Just like consumers who want the next best piece of technology, business owners want the best kept secret of advertising. The clue is right under your nose. These trends growing hard and fast, and they must be incorporated in strategic marketing campaigns this year if you want to come out on top.

The first thing to understand is the fact that, no matter how you cut it, desktop sales are declining. Computers linking people to desks and wall outlets are becoming outdated. Whether we like it or not, users are spending much more time on their mobile devices. (And if they don’t have one yet-- they will).

People are now literally free to move about the network. Mobile tools are reaping great rewards, and the ones that will be above the rest this year are easily shopping and information sharing. Web sites on a computer screen appear differently than they on mobile screens, so you will need to format your site to be aesthetically pleasing on a cellular device. Users will browse your site while waiting for the bus, in the checkout line, or in a meeting. Bored individuals with the Internet at their fingertips are your potential customers; do not turn them away.

Social media recently grabbed our society with both hands and shook it like a dog. Sites like Facebook have proved that reality is perception and vice versa. Businesses will use this to advertise goods and services with intelligence. Strategic targeting through Facebook profiles has been quite successful, and information sharing has allowed all of it to happen. If you ask me, any advertiser who doesn’t use the infinite tools made possible by social media deserves to lose business.

With all the cool, hip tactics you use to reel in your audience, remember: content is what counts. To seal the deal and get that user through the point-of-purchase, use your words. Keep it short, and keep it interesting. Words should get to the point, but leave them wanting more. Describing your product in too many words will annoy your shoppers, especially if they are accessing you via mobile Web.

This is a tool that is not a new trend at all. It has been taught in every business and economics class we’ve ever taken. However, too many companies let it fall by the waist side: demographics. If you take anything home with you today, take this: know your audience. Know their age, race, gender, location, hobbies, likes, and dislikes... all of it. Your market needs to be not just targeted, but pin-pointed.

Like any year, you should always incorporate new with the old. However, the new trends that are most important to tailor advertising to this year is a) Mobile Web and b) Social Media. More specifically, those two combined. With more than 95 percent of teenagers predicted to be avid Internet users this year, seeing what picture someone was tagged in from last weekend simply cannot wait for access to a desktop computer. Younger generations do not understand the virtue of “patience” quite like they used to.  As that may not paint a pretty picture of America’s future, it can for your bank account. Use these trends and take advantage of this instant need for access, or get left behind.

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