Competent digital marketing means you have to account for evolving technologies. Just look at all the SEO companies that still have ad copy focusing on Meta tags (which Google ignores) and search engine submission (which isn’t necessary any more). Effective search engine optimization should come from a company that knows what’s happening now – and the same thing is true for all aspects of digital marketing. This goes above and beyond the kind of trade knowledge marketers share with each other, to appreciating the implications of broader developments in hardware, software and the Web. Let me show you what I mean with three examples.

What am I talking about? Amazon’s Kindle. The iPad. Barnes and Noble’s Nook. These are just three of the dozens of devices designed specifically to get people to read magazines and books electronically instead of on paper. Sure, people have done this with PDFs for a decade, but these devices bring it into the mainstream with a comfortable user experience.

What does it mean to digital marketing? Remember those print ad campaigns you couldn’t justify in the face of the potential of Web marketing? Now those magazines are coming back electronically, and people have barely begun to talk about how ads might work in electronic magazines.

Mobile Internet Replaces Voice as the Core Phone Service

What am I talking about? If you have an iPhone, Android smartphone or Blackberry Internet use might be the #2 thing you do on the phone – after texting. Mobile broadband is going to get cheap enough that people will expect it, overshadowing voice. Heck, even now, nobody seems to mind that the iPhone, while an amazing Internet device, is actually pretty awful for voice calls.

Why does it matterto digital marketing? The whole scenario of the Web as a way to contact people in their homes gets replaced by the idea that the Web is there all the time, and people want content related to their current locations. That means it’s time to talk about localization and applications that overlay data directly over a camera image.

Web and Cloud Apps Replace Local Apps

What am I talking about? For years, companies tried to entice consumers into thin client computing where they use applications remotely. They found little success. Most remote applications were, slow and crash-prone. But Google Docs and other services represent an evolution that actually fulfills the original thin client promise of convenient applications that don’t feel like they’re overtaxing your hardware, while adding new concepts such as bring able to create and modify files across multiple applications.

Why does it matter to digital marketing? Google, Apple and Microsoft are all investing in cloud services. Google is way ahead here with its application suite, and funds them through Adsense Ads. MSN Live may also end up using this model in earnest and Apple has filed patents that link ads to software applications. It’s time to look into these ad delivery systems and see how you can use them to your advantage.

Digital marketing evolution is happening right in front of you. To understand where the opportunities are, start the way I have here: Ask, “Why does it matter?” The answer is the start of your strategy.

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