TOP 5 Digital Marketing Trends Caribbean Companies can’t ignore ( Updated)

The Web has become a dynamic place, the Mobile Phone the desired third screen many are moving to conquer, both are core elements of any digital marketing strategy, necessary tools that Caribbean brands must be quick to understand and leverage. I’ve tapped 5 trends I believe will influence how budgets and time are spent in 2008-2010, well by the smart and forward-thinking anyway.

1. Mobile – Everybody’s got one.In Jamaica mobile phone penetration is 94%, which presents a fresh opportunity for marketers to connect with customers anywhere, anytime, anyphone for brand awareness, loyalty programmes and to increase sales. There are over 2 million Jamaicans texting, are you connecting with them? Further with consumers now even more so hunting for bargains and seeking to save money mobile marketing is a great way to tell them often and fast and in a cost effective manner. What campaigns are you thinking of?Mobile marketing is direct, personal, immediate and cost effective compared to the traditional TV and radio marketing budgets. As long as marketers don’t spam, by creating an opt in database gathered online, at events via sign up forms, mobile marketing may be the missing link in personalized communications. Companies can start off by making special offers, giving deals, sending information, bill reminders, daily menus and there’s so much more.

2. Join the Club or Create One.Wise marketers will capitalize on the growing influence, appeal and effectiveness of social networks. Besides the leaders MySpace and Facebook, social networks exist in niches from teens (Tagged) to seniors (Eons) to photographers (Flickr) to business professionals (LinkedIn & Plaxo). And Caribbean and Latin American web surfers are on those networks especially Facebookand Hi5, as well as those that cater specifically to them such as vibesconnect.com, idletribes.com,caribfriends.com, caribplanet.com,caribbeanmassive.com, thecaribvibe.com, christianvibes.com, mivibes.com and wamba.com. Scotiabank recently used Facebook’s ad network to ran their promotion that targeted the 18-35 year old demographic and you bet they were successful in making that connection. Web only t-shirt company Sprawl Tees used Facebook to push sales up 80%. What companies can do is do some research and analysis, ask site owners for relevant data ( unique users, monthly impressions, repeat visitors,ad rates) as a prelude to creating a social media strategy. They can even test the waters by creating their own facebook group to test things out or to start a blog as well. Social Media marketing is a real opportunity brands seeking to connect with the Caribbean, the Caribbean Diaspora and consumers of things Caribbeanonline.

3. Play that Online Video. In the US Market alone there is 70+% internet broadband penetration, streaming video – for marketers in the tourism, travel, export and trade this is a must do marketing tool.eMarketer reports 123 million Americans watch a video monthly; three-quarters tell a friend. For smart marketers online video is an enormous opportunity to engage, educate and entertain. Observe also how brands use Youtube to test and launch products and build brand awareness. Get information on Caribbean IPTV networks that have quality content and a solid distribution network such as realvibez.com and brokencurve.com. Another way is to integrate video on your existing website that for example instruct customers how to use or install your product or show previous examples of experiential marketing projects, be creative and interesting. So whether it’s for entertainment, for building brand loyalty or driving traffic to your site, online video is worth considering. Also read: Realvibez launches the first web distribution service for Caribbean Music videos and go to brokencurve.com.

4.Online advertising. Online advertising was officially legitimized in 2007. In the United States , media brands such as New York Timesdropped their paid subscription model and picked up online advertising as the preferred business model. They now believe they’ll make more money from making their content free and placing relevant ads in front of readers.It was also the year that saw the rise and multiple buyouts of the online ad network. Yahoo! bought BlueLithium the 6^th largest ad network for about US$300 million in cash and in April Googleannounced that it would pay US $3.1 billion for the advertising outfit DoubleClick. Online ad networks bring together quality site owners( from newspapers and radio stations to highly trafficked blogs, social media sites, online shopping malls) and advertisers who want to reach a particular online target audience. It’s an online advertising option Caribbean brands must consider. Online adnetworks are an essential player in the online marketplace. As a result the Caribbean has spawned one of their own, Caribclix.com – which has the largest reach of the global Caribbean audience online.

5. Rise of the Widgets. Mini-software applications, “widgets,” provide unprecedented access to hard-to-reach targets as Facebook and MySpace can attest. According to ComScore, 220+ million folks used widgets last May. iLike, which allowsFacebook users to share iTunes playlists, grew to over 10 million users in 10 months. Slide, which creates slideshows and embeds them in social network homepages, claims to be the largest personal media network in the world, reaching 120 million viewers monthly. Trinidad and Jamaican Facebook apps have already been developed with success. And it’s only just beginning. Ever thought about creating your ownFacebook Application for your brand?

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Disclosure: Ingrid Riley is a stakeholder in Caribclix.com and is Internet Marketing Consultant to Caribbean companies.