Guest commentary by Jason Amunwa

The following is taken from a new post I contributed to Bailey Gardiner’s blog, Don’t Drink the Kool Aid as a kind of scorecard of some 2009 online marketing predictions. Although it has a bit of a broader focus, I felt that a few of these predictions were especially meaningful for homebuilders too. Enjoy!

1. “Social Media Advertising Will Come of Age” – eMarketer

A spot-on prediction, eMarketer! With the explosive growth of Twitter, Facebook, etc. making major headlines, advertisers were bound to take notice. Example: Facebook is on track to surpass a 70% increase in ad revenue over 2008. Why this is important for homebuilders: You must get into the conversation! By not participating, you allow the consumer to shape their perceptions of your brand, and really: how many people do you really like who continually ignore you? Anecdotally, it seems like the message is getting through – I’ve never sat in so many meetings with so many different clients, where people are openly discussing advertising opportunities in social media – it makes my heart sing with joy!

2. “Exclusivity trumps accessibility. Having thousands of friends becomes ’so 2008′ and defriending becomes the hot new trend, driven by overwhelming rivers of newsfeeds.” – Charlene Li, of Altimeter group

Nice one, Charlene! Some of you may ask how this predicted trend relates to online marketing? Well, it seems Burger King was listening when Charlene dropped this gem, and responded with their infamous “Whopper Sacrifice” campaign. Facebook is unamused. Why this is important for homebuilders: Measuring success by the number of fans or followers you have is a false metric – ultimately, the quality and level of engagement of your network will determine the benefits you reap from participating in social media.

3. “Mobile search will increase massively.” – Mark Johnson, Latitude

A tip of the hat to Mark Johnson at Latitude. While mobile search may not be on the tips of tongues right now, consider the reflex action that occurs whenever you ask an iPhone owner a question they can’t answer – “One sec, let me check Wikipedia”. With smartphones becoming increasingly common, can mobile search’s time in the spotlight be too far behind? Why this is important for homebuilders: Homeshoppers may overwhelmingly do their research online before heading out to look at models, but mobile search will give you a crucial opportunity to get into their consideration set, if you aren’t included when they step out the front door.

What do you think? Did you make any marketing predictions that either came true or failed to materialize in 2009 (c’mon, be honest)? Let us know in the comments!