The 1st thing that comes to mind when I begin to think about the near and longterm future of internet marketing is the movie Minority Report. A brief synopsis of the movie is that in the future; police are able to use precognitive individuals to stop crime before it happens. At one point in the movie, the main star Tom Cruise is on the run and ducks into a department store where an automated system recognizes him and begins to offer him products.
We have already reached this level (to some extent) in todays online marketplace via cookies. What does the future hold? Well it depends on how far out you want the crystal ball to look.
In the near future: I see the Asian market pushing into the western world and vice versa. This can/will happen in several different ways; It will increase the amount of online competition, open up a broader audience who can purchase products/services, and expose the language barriers between Asia and the Western world. As with advances in technology, the co-mingling of the Western and Asian worlds online will grow exponentially in the next few years.
In the not so near future: Our society is changing on a daily basis. Children now learn to type their names before they can actually write them. The baby boomer generation will be retiring (and dying) in the next several years. What does all this mean? Attitudes regarding online commerce are changing rapidly. Just a few years ago, a vast majority of the population was hesitant to make purchases online due to fear of fraud, identity theft, etc. Today I would assume that a graph tracking online sales of any type of product or service would show a strong and steady increase. The ease and ability to find a product in the security of your own home is very enticing for today's online consumer. Companies will continue to improve the ease with which those purchases can be made, which means more and more e-commerce.
In the distant future: (This is where I get to have real fun.) We are in the time of the Jetsons, flying cars, life in space, the whole nine yards. The internet and web will become ingrained into our daily lives. The fridge will recognize that you are out of milk and place an order with your designated grocery store and then notify you to pick it up. School fund raisers, eye correction, car repairs, and more will be available online. Plug your car in via a USB adapter and it will diagnose the problem, your computer will be able to scan your eyes to evaluate eyesight, etc.
The biggest change in marketing in recent years has been the shift from targeting everyone and hoping some of the audience would desire the product or service. With today's online market, prospective buyers search and find the seller with greater ease than ever before (difference between push vs pull marketing).
What does the future hold? It will become easier and easier for buyer's to locate desired products and services via the web and its peripherals.
The Future of Online Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit James Wells's Website.
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