We’ve got about two weeks here at the One Degree offices (virtual as they may be) before we break for the holidays. To wrap up the year in fine style I’ve asked some of the One Degree Contributors to provide us with a rewind of 2006 and a fast forward to 2007 to give you something substantial to chew on as the days get shorter. Sulemaan Ahmed shares his thoughts on the highs and lows of this year and what we can expect next year…
1. Rewind – What trends in Internet marketing surprised you in 2006? The growth of blogging and podcasting. They are both still in what I’d call the early adopter phase but they will go mainstream (to varying degrees) as email did in the coming years. I don’t think it’s a question of ‘if’ anymore but rather ‘when’.
2. Rewind – Did you add any new tools to your online marketing toolkit in 2006? Personally, I would say that I started blogging myself and also started using RSS feeds a lot more. Not to mention listening to marketing podcasts on my iPod was new use of an old tool. Only so much U2 and Pet Shop Boys one can listen to after all.
3. Fast Forward – What do you see as the biggest trends in Internet Marketing in 2007? I’d have to say the increased usage and adoption of search engines by businesses. The continued growth by Google, the coming Panama application (reminds me of the Van Halen song) by Yahoo! and search tools by Microsoft are all going to grow the search market even further. That’s great because competition is a good thing. Another trend is increased adoption and usage of video online. My old man was in television for 30 years and he’s glad he retired as the current t.v. advertising model is not sustainable. If you are in television sales, it’s time for a career change. The effects are already being felt. My hope is that the television industry doesn’t go down the legal war path like the music industry did. You can’t stop a moving freight train so you might as well hop on for the ride.
4. Fast Forward – At the end of 2007, what do you expect we’ll be looking back at as overhyped? I think Second Life. Besides branding, I don’t see much use for it from a commercial perspective. Some of my fellow digerati will probably disagree. I wouldn’t call it ‘No Life’ but I’m just not sold on it. Having said that, nothing would make me happier than being proven wrong as I’m a proponent of all things digital-marketing.
5. Fast Forward – Any SPECIFIC predictions for 2007? Buy-outs, bubbles bursting, records broken, reputations toppled, break-out companies? Hmm, besides One Degree being purchased by a HUGE conglomerate for millions of dollars. And all of the contributors can go on a nice sabbatical? Wait a minute, where are my stock options Ken??? In all seriousness, I think search is going to continue to grow like crazy as it’s mainstream enough that more companies will invest heavily into it and move their advertising away from other offline mediums. I’m also predicting some kind of mash-up with iPods. Whether they can become cell-phone or GPS enabled devices, there is potential there.
In terms of bubbles bursting? Hopefully nothing as I’m still recovering from Nortel. Reputations toppled? Well after the Michael Richards (N.B. – This may offend viewers) debacle, basically anyone who is an ass in front of anyone else that has the ability to upload to YouTube. I always preferred George anyway. Happy Festivus everyone!