Search Marketing Predictions for 2011

It's that time of the year where search marketing pundits are putting together their search predictions for 2011 and are trying to pick the big trends for the coming year. Hannah Kimuya and Adam Bunn from British search marketing firm, Greenlight recently compiled a list of predictions for 2011 that illustrates the pace that search moves at, and points at potential directions the Australian industry may take.

While in agreement with most of Hannah & Adams picks we have put together some of our own predictions for what will be big in the AU search space in 2011.

At Returnity we think that personalized remarketing/retargeting will become a fundamental component of any search strategy in 2011. Remarketing allows advertisers to target users, who have previously visited their site with personalized banners and text ads across Google's display network of third party publishers. Essentially your ads can follow your potential customers / warm leads around the web with tailored messages! We are now seeing savvy marketers using a combination of intelligent remarketing campaigns, compelling creative and dedicated landing pages to pitch targeted offers / discounts / incentives to entice users back to their site, after they've fallen out of the conversion process. The Returnity search team has been testing Remarketing (via Google) within our clients paid search campaigns. Google remarketing campaigns have typically delivered higher click through and conversion rates when compared to "regular" display campaigns. We think it's likely that remarketing and the relatively lower CPC's of display (when compared to search) will help to increase the uptake of display this year amongst Australian online advertisers.

Google's display network is now more controlled than it has ever been and provides users with search-like control over display ads. Publishers outside the search space in Australia are also adapting Google's contextual–based PPC model, allowing advertisers to directly list and buy traffic on sites on a cost per click basis. Comparative shopping engines have successfully followed Google's model and offer competitive CPC's and in some instances deliver significantly higher conversion rates (than Google, Yahoo & Bing) due to the highly targeted nature of the traffic delivered. eBay in Australia also recently trialed a CPC offering, however due to average performance the product has been discontinued.

Hannah and Adam also mention Google Instant Preview and we are in total agreement that compelling web design is critical. In 2011 to compete in search (& generally) businesses need to invest in building sites that feature great conversion focused design and usability, excellent content and adheres to the fundamentals of SEO. If we see usage of Google's Instant preview function reaching critical mass amongst average web users it will likely force companies to take a look at their design or they will start seeing a decrease in click through rates!

Unlike the UK, we're dubious on Quick Response (QR) codes getting serious uptake within Australia this year. There has been talk about QR codes in above the line advertising for years now; however we're not seeing many advertisers promote QR codes and more importantly gut feel would suggest that most users are yet to have QR code readers installed on their handsets. Until we see either QR code readers being bundled as standard on handsets, or a significant promotional campaign to drive usage we think it's likely that the humble URL or search based call to action will continue to use as standard within offline media.

Hannah and Adam also talk about the competition with Bing and Google increasing. As much as we would like to see a real competitor to Google emerge it's doubtful that Bing can capture significant market share within Australia in 2011 (even by incorporating Facebook data into the search results).

Still hungry for more predictions? Then check out search engine lands monstrous list of links to 168 marketing trends for 2011.