My Predictions for Internet Marketing in 2011
by Antone Roundy | 7 Comments | Marketing, Podcast
The only thing we know for sure about 2011 is that it'll begin with a "20" and end with an "11". Everything in between is educated guesses, wild speculation, and wishful thinking.
Some of the bloggers I follow have posted predictions ranging everywhere from increased adoption of cloud computing, to 2011 being the year when you have to establish a strong personal brand -- when you have to "stand for something" in order to be trusted, all the way to a global financial meltdown. One guy's predicting his new business will become a multi-billion dollar empire in 10 months. Not to be a dream stealer, but I'll believe it when I see it.
That said, here are my predictions. Whether they're educated guesses or one of those other things...well, call back in a year, and I'll let you know :-).
Prediction #1: More Focus on the Fundamentals
The economy has been stinking up a storm for several years, and despite what your elected officials would have you believe they've accomplished, whatever recovery some people may be enjoying is leaving a lot of people behind.
Clever tricks that used to generate bursts of income when people had more money to play around with are less effective. I predict that as more and more people realize that, it'll become harder to sell internet marketing products that focus on tricks and gimmicks. Not impossible, mind you -- there'll always be people looking for an easy button (and some will be buying even more desperately) -- but the market will become more leery of such things.
Expect more training to focus on the fundamentals. What'll be interesting is to see how people differentiate their teaching of the fundamentals from others'. One approach would be to pioneer new ways of applying old concepts. Some things never change, but the technology of 2011 is a lot different than the technology of 2005. So there's plenty of room for innovation, even if you're sticking to the fundamentals.
Prediction #2: More of the Same
Even as internet marketing training trends toward the fundamentals, some people who already have a loyal following will keep their reality distortion fields up and keep churning out the kinds of products their followers have bought in the past.
Right, there are a few different strategies people use, based on how long their average subscriber stays on -- pricing the first few months high, offering a lifetime subscription for some amount greater than the average they make from one subscriber,...They'll have more trouble picking up new followers this way, and depending on how successful they are, they'll probably branch out in new directions behind the scenes, but don't expect an end to things like gurus selling their latest one-true-system at the standard $2,000 price point.
Prediction #3: More Focus on Continuity Income
I'll go with Ryan Lee on this one. The harder it becomes to get new customers, the more important it becomes to keep selling to existing customers, and the more desperate people will be to learn how to do it.
The most reliable way to make repeat sales is to get your customers into a program where they're rebilled automatically. I predict that more training will focus on building continuity products, and some marketers who've lived off of frequent product launches in the past will shift their focus toward getting customers into continuity programs.
I'll stop there for now. What do you think is coming in 2011?
December 30th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
You're right, a lot of marketers will use continuity programs to make money but the difficulty will be keeping subscribers. To be continuously "bled dry" and watch the credit card amounts increase (especially with the high interest rates) will only work for so long.
Once everyone starts doing it, the whole subscriber thing will collapse and they will be back trying to lure customers to their sites with the same sleazy methods so many use now.
December 30th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Lee,
Yep, I was thinking the same thing. You'll either need to over-deliver so that staying on board is clearly worth it, or price your continuity low enough that the pain of paying is less than the fear of missing something valuable in the future.
I'm guessing that many of the big names will go for high price tags since they've got enough credibility with their followers to get them in for a few months, and some of their followers will be willing to keep paying long term.
But a more solid strategy for most people will be to over-deliver value.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
The problem with that Antone is that even nickles and dimes add up and when the bills come in people are going to think twice.
Costs are going up and will continue to rise as oil prices increase - which they will!
Heating fuel, gas, food all the necessities will take precedence over fattening some Internet marketer's pockets.
The public are getting tired of Internet marketers and its reflecting strongly with comments in the forums.
Over the next year people are going to do more research into making purchases and think twice before they get involved in anything. Only the honest marketers and reviewers will survive.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Your best bet is to offer a continuity product that's directly tied to revenue. For example, if you have a website that's making $100/month and costing you $10/month, you're not going to cancel your hosting or let your DNS registration lapse.
If you're offering resale-rights products, customers who are making more selling them than they're paying for their membership will stay on. Those who don't bother selling, or don't cover their membership cost are at risk.
If your service delivers traffic to their website and they track it and can see that it makes them money, they'll keep it. If they don't track, they're at risk. But if they cancel and see a drop in revenue, you might get them back.
If you're selling information, you'll want to find ways to prod your customers to apply it, and hope that when they do, they'll see the connection between the information and profits.
The harder it is to make the connection between your product and revenue, the harder it is to keep subscribers. That's where you need to over-deliver to the point where you don't have to prove the connection because it's obvious your product is worth it.
December 30th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
[...] Antone Roundy wrote: The only thing we know for sure about 2011 is that it’ll begin with a “20? and end with an “11?. Everything in between is educated guesses, wild speculation, and wishful thinking. Some of the bloggers I follow have posted predictions ranging everywhere from increased adoption of cloud computing, to… [...]
January 4th, 2011 at 2:49 am
I read somewhere that in most membership programs, subscribers stay only between 3 and 6 month. So many price the membership very high to gain as much as possible from their customers in a short time.
On the other hand, low cost memberships, that also deliver high value, can last for very long. Taking me as an example, i subscribed to a program back in 2007 for $ 2.50/month and don't even think about cancelling. The content is good (not every month) and i am pretty sure to benefit from it.
So that company made about 120 bucks over 4 years with me, but I probably will stay on for ever. If they had charged $ 30/month for the same content, the would have only made $120 maximum with me, because i would have left the programme after 3 or 4 month.
January 4th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Right, there are a few different strategies people use, based on how long their average subscriber stays on -- pricing the first few months high, offering a lifetime subscription for some amount greater than the average they make from one subscriber, offering extra bonuses for people who stay on one month longer than the average, etc.
When I hear that somebody's continuity program keeps people for an average of X number of months, that tells me one of two things:
1) They're not delivering enough value to be worth the money, or
2) Their customers aren't getting the value that they are delivering.
Some of #2 is inevitable. Not everybody is going to use what they buy, no matter how much you try to lead them by the hand and help them do it. But it's still a good strategy to figure out what's keeping them from putting the product to use and find ways to get over those barriers.
Also, some people won't use the product because it's just not right for them. Outside of oxygen and water, there aren't a lot of products that are really for everyone.