by Claudia Bruemmer

2010 came to a close with a bang, and 2011 promises to be even better. It’s time for wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers to learn from the digital trends of last year for use in increasing sales and profits this year. 2010 was the year of social media with Google playing catch-up. We also saw the rise of Facebook, the ubiquity of Twitter, the propagation of mobile marketing and the promise of video advertising.

Search engines and the Internet have changed the way we conduct our daily lives. The web affects the way we learn, shop, communicate and collaborate at home, work and play. The marvel of the web is both a time saver and a time sink. Even with instant information at our fingertips and colleagues just a keystroke away, there are never enough hours in the day.

The Internet has helped people and businesses save time through technology by using email, search engines, social networking, virtual meetings, web-based documents, video messages, mobile devices and so forth. Our transformation into a digital society has been evolving over the past 10 to15 years, making the Internet an integral part of our lives.

2010 Was the Year of Social Media

Social media went mainstream last year. As a result, Google had to play catch up with Facebook and Twitter by changing its algorithm to include real-time search data. In March, Facebook overtook Google and became the most popular site in the U.S. Then in August, people began spending more time on Facebook than on Google.

Google first reacted to the social networking effect of Twitter and Facebook with the Caffeine algorithm change in late 2009. Then in September 2010, Google announced a search enhancement called Google Instant. Caffeine resulted in a faster index with fresher results that display real-time data and put more emphasis on video and social media data from sites like Facebook and Twitter. Google Instant provides a faster and more predictive way to search by displaying suggested results as users type a query.

The Rise of Facebook

One of the biggest changes on the web in 2010 was the increasing dominance of Facebook. The site was featured in a movie, “The Social Network,” as controversy about its origin went from the blogs to the courts. Greg Sterling reported in Search Engine Land on January 3 that Facebook was getting $500 million from Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies at a valuation of $50 billion, and asked the question, “With so much money is a Facebook search engine inevitable?”

In the December 60 Minutes Interview on CBS, Leslie Stahl asked Mark Zuckerberg if his goal for Facebook is to “own the internet,” and he said, “When it comes to services like photos, groups, music, or TV, most of the time people want to do those things with their friends rather than on their own,” implying that users prefer Facebook to Google for finding and sharing information.

Users share information impulsively on Facebook, which is changing the way they interact with brands through a “Like” button on ads that sends users to a brand’s fan page. This gets many Facebook users following a brand quickly. And Facebook does its best to help users promote brands because it results in more money from advertisers.

A merchant’s Facebook page is an important part of its online business because Facebook pages allow wholesalers and manufacturers to quickly and cheaply communicate with their most loyal customers. Facebook provides a forum where wholesalers can sell directly to buyers with sponsored ads. What makes Facebook so engaging is the ability to network not only with friends, but also with businesses, events and products.

The CBS 60 Minutes interview revealed that over 200 million Facebook users are accessing the site from mobile devices. According to Kara Swisher of All Things Digital, also featured on the show, “The battle between Facebook and Google is about search and how people find information.”

It’s hard enough to believe Facebook gets more traffic than Google. But Hub Pages goes one step further to claim, “Advertising on Facebook is better than Google AdWords.” The site further states, “Facebook ads are the single most bankable source of traffic on the web today. Google admits this. Google even fears this. Facebook is a genuine competitor of Google.”

Do we finally have a Google killer? I wouldn’t bank on it, but there’s keen competition here, and the battle lines are drawn.

The Ubiquity of Twitter

The power of Twitter tweets proved to be the fastest way to circulate news globally in 2010. The microblogging site recently ranked its most powerful tweets of the year. The list illustrates the site’s popularity, with world leaders using it to greet each another or make critical news announcements. Entertainers use it to communicate directly with their fans in real time without going through their PR agents. Below are a few examples from Twitter’s most powerful tweets of 2010.

Journalist Ann Curry used Twitter in January to urge the U.S. Air Force to give landing clearance to a plane carrying doctors from Doctors Without Borders to earthquake-ravaged Haiti with: “@AnnCurry: @usairforce find a way to let Doctors without Borders planes land in Haiti: http://bit.ly/8hYZOK THE most effective at this.”

As soon as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joined Twitter, the White House staff replied to his first tweet with: “@whitehouse: Welcome to @twitter President Medvedev! RT @KremlinRussia_E: Hello everyone! I’m on Twitter, and this is my first tweet.”

An ordinary citizen got help quickly by tweeting: “@LeighFazzina: I’ve had a serious injury and NEED Help! Can somone please call Winding Trails in Farmington, CT tell them I’m stuck bike crash in woods.”

Prince William’s office announced his engagement to model Catherine Middleton thusly: “@ClarenceHouse: The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince William to Miss Catherine Middleton – www.princeofwales.gov.uk”

And finally, former Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz resigned with a haiku tweet: “@OpenJonathan: Today’s my last day at Sun. I’ll miss it. Seems only fitting to end on a #haiku. Financial crisis/Stalled too many customers/CEO no more.”

Because tweeting is one of the fastest ways to drive information around the globe, there’s no limit to its possibilities as an ultimate communications medium.

The Propagation of Mobile Marketing

Mobile subscribers surpassed the 5 billion mark (over 70% of the world population) in 2010 with the fastest growth in China and India. As noted above, 200 million active users access Facebook through their mobile devices.

Many mobile web users are mobile-only, not using or rarely using a desktop, laptop or tablet to access the web. In Egypt and India, 70 percent and 59 percent of mobile web users respectively are mobile-only. In the U.S., it’s 25 percent.

In 2011, over 85 percent of new handsets will be able to access the mobile web. Note this does not refer exclusively to smartphones. You don’t need a smartphone to access the mobile web, but it does provide a better user experience.

Almost 1 in 5 global mobile subscribers have access to fast mobile Internet services (3G or better), and the number of 3G handsets is growing rapidly.

Mobile users want fresh, real-time information about local businesses and places of interest. During the recent holiday season, 59 percent of smartphone consumers used their phones for holiday shopping, and one-third used them to locate stores or get directions. People use their cellphones to compare prices, get gift suggestions, find the nearest Starbucks for a latte, and to buy many other products on the go.

Shoppers want fast loading pages and will spend time on sites optimized for the mobile web. If you aren’t optimized for the small screen, they’ll click to a site that is. There’s no room for optimization laggards with that young demographic who surfs the web with their thumbs.

The Promise of Video Advertising

Video is one of the best advertising mediums in ecommerce. A well-crafted and optimized video can get more response from consumers than any other online advertisement. While 67 percent of U.S. Internet users watched online video monthly in March 2010, this number will increase to 77 percent in 2011.

Video ads will proliferate this year because they can convey information quickly, demonstrate products accurately, and are very memorable. Video can speed up buying decisions by 72 percent compared to print, making it a top choice for ecommerce advertisers.

Wholesalers, manufacturers and retailers will want to use video because it’s excellent for demonstrating product features and displaying the fine detail and functionality of high-priced items. Product videos enhance the consumer’s online shopping experience and increase the odds of engaging shoppers that compare products, prices and merchants. As video flourishes in 2011, savvy ecommerce merchants will accommodate the consumer penchant for video product displays.

In closing, wholesalers, manufacturers and web merchants need to meet the demands of an increasingly social and mobile consumer demographic that wants to find and buy products recommended by friends, displayed in real time on their smartphones. And it’s not just youngsters on mobile devices; older folks have them growing out of their ears as well. The vendors who succeed are those who adapt quickly to prevailing digital trends.