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Marketing is always evolving, and this year is no exception.  Here are some of the latest and greatest marketing trends that are hot in 2008.

Using "Alternative" Marketing Outlets
More and more people are mobile these days, meaning they have their cell phones, PDAs and laptops with them at all times. They aren't sitting at home in front of the television, reading a magazine or newspaper. Plus, with MP3 players becoming a staple in everyone's lives, people aren't listening to the radio as much. Although advertising will continue in the normal arenas, a lot of advertising dollars are getting mobile as well - moving online and out of the house. A communications industry forecast published by Veronis Suhler Stevenson predicts "alternative advertising spending will increase more than 23% from 2006 through 2011, while traditional advertising will have a compound annual growth rate of just over 1%."

Interactive Marketing
Interactive marketing includes channels such as email and search marketing, online video ads and social media (Myspace, Facebook). Mobile marketing, which is a form of interactive marketing, is getting more popular as consumers become more comfortable using PDAs. Other budding channels include game marketing, podcasts and RSS, which will claim increasingly larger shares of marketers' budgets.

Off-line Guideposts to Online Marketing
Television and magazine advertising will be used to drive traffic to Web sites. These off-line ads give potential customers a glimpse into the product and draw them in, and then points them to the Web site for more detailed information. According to Forrester Research, display advertising (such as Web banners) will reach $14 billion by 2012. Consumers in every age group are expected to up their use of online video viewing in 2008. This allows short television commercials to hook the viewer into going to the Web site to watch the entire commercial.

Now that you know the top trends for 2008, here are some ways to use them to your advantage:

Connect with the Customer. Social networking sites, like Myspace, are all the rage these days, along with sites like Amazon that let people network and voice their opinions through reviews. So it makes sense to follow their lead and let people leave reviews of your products on your Web site. Or you can post your products on sites that let other people review them if you don't have the technology on your Web site.

Use off-line and online media together effectively. If you've been cutting space on your newspaper or magazine ads to save money, use those ads as a jumping off point for your Web site. This will save you money by paying for smaller space in these traditional avenues and pointing readers to your Web site for more details. If you have a newsletter, you can save on newsletter printing by printing a larger number of shorter stories with links to your Web site for the full story. An email campaign can work just as well as a regular mail campaign. Try alternating the two, so that you get people to read your company's name in one place or the other, and when they see it again in the other medium, they'll be more likely to read your message because they recognize your name.

Be as mobile as your customer. Have you noticed that advertising is everywhere you go now? Out on the street, you can find ads by companies that adopt a highway, and even when you go to the doctor's office - advertising. Have you noticed that ad on the tissue paper box? You can pay almost anyone to put your name somewhere on their property! poster printing used to be only for lamp posts, but now you see posters everywhere, even on business cars! What was once limited to street benches has now morphed into ads on sign posts, trucks with rotating displays and even hot dog vendor umbrellas! You're only limited by your imagination.