“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect – you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break – her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”

 

Digital marketing is a discipline in flux. We face an onslaught of shiny new technologies and platforms that promise to “change everything.” Marketers are creating similarly breathless headlines, proclaiming the next revolutionary devices/apps/social networks.

Yet, even smart marketers don’t know what changes the future will bring; but they do need to be aware that their industry is changing every day. For instance, to reach consumers marketers need to be increasingly mobile, engaging, relevant and aware of the contexts in which we currently operate.

I don’t pretend to know the future. But the decisions and products of Apple, Amazon and other innovators will affect how we live in the years to come. As we anticipate our connected, Minority Report-style future, here are five big marketing ideas to embrace now to get ahead of the curve.

1. Location Services

Consumers are out there and many want you to find them. Location features of social apps such as Foursquare, Ban.jo and Path are potential goldmines of important consumer data. The near field communication (NFC) technology in products like Google Wallet is just starting to show its potential. And while privacy issues surrounding location services will need to be resolved, consumers are still demanding that marketers understand all of their daily contexts and find ways to make their lives easier. If the rumors are true and the iPhone 5 has NFC embedded, expect these features to go from leading edge to mainstream.

2. New Ad Formats

While new online video and mobile platforms are — unsurprisingly — attracting a lot of heat, their marketing spend is still way out of whack, compared to the amount of time consumers spend there.

Don’t just throw money at these new channels. Instead of pre-roll video ads and other “forced view” options, look to user-initiated solutions that respect the user’s time and interests. Research new ad formats that help brands look beyond clutter and “banner blindness,” such as in-image ads, which integrate brand messages elegantly within relevant content.

3. User-Generated Curation

User-generated curation (UGC) is powered by content discovery apps such as Pulse, Flipboard, Fancy and Foodspotting. Content producers and merchants provide the feeds, and consumers tweak them to suit their interests and contexts, filtering data and curating personalized information platforms.

These models can help brands become relevant to consumers and provide the next great opportunities for marketers. For instance, Pinterest has received applause from consumers and marketers alike, and has demonstrated the power that personal curation and relevance can have for engagement.

4. Advertise by Format

Everyone is excited about mobile’s potential, and tablets present appealing platforms or consumer engagement. If you’ve decided to advertise on mobile apps, what are you going to do with the user after you get him or her to tap? Will you use the platform to its full potential? Or will you roll out the same old display strategy you’ve been using online, praying that users will choose to interact with your ad?

It’s time to get creative and imagine the new possibilities. Media industry guru Ken Doctor points to innovative advertisers who take advantage of the iPad’s unique format. “What’s better for an insurance company like Liberty Mutual than threatening you with disaster (tornado, earthquake, flood) and then, by simply tilting your iPad see the damage magically disappear,” he poses.

5. Integrated Marketing

Being relevant to your customer in every context improves brand recall and enhances engagement. Ditch the silos in your advertising strategy (e.g. this is what consumers watch on TV vs. on their phones) and focus on the most important thing — your customer.

In this increasingly interconnected world, consumers are not necessarily thinking in terms of silos. Research shows that 72% of consumers want to be engaged with an integrated marketing approach, but only 39% are receiving that. Google found that consumers had 74% brand recall when the advertiser’s integrated strategy carried across mobile, TV and online.

While the world is not yet seamless, QR codes and “bridging” apps like Viggle deliver second screen relevance, and can help marketers unleash multiplatform, integrated relevance.

Today’s profound advancement in tech and media is changing how we interact with and filter our world. Smart marketers can succeed by engaging with the trends that are resonating most with the emerging consumer of today.

 

Twitter files appeal in major social media case

After a judge ruled earlier this year that users of Social Media platform, Twitter, who has described itself as “a voice of liberty around the globe”, has challenged these rulings and today filed new arguments. These include that individuals have a right to a 4th amendment in their Twitter account and that deleted tweets are not automatically available for public use.

At the centre of an ongoing court battle to define individuals’ rights in their social media accounts is an account tied to an Occupy Wall Street protester.

The case turns on the Twitter account of Malcolm Harris who was arrested while walking on the Brooklyn Bridge during a 2011 protest. Early this year, prosecutors issued subpoenas demanding that Twitter turn over information for two names associated with Harris: “@destructuremal” and “@getsworse.” Twitter responded by telling Harris about the subpoenas who then asked a court to quash them.

In an April ruling that raised eyebrows in legal circles, Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr. found that Harris couldn’t sue because his tweets belonged to Twitter. The judge also flashed his familiarity with social media by writing that ”the motion to “#quash” was “#denied.” (The judge has been disciplined in the past for trying to friend lawyers on Facebook).

Sciarrino Jr. then rejected Twitter’s own efforts to quash the subpoena. He ruled that Harris had no privacy rights in his tweets on the grounds that Twitter is like shouting on the street where everyone can hear. He added “the street is an online, information superhighway, and the witnesses can be the third party providers like Twitter, Facebook, Instragram, Pinterest.”

Twitter announced weeks ago that it would appeal and today filed its arguments. The filing, which can be seen here, notes that Twitter has been a tool of freedom in places like Iran and China, and argues that users do have privacy rights in their Twitter accounts.

Here are some key arguments from Twitter’s appeal:

Twitter users have a property right in the content they post (citing a case in which a photographer posted a Haiti earthquake photo to Twitter)
Twitter users should have the same right to challenge subpoenas as Gmail users
Twitter users have a Fourth Amendment privacy right in their accounts
The judge made an error by ruling that all of Harris’ tweets, including the deleted ones, were public:
“It simply cannot be the case that a Tweet that is no longer available or is deleted mere seconds after it was posted is unprotected by the Federal or New York Constitutions, but an email sent to a group of people and never deleted can only be obtained with a search warrant.”

The ACLU has filed a brief to support Twitter’s appeal. In a statement, ACLU attorney Aden Fine, said “Under the First and Fourth Amendments, we have the right to speak freely on the Internet, safe in the knowledge that the government can’t get information about our speech without a warrant and without satisfying First Amendment scrutiny.

Harris’ criminal trial is set for December 12 but is unlikely to go forward before the New York Supreme Court rules on Twitter’s appeal.