Apologies for the lack of posts recently, I don’t think I will ever turn into a full time blogger as I just don’t seem to get the time.

In brief, 2009 ended great for me. Lots of consultancy business onboard with some mega brands, small agencies, and large technical providers.

The discussions I have had have been enlightening, disheartening, confusing, and inspiring!!

I must admit, if you have read some twitter feeds from me before Xmas, that I was getting a little ‘perturbed’ with the number of ‘online predictions’ ‘guides’ ‘reviews’ and advice spreading the social media wave. Some were great, some were really poor and nothing more than a simple retweet with slight editorial.

For a simpleton like me, I think 5 things will happen in 2010 – from a macro market perspective.

1. As clients look to take some elements of search in-house, boutique agencies will prosper. We did not see the consolidation of ‘one stop’ shops as predicted in 2010. Large agencies wasted lots of money on, well poor, acquisitions. Clients are now more search savvy and not too responsive to large acquisitions. They have seen that they may not receive the level of attention their campaigns deserve. Large agencies that make large acquisitions subsequently have revenue models that their, search specialist division, struggle to match to client pricing requirements in a tough economy.

2. As mentioned in my Digital Distraction piece last year. Large search specialists may suffer from innovation syndrome. I don’t think 2009 was handled to well by many companies and individuals. When a market struggles, it’s easy to think ‘let’s innovate’. Innovation is essential but needs to be handled at the correct pace. If you don’t still keep a tight rein on your core specialism’s, and keep core talent in your company, then you will die. Don’t be surprised to see big companies struggle and go into administration. On the other hand, don’t be surprised to see at least 2/3 acquisitions of smaller boutique agencies (but nowhere near the price paid previously for such acquisitions)

3. Clients will approach technology companies as a first stop. As many in-house departments will firstly look for bid management and analytic providers to support their in-house campaign management. Agencies need to diversify and show how they can help with this. It won’t always be full service. Integration of SEO and social media, and real time search present the opportunities.

4. Yes, Social Media will grow. However clients will realise that this is a marketing and psychological discipline which is IMPLEMENTED through technology. Only the most experienced, creative, and marketing focused agencies will utilise social media to the benefit of their clients.

5. 2010 actually may well be the year for mobile!!. If agencies can innovate in this area alongside social media initiatives then they could steal a lead. Just look at recent Google acquisitions to give credence to this statement.

This may sound simple, but I think its right.

If you are a CEO and want to grow your business and capitalise on recent innovations (not necessarily inventions) in this market place then please give me a call. I’m happy to share more insight.

For further detail on micro predictions on SEO, PPC, Digital and Social Media……

For me here are a few, not all, of the best sources for PPC and SEO guides/predictions that I have read:

Econsultancy
Danny Sullivan
Dave Chaffey
John Battelle
SearchCowboys
SEOptimise
Lee Odden
SEOmoz
New Media Age

Here’s to a great year and remember…. Balance your innovation expenditure (time, resource, and capabilities) with that of you core offerings. There is a very fine tipping point between success and failure.