INSIGHTS
@
EDELMAN
DIGITAL


ELEVEN
DIGITAL
TRENDS
TO
WATCH
IN
2011


CURATED
BY
STEVE
RUBEL
AND
DAVID
ARMANO


Photo
by
pumpkincat210

INSIGHTS
@
EDELMAN
DIGITAL

Ideas
that
inspire
innovaKon

 TREND
#1:
ATTENTIONOMICS


In
2011
marketers
will
begin
to
realize
the
value
of
aRenKon
–
and
not

just
reach
and
impressions
–
in
driving
conversion.


3

 BEST
PRACTICE:
LEVERAGE
DATA
AND
UTILITY


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Scale
your
surface
area

with
digital
embassies

•  CapKvate
aRenKon
with

visualizaKons
and
games

•  Fight
content
decay
with

dayparted
engagement


4

 TREND
#2:
DIGITAL
CURATION


This
is
the
age
of
the
digital
curator:
those
who
can
separate
art
from

junk.
Some
will
be
automated.
Others
will
be
powered
by
humans.
And

a
subset
will
uKlize
the
best
of
both.


Photo
by
chrisjbarker


5

 BEST
PRACTICE:
OWN
YOUR
ZONE


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  IdenKfy
under‐served

niches
and
meet
them

•  Frame
up
issues
and

discussions;
editorialize

•  Make
curaKon

collaboraKve
and
social


6

 TREND
#3:
DEVELOPER
ENGAGEMENT

Photo
by
bugbbq


Developers
drive
innovaKon
across
all
key
pla`orms.
MarkeKng
leaders

will
begin
working
with
these
stakeholders
to
scale
their
digital

programs
and
surface
area.

7

 BEST
PRACTICE:
HELP
DEVELOPERS
WIN


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Make
valuable
assets

available
to
developers
–

e.g.
art,
text,
videos,
data

•  Build
APIs
and
culKvate
a

rich
developer
network

•  Adopt
developer
creaKons


8

 TREND
#4:
TRANSMEDIA
STORYTELLING


If
there's
one
constant
in
a
world
of
change,
it's
that
humans
crave

stories.
Technology
constantly
advances
the
art
of
storytelling
and

creates
new
expectaKons.
But
it
also
help
marketers
connect.


Photo
by
felix_nine


9

 BEST
PRACTICE:
CONNECT
THE
DOTS


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Recognize
that
a
narraKve

is
no
longer
a
whole

•  Equip
employees
to
tell

their
own
stories

•  Hand‐crah
your
content

for
each
venue


10

 TREND
#5:
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP


Companies
will
recognize
that
to
stand
out
they
must
acKvate
credible

individual
expert
voices
who
can
propagate
new
ideas
and
engage
in

meaningful
conversaKons
around
them.



Photo
by
wallyg


11

 BEST
PRACTICE:
LAUNCH
AN
EXPERT
HUB


RECOMMENDATIONS


•  IdenKfy
a
cadre
of
internal

subject
maRer
experts


•  Equip
them
in
situaKonal

awareness
and
storytelling

•  Fan
them
out
across
the

cloverleaf
of
media


12

 TREND
#6:
THE
INTEGRATION
ECONOMY


Social
media
efforts
will
no
longer
exist
in
fragmented,
non‐formal

iniKaKves
but
will
begin
to
integrate
into
more
holisKc
communicaKons.

Look
for
an
increase
in
collaboraKon
across
departments
to
occur.


Photo
by
Rajesh
Vijayarajan
Photography


13

 BEST
PRACTICE:
CENTRALIZE
PROCESSES
AND
TECHNOLOGIES


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Set
up
a
standardized

listening
infrastructure

•  Integrate
&
share


intelligence
across
enterprise

•  Modify
exisKng
processes

and
protocol


14

 TREND
#7:
UBIQUITOUS
SOCIAL
COMPUTING


We
will
connect
wherever,
whenever
as
compeKKon
heats
up
in
consumer

electronics
space,
ushering
in
cheaper
and
beRer
mobile
soluKons
that

lessen
our
dependency
on
PCs.


15

 BEST
PRACTICE:
DESIGN
FOR
DIGITAL
DISTRIBUTION


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Plan
content
for
mulKple

digital
experiences
&

pla`orms

•  OpKmize
for
mobility,
not

just
mobile

•  Combine
social
sharing

integraKon



16

 TREND
#8:
LOCATION,
LOCATION,
FACEBOOK


With
tons
of
data,
Facebook
is
well
posiKoned
to
actually
make
locaKon

based
services
useful
to
business.


17

 BEST
PRACTICE:
BLEND
LOCAL,
SOCIAL,
PHOTO
&
MOBILE


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Think
“LoSoPhoMo:”local,

social,
photo
and
mobile

•  Combine
real
and
digital

world
engagement

•  Reward
with
status


18

 TREND
#9:
SOCIAL
MEDIA
SCHIZOPHRENIA


Social
overload
is
nothing
new
to
tech
mavens,
but
it
will
become

something
that
more
and
more
“average”
users
experience.


Photo
by
DeaPeaJay


19

 BEST
PRACTICE:
MAKE
SOCIAL
PARTICIPATION
EFFORTLESS


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Maximize
the
dominant

pla`orms
and
don’t
get

overextended

•  Keep
it
simple
and

convenient

•  Allow
users
to
self
select



20

 TREND
#10:
GOOGLE
STRIKES
BACK


Google
could
prove
in
2011
that
the
best
way
to
beat
Facebook
&

TwiRer
is
to
do
what
they
do
best—
index
them
to
pieces.


Photo
by
sheeshoo


21

BEST
PRACTICE:
INTEGRATE
PAID,
OWNED,
EARNED
AND
SOCIAL


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Move
beyond
tradiKonal

keywords
–
think
visibility

•  Emphasize
Google
friendly

pla`orms
(NYT,
Yelp
etc.)

•  Produce
regional,
relevant

&
high
quality
content


22

 TREND
#11:
VIVA
LA
SOCIAL
WEB
SITE


Aher
several
years
of
being
told
to
“fish
where
the
fish
are”
businesses

realize
that
integraKng
social
funcKonality
into
their
web
sites
not
only

helps
them
become
more
relevant,
it’s
what
users
increasingly
expect.


Photo
by
turkinator


23

 BEST
PRACTICE:
MAKE
SOCIAL
ELEGANT


RECOMMENDATIONS

•  Incorporate
social
data

from
connecKons,
friends

•  Design
for
funcKon
&
form

•  Be
conservaKve
on
privacy

and
explain
the
benefits
in

clear
human
language


24

 edelmandigital.com
@edelmandigital

@steverubel @armano