Dear {FIRST_NAME|Valued Customer},

By now you’ve probably settled back into work mode after the busy holiday season and you may have drained your stash of champagne. The party may be over, but the celebration is just beginning.

This month we turn a hopeful eye to the future. Trends are reporting online marketing to heat up even more than last year with spend projected to reach double digits. With social media becoming more of the norm our radar is lighting up with new developments already rolling out. At NetSearch Direct we’re also celebrating the “time for change” by welcoming a new VP on board and announcing the addition of our newest NetSearch Direct Dealer – NetSearch Direct of Pennsylvania. Joel & Seth Katzman have been successful Valpak Dealers for over 20 years and will now be offering search engine marketing solutions to businesses in the Lehigh Valley and throughout Pennsylvania. Welcome aboard guys!

We’re keeping the momentum going full force throughout the newsletter. This month you’ll find outlines for our PPC, SEO, and Industry Trends 2010 future predictions to help you craft solid marketing strategies that will have you singing all the way to the bank.

The PPC Crystal Ball:
What Lies Ahead for Your Business

Want to know what’s on the mind of the greatest PPC strategies this year? Check out these trends to watch and join in the debate – we’ll be checking in on the NetSearch Direct blog as the year progresses to see if we were right or wrong. You’ll also have a chance to weigh in on your PPC predictions for 2010.

1. Mobile Ads
Remember when having a camera on your phone was a big deal? For 2010 we predict the big deal will be mobile ads. With the popularity of iPhones, the release of the Driod phones, and the launch of the Google Phone – the market is exploding with technology that turns ordinary telephones into mini computers. Advertising in unique ways to mobile web-surfers will grow and offer businesses yet another way to target prime consumers. The real value add will be agencies who get mobile advertising platforms and can offer a real service to its clients – mobile advertising will be different than regular PPC advertising and capitalizing on the difference will make all the difference in a client’s ROI.

2. PPC Facelift
Google recently rolled out new features for ads – things like SiteLinks, Product Extension, and Product listings which offer a unique advertising format that better enhances a user’s online search experience. These ad formats will allow campaign managers the chance to target potential customers better by catering to the search term and behavior. Although still in BETA, new ad formats are offering experiments now, and by fourth quarter 2010 you’ll see which companies profited by taking advantage of this technology and putting up their best ads for consumers.

Search is always changing. Search engines are always altering their algorithms. User behavior is difficult to manage. 2010 is the year of “No More Excuses”. Adaptability and working the SERP rankings with only the best tools and practices will mean handsome rewards to diligent and hard-working SEO advertisers. Stay ahead of the curve and do your homework now with these tips below:

1. Bing-hoo?
With the companies working to get through the regulatory red tape and paperwork, 2010 will finally yield some interesting impacts on SEO as Bing and Yahoo! merge. Will there only be two search engines? Which features will leave and which will stay? Only time can tell, of course, but word on the street (thanks to SEOmoz) is that Yahoo! stands to lose the popular Site Explorer. If one search engine giant is losing a major feature, it begs the question: What’s it to gain? The take home message here is to watch for big announcements in 2010 and make sure your SEO strategy is covered.

2. Relevancy hits the Spotlight
Search engines are offering more than just search results to some of user queries by offering information without a user ever having to actually visit a website. For instance, you can easily track packages or search for airline travel deals right on the SERP. Looking for updates to the latest breaking news? Want to know the score of your team’s latest football or basketball game? Simply type your query into the search engine and you’ll see the results displayed without having to click to visit a site. As a business, be hip to this appreciation for relevancy. Post new products and industry news on blogs and appropriate website pages frequently, tighten control of your website content. Be relevant and the search engines may just show you a little extra favor.

National Statistics

Social Search: You Can’t Say We Didn’t Warn You

Almost every newsletter we spotlight the latest chatter with respect to social media marketing developments. It’s not just because we like to ride on the tails of a hot topic, but it’s because last year at this time we saw the social media marketing storm coming. Consider 2009 your social warm-up exercise because 2010 will be about the marathon.

Nary a scandal went by without tweets erupting across the Twittersphere (we’re not even going to name a certain pro golfer, ahem…). Hashtagging became an art. And then one day Google started indexing live Twitter feeds right on their homepage amid organic results. Whoa. If there was ever a clue that social websites are here to stay, please take it straight from the SERP. Google, in an effort to share the latest and greatest news with its users started indexing social search websites (Twitter and FriendFeed for instance), and started showing articles and blog posts right on the first page of SERPs as they were reported. It’s about relevancy, of-the-minute news, and delivering the freshest content out there.