Greetings citizens of the Printerverse! I decided now was as good a time as any to make some predictions for 2013, since there is a chance that we wont be here after Dec. 21. If that is indeed the case—to quote the “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”—“So long, and thanks for all the fish.” If not, well, I guess we will see if I have a future in prognostication.
Unlike my friend Puxatawney Phil, I see the future in trends, not shadows. Here are a few I think will be relevant in the coming year.
Print Media: I am a lover of marketing technology, but that isn’t the solution to all the print problems out there. If we’ve learned one thing from QR codes it’s: just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Trendwise: Bells and whistles are nice to have when relevant, but it all starts with great design. There will be a new emphasis on the designer as the bridge between print and digital. There will be a consolidation of touchpoints handled by outside resources when it comes to tablets and mobile. Brand messaging and consistency will be more important than ever as the population moves further into making those options their devices of choice.
Digital Media: As mentioned above, tablets and mobile media cannot be left out of any equation in 2013.
Trendwise: There is an App for that. And if you haven’t created one for yourself, or started looking into it, why not get a head start? You can create a Web-to-print mobile portal, maybe an event/webinar/membership registration system—only the programmer you hire limits the possibilities.
Social Media: The ship has sailed here. It’s not going away, but it’s not going to be reinvented next year either. Pinterest and Instagram are both photo-sharing platforms and most likely the final frontier when it comes to creating yet another login. There is only so much bandwidth humans can handle, and we’re at, if not past, the tipping point.
Trendwise: I am going to predict two things here. The first is that there will be a major pull back from sharing everything, everywhere and more of a focus on targeted and segmented sharing where possible. The second is that privacy issues will be a driving factor in that segmentation, and the platforms that haven’t already started to address this concern will.
PrintMediaCentr: 2012 was quite a year. I met some really amazing people and many awesome things happened, including my taking over as host of #printchat, The Printerverse at GRAPH EXPO 2012, stopping Toshiba’s “No Print Day” and, of course, being invited to blog here on Printing Impressions/PIworld were some of the high points.
Trendwise: 2013 is going to be all about community content sharing and Print Inspiration! I want to hear your stories, see your work and shout about great print and design from the rooftops of all my channels! The Printerverse will be bigger and better at PRINT 13, my LinkedIn group will pass 50,000 members (maybe even 60,000), and we will all PRINT LONG AND PROSPER!
Unless, of course, the Mayans were right.
Happy Holidays!
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Deborah Corn is the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse at Print Media Centr, a Print Buyerologist, international speaker and blogger, host of Podcasts From The Printerverse, cultivator of Print Production Professionals the #1 print group on LinkedIn, Girl #1 at Girls Who Print, host of #PrintChat, the founder of International Print Day and the founder of #ProjectPeacock. She is the recipient of several industry honors and is on the Advisory Board for the Advertising Production Club of NYC.
As the Intergalactic Ambassador to The Printerverse, Deborah provides ‘printspiration’ and resources to print and marketing professionals through Print Media Centr. She has 25+ years of experience working in advertising as a Print Producer and now works behind the scenes with printers, suppliers and industry organizations helping them create meaningful relationships with customers and members, and achieve success with their social media, content marketing, event marketing and sales endeavors.
Twitter: @PrintMediaCentr