Want to know what Google's thinking?
Tim Reis, head of Social and Mobile Solutions for Google, offered a little insight into the next five years of digital marketing recently at the 2012 Vocus Users Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
"We call it SoLoMoCo," said Reis.
So = Social
Lo = Local
Mo - Mobile
Co = Commerce
Five areas, said Reis, is what's ahead for businesses over the next five years.
1. Mobile is mainstream.
Every year, it seems, conference speakers have been evangelizing "this is the year of mobile" but it never happens.
Guess what? 2012 is not going to be the year either.
Reis cited that 62% of large online advertisers do not have an optimized mobile landing page. This is because most online businesses think their website's desktop version will work find on a smartphone.
To test your website on a smartphone, go to www.howtogomo.com.
2. Local is the battlefield.
One in three mobile searches, says Reis, has a local intent (usually, Click-to-Call). By the year 2015, mobile transactions will reach $1 Trillion.
3. Mobile powers commerce.
More focus and emphasis will be placed on Google Wallet and other digital transaction options. The idea is users will become more comfortable with completing purchases on smart phones once "friction" is removed ("friction" is considered any processes that require extra steps).
4. Mobile is mainstream, Part 2.
"Fifty percent of all mobile subscribers have a smart phone," said Reis. "Most consumers are always within three feet of their phone, even when they sleep. One of every four use it in the bathroom."
Reis also noted that more than 500 years of time is spent every day playing Angry Birds. Amazing how much time is spent playing a game on a smart phone.
5. Social is everything.
Google+ is weaving more local into search.
"Consider Google+ Ripples and connecting Google Analytics with Google+," said Reis. "Google+ is now appearing in the Google search results page."
Business owners need to understand the obvious potential for more traffic to their website and better positioning in Google search results by using Google+.
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