Bigmouthmedia predicts pivotal year for digital marketing sector
Released
on: December 19, 2008, 12:17 pm
Press
Release Author: Bigmouthmedia
Industry:
Internet
& Online
Press
Release Summary: Bigmouthmedia has predicted that 2009 will be
a critical year for the digital marketing industry
Press
Release Body: Bigmouthmedia, Europe's largest
independent digital marketing agency, has revealed that the next
twelve months will have a pivotal role in shaping the digital
marketing sector, with analysts citing factors ranging from challenging
trading conditions to advanced technology combining to make 2009
a landmark year in the industry's development.
While
the economic downturn will continue to have an impact on every
sector, digital marketing businesses will focus on digital's cost
benefits and demonstrable ROI (Return on Investment) in an effort
to buck the trend. Trading conditions will seriously impact upon
vulnerable agencies however, and a period of industry consolidation
seems inevitable.
"Digital
marketing has several key advantages when it comes to trading
through a recession, but the downturn will wipe some of the smaller
players off the map. Agencies reliant on one or two key clients
will be particularly vulnerable, and I expect to see a rash of
acquisitions and company failures radically reshape the industry
over the course of 2009," said Steve Leach,
CEO of bigmouthmedia.
"In
the UK, Google's decision to end BPF (best practice funding) will
also have a big impact. The loss of the commissions paid to agencies
who recommend their clients spend with the search giant will badly
hurt companies who have built their business model around this
income stream.
"There
are still plenty of opportunities out there, but this isn't a
back bedroom sector anymore. Major clients increasingly require
partners with international scale and, as the downwards pressure
on costs continues, small scale agencies are going to struggle
to cope."
However,
set against a backdrop of steadily increasing corporate use of
social media, video and online
PR, bigmouthmedia predicts that 2009 will
also see increased investment in digital marketing as cost conscious
companies seek to improve the quality of commercial content and
access new channels, such as mobile marketing.
In
search, 2009 is also expected to be a defining year. With the
free PPC (Pay Per Click) management tools provided by the major
engines expected to continue improving, commercial, third party
technologies could be under threat.
"This
will be a Beta Max year for the technology underpinning search
marketing," said Leach.
"Until
now, while search engines have provided technology to run the
PPC marketplace, it has often made a lot of sense to go to a third
party for a technical solution to enable automated PPC bidding
and management. Will that continue to be the case in 2009? It'll
be a hard year to sign long term search contracts on this issue
as it increasingly looks like the search engines are giving better
automated solutions away for free."
About
bigmouthmedia
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe's largest independent
digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located
across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company
maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of
fully integrated digital marketing channels: Search
engine optimisation, PPC, Online Media Planning, Affiliate
marketing, Social Networking, Brand Monitoring, Online PR and
Web Analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital
marketing news
to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry
developments.
Web
Site: http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/
For
further media information please contact:
Iain Bruce
Media Strategist
bigmouthmedia
51 Timberbush
Edinburgh
EH6 6QH
(44) 131 555 4848
www.bigmouthmedia.com
Or
download 2009: The Year in Digital Marketing
(http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/2009-DM
)
2012
