Innovation, improvements, changing habits of users and rapid changes in digital world create new opportunities and challenges for digital marketing. Dave Chaffey wrote an article called Digital marketing trends 2012 about how to reflect on these opportunities and challenges, and shape priorities for digital marketing. Here is a short version of the article;

1. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search still drives a significant proportion of traffic, so smart marketers use a deeper approach to SEO others.

2. Social media optimization (SMO)

The next stage is to develop a social media strategy and optimize how content is shared and how it supports customer journeys through to sale.

3. Content optimization

To succeed needs a deep understanding of customer preferences; analysis of what works for competitors and then development of your findability and shareability for content.

4. Content aggregation

Content curation and aggregation is how we try to help and you can use tools to tame the social media firehose.

5. Gamification

It’s an interesting new approach to engage online audiences, but we’ll see how widely it can be applied.

6. Video marketing

Many marketers are going to “up their game” on video marketing. Remember that You Tube is the second most important search engine in many countries.

7. Ad network innovation

There is growing awareness that there is value in display advertising beyond the click, for its value in building awareness, encouraging searches on a brand or category and subsequent visits to a website.

8. Privacy compliance

With compliance for the new privacy law required by May 2012 how companies interpret the ICO advice is sure to be an issue for all marketers who manage website in 2011.

9. Cross-channel optimization

This is an area that warrants better understanding and optimization of the customer touchpoints.

10. Mobile marketing

We have seen lots of interest on the blog this year in QR code marketing and this fits the increasing consumer usage of QR codes which seems like it is nearing tipping point.

11. Website performance optimization

With the new features of Google Analytics v5 and Google Website Optimizer, hopefully their usage will increase.

12. Performance marketing

People, process and setting the right KPIs are all important.

You can also have a look at the presentation which is shared by Dave Chaffey on slideshare.