With online marketing increasing at such a steady rate, one may wonder just what the future holds for this field. The interesting thing to note is that there is an almost limitless stream of money pouring into the internet as both businesses and governments alike now use the web as a means of making themselves heard.
Gone are the days of the internet being some new age fad suited only for the geeky kid at school, and come have the times where anyone who isn't online is viewed as somehow being isolated, technically inept, and even simple. Once upon a time it was alright to say "well I'm too much of a technophobe to stay up to date with things such as the internet", now it's viewed as weird in many circles. Indeed, whilst no one expects you to be an expert on the internet, or use it for social reasons, just about everyone expects you to use the internet for at least some purpose, for email at the very least, and if you're running a business then having a website as an absolute must.
Heck, the other night I wanted to order pizza from my local pizzeria which is anything but a franchise chain, and I typed their name in Google expecting to see a website, and of course, there was one. This contained a menu and a contact number, which was simple yet all I needed to do business with them. Now let's reverse time to 10 years ago; was it normal for your local 'mom and pop' business to have an online presence? Definitely not, but times have changed so much within the space of a decade that every level of business now requires an online presence if it wants to stay competitive. And the keywords here are 'stay competitive', not even having an edge on your competition. Once upon a time a website was a novelty for very small businesses who could maintain an edge over their competition just by having a .com presence, however today having a website is a necessity, not a 'cool extra'.
So where does this leave the future of marketing online? I believe if the last twenty years have anything to tell us, then marketing itself has evolved to the internet so much that anyone that says online marketing is somehow reaching a 'peak' is kidding themselves. We thought the internet was reaching a 'peak' five years ago, and then along came social networking which served as an evolutionary new means for online advertising. Even the big fortune companies adopted, and continue to use, social media to advertise their products.
One thing is for sure: the more online marketing evolves, the smaller the gap between 'business' and 'consumer' will become. We've seen now that companies need to adopt a more personal approach when targeting their consumers. Simply having a five page long salescopy for some 'fantastic new ebook' no longer does the trick like it use to. Having a company blog, interacting with your consumers, and showing transparency are all ways of building the trust between the consumer and the company that is essential to survive in the new online marketing world. Online consumers have wisened up to the techniques used in the same old recycled sales garbage. People don't want to be taken as fools, and companies that continue to treat them as such will be missing out on a lot of revenue.
So I believe the future in marketing online to make money is going to hold a lot of opportunities for current and new businesses alike, and those businesses that survive will be the ones that can create a personal connection and understanding with their target audience.
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