10 economic trends for 2012

Smart companies will benefit from having trimmed their sails to tack closer to their customer base and set a course for exports into the Asian markets. Credit and loan books will be more flexible and companies will find it easier to get funds for market expansion.

The Chinese economy in the year of the dragon will be extending its interests in the region and providing a platform for small and medium enterprise growth. As the world economic situation regains momentum there will be a renewed surge in labour hires and conversion of part-time and casual employment into full-time jobs.

This means that as marketing budgets increase and many more start-ups enter the arena, business will become more competitive. Capturing attention and converting sales into opportunities for customer advocacy will be an essential feature of a better business environment. Smart companies will have to differentiate business through knowledge, creativity and innovative value propositions that reflect a time hungry market.

So let’s start the year with 10 trends that need to be followed closely:

1. The turbulence caused by the US and European Governments will subside and there will be openings for innovative, energy saving and adaptive companies that use cloud computing to cut operating costs.

2. Customer relationship marketing and ways to excite and engage consumers in the processes of online marketing will ?become significant source of new business, but the discounted daily deals and coupon sales will lose a lot of their entertainment and excitement value.

3. Health, education and community services will gain a bigger share of the skilled job market, especially in local and regional settings.

4. Market research will become more directed towards active customer feedback as smart business leaders find ways to make personal contact with the actual users of products and services rather than who is the purchaser.

5. Transition and transformational purchases will gain a greater share of smart company markets as mobile phones and responses to location and time specific offers capture? the attention of tech savvy, mobile and affluent visitors.

6. Merchants and retailers who choose innovative and less expensive advertising channels including social media and engage search engine optimisers to get closer to the time of purchase after customers do online investigations. The extended range of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn media channels will become electronic billboards rather than lead generators.

7. Productivity improvement through regular renewal and ?business development staff review sessions will make the most of a shift from companies hoarding cash and a ?steady improvement in consumer and business confidence.

8. The biggest blight on performance will come not from new? taxes and superannuation charges but from the costs of? maintaining cyber security, closely monitoring inventory ?and the need to reduce time elements in trading terms.

9. Firms that rely upon government contracts and government stimulus packages will need to find new private sector sponsors and set up marketing networks into the BRIC ?economies if they are to retain market growth.

10. The companies that will have the best performance this year will be those that adopt a collaborative approach to participation in industry associations, trade fairs and trade missions and work closely with business mentors and consultants that increase in-house customer sensitivity.

The evidence from Britain and North America suggest that small and medium enterprises that have made the most of the tough times over the past three years are now growing at three times the rate of the large companies that have just cut costs, reduced staff and stuck to their knitting in established markets.

Smart companies that have maintained a close relationship with their banks and engaged their staff in new product and market development will be the ones that make it happen in the year of the dragon.

Dr Colin Benjamin is an entrepreneurship and strategic thinking consultant at Marshall Place Associates, which offers a range of strategic thinking tools that open up a universe of new possibilities for individuals and organisations committed to applying the processes of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Colin is also a member of the global Association of Professional Futurists.