete.
Yet none of this would be possible if I didn’t work in an industry as blessed as Internet marketing. So although I’m may once again for the new year, write a tribute article as I did for the last new year, today I want to talk about why all of us – everyone who works in our industry, has an opportunity to find reasons to give thanks.
But What Exactly To Write About?
As I was thinking about what I even wanted to write about this week, I got an email from my assistant. (for the record, she’s the most amazing assistant, and friend, I’ve ever had in all my years in business). In the email, she said
question? do you get caught up in all the negative news that unemployment is so high? I think more and more businesses are online. That online business is growing and growing.
Now, unlike me, she doesn’t keep up with the industry data that I do – the bigger picture trends, forecasts, predictions. I absorb that stuff like a sponge because I need to always stay ahead of the curve, always guess where the industry is going next week, next month, next year… And I love it.
The Data
Of course, there’s plenty of data out there that shows where we’re headed as an industry, in terms of online marketing spending and mobile marketing growth as well. And even though there’s been talk lately that “it’s a bubble 2.0”, honestly, even when a bubble bursts, there’s still business out there. You just need to stay focused. And the fundamental process will remain the same. At least it will for what I’m going to break down here. And there’s at least another year to this bubble. Which means this is a time to be grateful. For the abundance. For the feast of opportunities.
The Amazing Cycle of Online Marketing Budgets
The reason why so much is being poured into these channels is pretty obvious to those of us who have a responsibility to stay on top of things, but clearly, it’s not obvious to everyone. And it’s also good to remind ourselves, and share with others, exactly why these trends are what they are.
So when I responded to that email question, I realized that very response would be a perfect thing to share here, with you, as a way to show the reason we all get to be thankful for working in this particular industry…
My Response:
I don’t get caught up in the unemployment talk. We work in a blessed industry.
People who offer online marketing services work in a continually growing market. Every day, more offline companies realize online marketing is important to their success.
As more and more companies look to cut costs, they’re realizing that it costs less to reach people online than it does through 20th century marketing and advertising channels. As more and more companies realize their customers are online, they invest more in reaching those customers where they are – online.
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As more people look to cut personal and business expenses, they turn more to online shopping. It allows people to shop without leaving home.
It allows people to compare service based companies, to compare product pricing. More people than ever before use online comparison shopping to make decisions even when they then go to local stores to make their purchases. More people than ever before look at online reviews to help make choices.
My assistant responded to that concept and confirmed this:
I’m grateful for the Whole food stores, however daily I’m looking for ways to just have everything shipped to my house. I save so much time. And saving time and money is too important. Going to their stores is getting to be a nightmare. They have cut their costs by leasing or buying smaller stores.
So, now stores are crammed with goods. For me it is so stressful to shop, especially with a stroller and a shopping cart. I’m not crazy about my 1 year old son in a shopping cart yet. Shelves are being moved closer and closer together. I don’t want to go. I can buy everything online and it is wonderful and yes, I don’t want to leave my home to go shopping.
And as all those people turn to online information, it motivates business owners to put even more focus in online marketing and advertising, and social media. All of that energy results in companies either recognizing right away that they need professional help, or trying it on their own and learning the hard way that they need professional help.
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As many companies get burned by ripoff artists or people who don’t know what they’re doing, those companies turn to companies that charge more for these services hoping to find more reliable professional services. As many companies who have had an online presence already have seen limited success from limited efforts, they realize they need to at least attempt to improve that success.
As companies become more successful online, they realize they need to continue that success in an ever more competitive landscape, so they need to invest in ways to keep up or get ahead of the competition.
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We can also thank Google and Microsoft’s Bing for all the changes they constantly make. Every new way they change how their search engines works, or every new way they change how search results pages function, it means even companies that previously had work done will need more done to adapt.
And as every new social media success story happens, that too becomes part of the mix of online marketing. And becomes yet one more thing companies need professionals to help them figure out.
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And let’s not forget about mobile
As more and more people get smart phones, Google, Microsoft, and Apple, as well as innovative new companies, drive more and more energy to developing advertising models for mobile devices. Site owners devote more and more money to mobile capable web sites.
Those sites need to be optimized for search engines, which means a whole new type of web sites that need optimization for search engines. Business owners also shift to mobile marketing because that’s one of the hottest trends as far as “going where your consumers are”.
And my assistant’s response to that:
Mobile shopping is awesome. I use my pda to compare pricing at stores. One time at Whole foods, they were selling cod liver oil at $45 dollars, and I usually pay $22 at the vitamin Shoppe. Also, at the VS, their store prices are sometimes higher than online. And I make sure I have my phone and get the online price at the store.
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So there you have it – my take on why people in this industry get to be grateful, and one person’s real life confirmation that this is only going to become more of a reality for the foreseeable future. And on that note, I wish you all my American friends a blessed holiday, and all my friends and readers, a blessed life!
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Cornucopia photo by Lawrence OP
Lego Thanksgiving photo by floodllama
