In scanning my Google reader for blog fodder over the past several weeks, I noticed the same three topics coming up over and over: social media, mobile advertising, and real-time search. Some of you may be familiar with these trends, and if you are an online marketer, let’s hope you are. For those late to the party or looking for a little clarification, here is a brief overview of three things  reshaping the way users experience the web and advertisers do their jobs.

1 – Social media is a big deal

It’s been in the spotlight for awhile, but the time has come when no marketer can afford to ignore social media, if only for the fact that competition is fierce, and all your competitors are using it.

Campaigns are becoming more integrated and the ad industry must get social or risk being left behind. This is not to say traditional forms of advertising are disappearing while blogging, social networking, and video sharing take over, but traditional campaigns now require an interactive component to be competitive, and that component usually involves social media.

Still don’t believe social media is a big deal? Check out this list of ‘20 Reasons Why You Cannot Ignore Social Media,’ culled from powerhouse media agency Universal McCann.

2 – Mobile advertising

With smart phone’s becoming the mobile phone of choice,  and the iPhone’s ease-of-use changing the face of mobile search, marketers are becoming increasingly aware of the value in mobile marketing.

According to an article in Mediaweek last month, “smart phone users are clicking on ads (53 percent), requesting more information or a coupon (35 percent) and making purchases via their handsets (24 percent).” If those kinds of stats don’t impress you, they are impressing marketers, and with mobile use predicted to rise over the next several years, optimizing content for the mobile web is a top priority for major brands.

Moreover, innovations like ‘shakable-ads‘ are giving users more compelling reasons to interact with brands while using their phones, making it clear that when it comes to mobile marketing, the possibilities are endless.

3 – Real-time search is on the rise

If you’re an early-adopter or work in the web/tech industry, you’ve probably realized Twitter search is infinitely useful. Likewise, when it comes to accessing real-time, up-to-the-minute data like emergency broadcasts, sports scores, or verdicts, Twitter search beats Google, hands down.

The next logical step? Monetization. And the first to figure out how to make text ads work in real-time search will likely be Twitter. The microblogging service recently announced its plans to begin indexing links included in user tweets, as well as monitor the rank and reputation of Twitter users, and its only a matter of time before Twitter will begin serving text-ads, as well.

I hope this recap was informative. See you next time!

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