Forums

[carlton jones Company: ViSalus Sciences Contribution Level: 2]

How will people market information 10 years from now? Will we still be using pay per clicks, will lead pro and magnetic sponsoring still be around? 10 years ago no one was talking about social media what is next?

Carlton Jones

"Where do we go from here?"

[Daniel Herzner Contribution Level: 3]

Great question Carlton but in my humble little opinion, I don't think it has an answer. The landscape of marketing changes so drastically; seemingly overnight. Predicting where it might be and what will work 10 years from now is impossible.

[Melvin Goodrum Company: AdvoCare International, L.P. Contribution Level: 4]

How will people market information 10 years from now? Will we still be using pay per clicks, will lead pro and magnetic sponsoring still be around? 10 years ago no one was talking about social media what is next?

Carlton Jones

"Where do we go from here?"

Honestly, I can't deal with another trend right now.

[David Bouchez Company: Unicity International, Inc. Contribution Level: 2]

My prediction:

The internet will fall out of favor, and people will stop using it. Everything will go back to newspaper ads and telephone cold calling. All families will be single income again, and people will once again love God and Country - That's it : )

[clay mcwhorter Contribution Level: 2]

Howdy Carlton,
I betcha one thing. if I stay on this ranch that long, I'm gonna buy me a lot bigger ranch to go with it, cause this internet marketing is gonna bust open like a good melon, and I'm gonna have the MLM Vaqueros, "tambien". (Thats West Texas Spanglish for I'm gong to Mexico and start an online tequila business)" Ah Tey Watcho"

The MLM Cowboy

[Michael Stead Company: Fortune Hi Tech Marketing Contribution Level: 3]

Although it is difficult to predict at this moment, the only thing I see occurring is that there will be many more people over the next few years coming onto the internet marketing scene and many more people will be starting their own network marketing businesses.

Other than that, I'm sure there will be more social media sites popping up and different ways you can purchase traffic.

See you at the top,
Michael Stead

[Kim Giancaterino Company: Magnetic Sponsoring Contribution Level: 1]

It's an excellent question, Carlton. I'm very excited about the future.

[Josh Thomas Contribution Level: 3]

Carlton,
Timely question, my friend. I often sit and pontificate on this very question myself. Not so much about marketing, but technology. Forgive me, but this turned into a rather long one.

If we base our prediction on historical trends...

50 years ago, most folks were buying their first Television
40 years ago, color TV was all but a dream
30 years ago, cassette tapes were a few years old and people slowly adapted to them.
20 years ago, the internet was something that only hyper-geeks were having arguments about in coffee shops.
10 years ago, Social Networks and digital media as we know it were in their infancy.
Today, the emergence of cloud computing is just on the fringe of hitting mainstream.

So, following that logic...

It seems that about every 10 years, the thing that was new 10 years ago is commonplace and widespread, and early adopters will be looking ahead to the next big thing. In 10 years, computers that are 10 times as powerful as my silly little Mac Book Pro will be available for half the price. They will be smaller, more functional, and have a built in connection to my cloud network through a new connective technology (possibly WiMAX).

Carrying flash drives and iPods will be a thing of the past. We will be able to access all of our media and information remotely through a tiny receiver (sold separately, of course). Something similar to, but better than Bluetooth will be our primary means of transferring data.

What does this all have to do with marketing?

Well, I'll tell you....

When the internet exploded in the mid-90's, there were savvy marketers positioned to make millions of dollars because they knew how to game the system, as it had almost no regulations. Spam, deceptive linking practices, keyword stuffing, etc. were all rampant. But within about 5 years, a lot of those unsavory practices were squashed with the CAN-SPAM Act and our friend Google, who changed the internet forever.

When MySpace developed a revolutionary way to connect with other people and share information online in the early 2000's, an entire new set of marketers figured out a way to "socialize" all the way to the bank. But again, it became too spammy and antiquated, so Facebook eventually took over.

Pay Per Click made some instant millionaires when Google introduced "Adwords" in 2005. Since then, it has become tougher and tougher to advertise in this manner as Google has ever-increasingly tightened the vice with respect to quality control.

Today, just about the only way to market effectively through social networks, PPC, email, etc. is to develop a personal relationship with potential customers and provide substantial value UP-FRONT. Build trust and monetize on the back end. Based on the trends of marketing over the past 15 years, this cycle will shift again in about 5 years....and again in about 5 more.

The Future:

So, in 5 years...
Relationship marketing will fall out of favor and be replaced with something requiring a deeper investment from the marketer. Perhaps the only way to sell a product at this point will be to hold a series of educational seminars on a topic for free and also help prospects jump start their career, hobby, interest or whatever it is that you have reached them for. And only THEN will you get paid.

In 10 years...
This new "uber" relation marketing will lose ground in favor of a new method which involves the majority of marketers only earning money when their customers have earned money (a percentage, joint venture type of thing), especially in the "Make Money" niche.

Think this is an outrageous prediction?

Consider this...
10 years ago, we were all perfectly happy to accept the trade off of free television programming in exchange for the occasional commercial break.

Then Tivo was invented.

[Milton Cai Contribution Level: 2]

Probably more powerful integrations of mobile and internet devices with virtual assistants such as talking avatars and air projections. Disney is able to project movies on water, maybe future ads could be projected from virtual screens that do not require a physical electronic display but could be done over air.

Just a thought.

[Josh Thomas Contribution Level: 3]

The virtual world will merge with the real world and you will be living in both simultaneously - interacting with real people and virtual people all day.

Yeah, the very first 3D I-Max movie I ever saw was Avatar. Honestly, I'm completely ruined for life. I can't even watch TV anymore. It's so.....2 dimensional. That is certainly the future.

...maybe future ads could be projected from virtual screens that do not require a physical electronic display but could be done over air.

I like that thinking. "Machines" as we know them will probably become more centralized and we will be able to communicate with them from anywhere using a variety of "signal transmitters".

Good stuff, guys.