A new year represents an opportunity for a fresh start. And this year more than ever.

With a growing lack of confidence in the economy and fears of recession, how can you make this year better than the last, while keeping marketing costs down?

The Canadian Marketing Association suggests, “rather than across-the-board cuts, we would advocate for agency consolidation (as long as trampoline is one of them ), more targeted public relations and leveraging social media as core marcom options as we move into 2009.”

In a recent Harvard Business Review article (The Year of Marketing Dangerously) the author predicts that despite marketer’s reluctance to invest more in digital advertising, a perfect storm is brewing. The good news is that even though digital advertising has grown faster than other categories — 23 per cent in 2008 compared to six per cent for advertising overall, you still have a great opportunity in 2009 to get a head start on most of your competition. Here are a few ideas.

Today digital marketing is more than having a groovy web site and buying a few banner ads on Google. As we all know the big buzz is Social Media.

Social Media is more than having a Facebook profile. It means taking your message wireless — spreading the word quickly, efficiently and economically via the Internet. So, set a New Year’s resolution for yourself and your business. Expand your digital horizons by making the most of online marketing opportunities.

Use viral campaigns. Mass e-mails with clever content means people will enjoy, get the message, and pass it on. If it’s unique, like the one U.S. department store JC Penney’s used to convince men to buy jewellery for their wives for Christmas, for fear of landing in the doghouse, it will drive sales and make the campaign, and your business, more memorable.

Start a blog (like this one). Who knows what you do better than you? So share the wealth in a forum where you can interact with the consumer via comment boards, record feedback and expand knowledge about your business. 

Make movies. By putting advertising dollars into producing video clips, you can utilize sites like YouTube to post your content for free.

It’s easier than you think. For example, using the handy tab at the bottom of this blog, you can link to Facebook — yes, trampoline is on Facebook! — Digg, MySpace or other social networking tools. It’s a unique form of communication that means within the mere seconds it takes to make a few key strokes, what you have to offer is absorbed or discarded, passed on or passed up.

How effective is your website? Use some of your valuable advertising dollars this year and invest in website improvements. The good, old-fashioned Yellow Pages are a thing of the past. If consumers are looking for someone like you, they’re going to turn to Google for the answers. Try Google Analytics to see the who, what, when, where and why of visits to your site. And like so many other nifty gadgets on the Internet, it’s free!

This year, open your mind, and your marketing potential to the benefits of digital marketing.

I've been in the marketing game for almost 25 years now and the most valuable thing I've learned is that I have a whole lot more to learn. I started off in sales and worked my way up (so I thought) to advertising. In hind sight, I realize that sales was the top! You can have sales without advertising, but advertising without sales is just useless art. When Trampoline Branding was formed, we set out with that firmly planted in our minds. Now more than ever we need to keep it very simple for consumers. Good thing, I'm a very simple guy!