Communications: looking ahead.

This is a thrilling time for marketers, likely the most important in this epoch. The functionality brought about by digital technology has advanced communication at lightning speed and brought marketing opportunities never before imagined. Messages can reach global audiences at a fraction of the price of best methods employed just a few years ago, with pinpoint targeting and immediate metrics.

The most important factor driving digital opportunity is that of ubiquity: wide-scale adoption of broadband connections, WiFi, handheld devices, WAP, and search engines, enable nearly everyone to access information, find purchase points, and peers at the touch of a button.

Multi-platform access is creating new streams of influence--often peer-driven--absorbed how, when, and where the user wants. Therefore, is important for marketers to deliver information and messages to these attention points.

NEW AUTHORITY

Blogs represent the most potential, yet confusing aspect of digital messaging. With 71 million blogs, the Internet has produced a sophisticated network of influencers with expertise and opinions spanning business and lifestyle. The blog dynamic is vital for marketers because it fuels online conversations across the planet. They can, however, be deadly to misuse. Treading across principals of blogging, chief among them transparency, can unleash a wildfire of discourse that has already plagued the likes of AOL, Dan Rather, politicians, and automakers.

It's incorrect to dismiss blogs as too "mainstream," or rumor-focused for industry-specific use. An October 2007 search of blog-monitoring service technorati.com displayed more than 600 blogs on the topic of agriculture and almost 30,000 posts. Clearly, there is a strong online conversation on any topic and marketers in the agricultural space need to be aware of--if not involved in--that conversation.

Blogs, now a decade old, are digital building blocks of community; aficionados and professionals of like interests find each other through online search, and conversation surrounds experts or topics germane to participants. Print media was once the cornerstone of community. But ubiquity of the Internet and the ability for every voice to be heard--indeed, to upload videos, to rank, vote, and review--has fueled online "social networks." Also known as vertical digital communities and enterprise social networks, these digital meeting places collect and elicit feedback from millions of folks invested in any set of conversations. The community supplies and approves content and discourse, thus, marketers must adapt to this phenomenon of consensus.

NEW TOOLS

More than forums for opinions, these meeting places enable millions of participants to share and download Web-based audio and video--and video is fast-becoming an expected standard of Web communication. ComScore

Video Metrix report for July 2007 revealed that nearly 75% of U.S. Internet users (roughly 175 million) watched an average of three hours of online video during the month, creating another tool for marketers to reach deep into communities.

Almost any video viewed online can be viewed via handheld and handhelds can access any blog or social network. With more than 230 million handheld subscribers in the U.S., the platform affords marketers opportunity to deliver messaging in the very hands of targeted audiences. According to the ABM/Forrester study, 90% of business decision-makers have used handhelds to access business information important to their jobs. The global budget devoted to mobile brand advertising will rise to $3.5 billion in 2011, from $123 million in 2006, according to eMarketer (www. emarketer.com) on the tails of this movement.

THIS DOESN'T MEAN IT'S EASY

With advancement comes challenges and the digital transformation offers unique challenges to marketers. A recent survey of attendees at the Association of National Advertisers found that, while recognizing the importance of a digital culture, only 24% of survey respondents think their organizations are digitally savvy.

Clearly these tools offer vast potential, yet the right way to approach any marketing campaign is through sophisticated integration of platforms most beneficial to the end user.

Steve Ennen is a Global, Digital Media/Marketing Consultant and an Instructor of Sales and Marketing at New York University. He is the former VP, Digital Business Strategies for American Business Media and can be reached at [e-mail].