So, it’s March and I am finally ready to stick my neck out - something I don’t tend to do - because there are a few trends I am seeing that could be opportunities for someone, somewhere.

E-Commerce

I would expect to see a few e-commerce sites go this year - mainly from the lower end of the market. The once cost-effective pay-per-click model isn’t so cheap anymore and unless companies have built a customer database that can be leveraged, they have no asset. The price comparison market is already taking casualties and search is being dominated by the big boys that have the budget and the scale. I realise I am only one person, but I find myself going to Amazon more than ever for any product.

The only way to combat this is to get niche - even more niche. I find with one of my e-commerce solutions, most of the sales come from one product range. Perhaps I should scrap the others, stick to one single range and completely focus my marketing? Less income, but more profit.

Content is rising

Content’s where it’s at. Rich, value added information that builds trust, authority and credibility and gets attention from search and social sites. It’s a hard one to sell to a client but I am telling my clients to invest their marketing money into quality content for their web sites. I would also make sure I am not forcing it behind walls such as “you must give us your e-mail”.

Growth of the subscription model

Online websites with real quality information as their model, such as the high profile Bloggers, seem to be moving into a subscription model for the real quality (premium) content. This kind of goes against my last point but these are channels with solid information that have built a reputation over a number of years. They have eclipsed traditional publishers online to become publishers themselves and now they have authority, they are charging for some of it. It didn’t happen over night though.

Competition may be free

Do you use Google for search? How much do you pay them? Their whole business model is based around giving stuff away for free, yet they have managed to monetize what they do. It is a model that is being copied with a lot of online companies and it may transfer to a business model near you. Are you ready? Sound unrealistic?

The Escape competes with Indian companies doing the job for a fraction of the cost. We compete with “my sisters son who has just studied web design at college”. We also compete with Mr Website and software like iWeb.

Our value proposition needs to stand out and is defined with two clear points: The market sectors we approach and the level of which we operate; and secondly, the value proposition. That is the added extra we offer above and beyond a website - a website that delivers relevant traffic that converts to business. That takes proving so we can use my second point above.

Summary

It’s interesting times on the web as technology moves forward and the way we use the web matures. Ideas that would once make a marketer choke are now at a stage where they are real and if you are not doing them, perhaps a competitor is.