We recently began sharing our 2012 Internet Marketing Trends Report with clients. In this report, we highlight statistics for the most important online marketing trends of 2012.

1. 2012 Internet Marketing
Trends Report
"American households now spend as much time
online as they do watching TV, according to
Forrester Research. Yet in 2010, only about 15% of
media ad budget money was spent online. Online
decision-making is skyrocketing; online marketing
budgets aren't."
- Winning the Zero Moment of Truth, Google, Inc.
In this report, we highlight statistics for the most
important online marketing trends of 2012.

2. Page 2 of 5
Search Engine Marketing
 92% of online users first use search engines to look for products and
services. With that stat in mind, get on your computer and go to your favorite search
engine. Enter the name of your company's main product or service. You'll likely see
your company page. If so, great. Now, add the word reviews. Then, try the word best:
best laser printer, best vacation resort, best realtor in Lexington, anything you like. What
all do you see on the page? You probably see ratings and opinion sites, online stores,
coupons, videos, images, and competitor websites.
 Are you happy with what you see? Will these results lead someone to buy your
product? Is your product even visible?
Mobile
 It’s clear that mobile computing is the wave of the future. Mobile offers 24x7
computing, increasingly faster network connections, it is more personal and more fun to
use than a pc, enterprise adoption for tablets is becoming widely accepted, and mobile
empowers users to engage with brands.
 How can your company use mobile-only functionality to increase leads and sales?
GPS, Camera, Video, Maps, Directions, QR Codes, Check-Ins, Click to call, Text
Messaging, Mobile Landing Pages.
 85% of mobile devices will be web enabled by next year.
 95% of smartphone users have searched for local information.
 61% of users call a business after searching and 59% visit the location.
 90% of these people act within 24 hours.
Sources: Google "The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users," 2011
 70% of mobile users have compared product prices on their cell phones.
 65% have read product reviews on their phones.
 50% of mobile searches lead to purchase.
Sources: Lightspeed Research, 2010; Google "The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users," 2011
 Have you viewed your website on a smartphone and tablet? Do you know how many
people visit your site from a mobile device?

3. Page 3 of 5
M-Commerce
 If your company sells anything online, a mobile E-Commerce or M-Commerce site is vital
for connecting with your customers when they are ready to buy.
 79% of mobile users use their smartphone to help with shopping.
 48% use it to get promotions or coupons.
 49% use it to compare prices.
 44% use it to read reviews or product info.
 54% use it to find a retailer.
Local
 Location-based services enable real-time physical retail/service opportunities
with check-ins
 Transparent pricing allows instant, local online price comparison that could disrupt
retailers, and deep discounts, which are being used to drive foot traffic to local
retailers.
 Check-ins and search engine places listings usage is becoming regular use with
smartphone users. Local businesses are looking to use Google and Facebook Places
pages to do more than raise awareness; they see these channels as a way to interact
with customers to drive sales.
 According to a recent Hiprocket survey, 54% of smartphone owners are interested in
using time- or location-based mobile offers.
 Searching for local info is the most common smartphone activity.
 1 in 3 mobile searches are local.
 95% of mobile users looked up local information.
 88% of local info seekers take action within one day.

4. Page 4 of 5
Social
 Time spent on social networks surpassed portals (Google, Yahoo) in June 2011.
 Determining how to measure social media ROI will be a major focus of 2012.
 41% of B2B companies using Facebook have acquired a customer from it.
 US Internet users spend 3 times more time on blogs and social networks than on email.
 Businesses with more than 1000 followers get 6 times more traffic than those with less
than 25 followers.
 42% of companies have acquired customers through Twitter.
 LinkedIn drives the most referrals to B2B sites.
Source: Hubspot, 2011
Content
 Content creation allows your company to connect with customers and prospective
customers.
 "We're entering an era of reciprocity. We now have to engage people in a way that's
useful or helpful to their lives. The consumer is looking to satisfy their needs, and
we have to be there to help them with that. To put it another way: How can we
exchange value instead of just sending a message?"
Source: Winning the Zero Moment of Truth - ZMOT
Video
 With an abundance of new devices available to consumers, demand for streaming
video and audio continue to rise. As consumers become more comfortable with new
technologies, the companies that can deliver this type of content through a variety of
channels and devices will be best suited to win new customers. Creating video assets
for use online produces the quality experience associated with TV at a lower cost and
although the reach is lower online, web viewers are able to be engaged and nurtured
actively online.
 Video is simply more engaging than text, particularly for educational and how-to
guides and video is now an important component of search engine rankings.
 US online video ad spending is set to grow over 40% in 2012
eMarketer, June 2011.

5. Page 5 of 5
Email
 Email is as vital as it ever has been. With the emergence of mobile browsing, email
messages now arrive in the palm of your customer's hand. A major trend for
2012 will be the integration of email marketing with social media and mobile efforts.
This will make the value of a mobile website extremely vital.
 Businesses must be able to send users direct to mobile landing pages that will offer
them the experience promised in the email.
Analytics
 ROI of online and integrated marketing efforts may only be determined by using
analytical tools to measure results. Now is the time to start using your website analytics
to improve the performance of your website and to grow your business.
About eLink Design
eLink Design, a Lexington Web Design & Internet Marketing Firm, is
unique from nearly every Internet Marketing company through its broad
offering of in-house services, empowering clients across all facets of the
economy to work with a single company to design, develop, host,
maintain, support, and market their websites.
Icon Source: http://www.doublejdesign.co.uk/