2010 is the year in which most Marketers are shifting from social media and mobile dabblers to believers.  The challenge Marketers face is that the enabling technology is still designed for dabbling.  Nearly every Marketer is forced to create one-off Facebook apps, separate iPhone apps and separate websites with no common content management system, analytics, testing or targeting.  This creates a significant challenge as Marketers move to scale their efforts up and measure results.

I recently had a briefing from Webtrends (full disclosure: Webtrends is a partner of ours) and believe their recent announcements show the path forward towards a new, online marketing platform that manages web, social and mobile.  Webtrends Analytics 9 is the first to aggregate Facebook (via API) and iphone app (via SDK) analytics together with website data.  This provides the first single view for Marketers to see activity across these key online channels.  Consumer behavior crosses these channels fluidly and Marketers need the ability to track and measure what is actually going on rather than still focusing on their homepage.

Webtrends Analytics 9 is a great first step showing a consolidated view of analytics across key online channels.  Webtrends Optimize holds the promise of enabling Marketers to use a common mechanism to embed and manage content/applications across distributed online channels (Facebook, smart phones, partner websites).  No one has pulled this off yet as far as I am aware, but Webtrends Optimize is as close as any to get there.  The most likely players are the Testing & Targeting bunch that have largely been acquired by larger players (Omniture, Autonomy, Webtrends, etc.)  Currently, it appears to me that Webtrends is picking up the challenge most aggressively, have the fewest distractions and their bias towards openness in their platforms lends itself well to the challenge.

Here’s hoping Webtrends completes the vision for the sake of all Marketers.  Please share your thoughts if you see other companies heading this way.  Who do you think will win?