The only true constant in life is change.  And in the marketing industry, ain’t that the truth!  It wasn’t that long ago that swanky magazine ads along with 30-second spots airing during “Friends” and eye-catching billboards along our nations’ highways were all the rage in the marketing world.  Today, switch out “Friends” with “Lost” and all of those advertising tactics still exist, but in a Nice-to-Have capacity. The Must-Haves come in the form of interactive media, such as iPhone applications, Pandora commercials, Facebook, Hulu and high SEO rankings in Google search results, just to name a few.

So, are these Must-Haves really necessities or like life’s true constant, will this all change? According to the guys who get paid big bucks to research this, Forbes and Forrester, it looks like you should start thinking about spending your company’s hard earned dollars in the interactive realm.  According to Forrester Research, U.S. marketers will increase their online marketing spend from 13% this year to 21% by 2014.  And what is it that these marketers are buying to increase their visibility?  Search Marketing and Display Advertising are the top dogs in demand.  Social Media, Email Marketing and Mobile Marketing are close followers and steadily climbing the ranks.

Now we know where company’s marketing budgets will be spent over the next few years, but are consumer trends following suit?  Let’s consider mobile phones.  Remember just ten years ago when mobile phones started to emerge, but we really only used them for emergencies? Over the last few years, a switch has occurred and landlines are more used for emergencies and our cell phones never leave our sides. Maybe this is the reason Forrester Research estimates that mobile spending will increase from $561 million in 2010 to $1.3 billion by 2014.

Still not convinced of the paradigm shift? Let’s look at TV.  The Yankee Group, a firm that researches global connectivity issues, projects that 1 in 8 Americans will cancel their cable TV subscription before the end of 2010. As online media grows and iPads become as commonplace as iPods, I think it will be safe to say that the television set will join the telephone in the corner of technologies past.

What does all of this mean for you?  Your competitors are engaging in interactive marketing.  Consumers are responding to interactive media. Think about your target audience – where can you meet them on the web? How can you serve them on the go?  Can you catch them between their favorite shows and Google searches?  The answer is yes.  You can. And you should.  Otherwise, if you don’t keep up with the marketing trend, you might be headed to the corner with telephone and television.

So just before Christmas, we moved office two doors down the street. And we love it! From acquiring the new space months ago to the massive renovations required to get to Moving Day, we’ve seen some significant changes that go beyond the novelty of new paint and cool architecture. Here’s a short background into why we moved.

From a business perspective, it’s self evident that last year was tough for everyone. Dips in profits, lean staff and even leaner marketing budgets. Somewhere between the projects we worked on and the rhythm we were in, it was clear that what we were doing wasn’t working. There was something stagnant about it. A change needed to happen, a physical one. The idea of reinventing ourselves was born.

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Tracking individual web leads and their point of origin, as well as determining actual cost per lead, is becoming a high priority for today’s marketing managers. As the web now drives the majority of global business inquiries, it is likely that much of your budget is spent promoting websites to generate quality leads.

The bottom line for measurement is not traffic or clicks but actual lead generation and ROI for each online marketing tactic. Take into account all channels where your leads are generated — whether it’s via search engines, verticals, online publications, pay-per-click, or press releases. Determining actual cost per lead is the end goal. Only then will you be able to make informed decisions about where your quality leads originate and how to better plan your budget.

We’ve been fielding a lot of questions lately about where and how social media fits into the online space, specifically for B2B. It boils down to this: allowing customers to make their experiences with your company public has its benefits and drawbacks. How can you use Web 2.0 and social media to leverage your online presence? It’s a dialogue that needs to happen internally if your marketing team hasn’t already started one.

Start with defining what Web 2.0 and social media are within your company and how it can impact online programs both positively and negatively. Establish advocacy for social media by having team members research how competitors are utilizing it. Explore which types of Web 2.0 tools might enhance your online efforts. Create key performance indicators for how to measure outcomes over time. Weigh the risks involved, such as legal or medical review processes that would be needed. It may be a big step for your company, but the trend of social media participation is here to stay and will only grow.

Take a moment to consider how you use Google. Now see how these facts line up with what you tend to do:

On average, users spend 7 seconds scanning page 1 of Google results after pressing “go.” Of the results that turn up, users spend up to 40-50 seconds comparing sites before making a decision to click a result or enter a new search term.

If the results’ content doesn’t show the term they searched under with things like bolded words, a clear description, the display URL, and convince it’s worthy of a click, users will leave and try again.

So how do you maximize on a users swift decision-making? Getting attention on search engines begins with building a site correctly from the ground-up based on a solid list of keywords that represent industry challenges and language your target users search with. Write website content using this language to give your site the opportunity to rise to the top of results rankings. Search engines will love you & so will your end users.

Typically marketing teams focus on getting users to websites, which is only half the battle. The other and equally important half is to keep them there. We see, again and again, clients struggling with the same issue: feedback from users who can’t find what they need or are frustrated by using their website.

Think of all the lost opportunities (and total dollar value it represents!) when users abandon your site and fail to convert because of navigation or design stumbling blocks. Enter the vital missing piece — website usability. A site that is easy to navigate & provides an optimal user experience, from information retrieval to registration or direct contact, is a must. A thorough analysis of your current site, including navigation, design and content organization, could be the step you need to take to convert more users, and in the end, gain substantial ROI.

It seems that nearly everyone now uses their mobile to access websites “on the go,” and you may even do this yourself. Time is essential when interacting with sites using mobile devices — users must be presented with a clear path to relevant content.

The most important content on mobile websites is that which users need while on-the-move. Basics like contact information, maps and event details should be prominent and readily accessible. Consider a short video that presents company offerings instead of asking users to sift through a lot of navigation and webpage content. It’s all about a simple, efficient format.