Here are the remaining trends I found relevant to small businesses from the Triangle Interactive Marketing Association the other day…

1. Online video really is here to stay. It’s also developed its own business model for advertising. 141 million Americans watched 10 billion online videos in December 2007. The average viewer watched more than 3 hours of online videos that month–up 34% since the beginning of the year. And previous research shows that we’re not just talking teenagers here. So even if you don’t do your own video, it may pay to see what’s going on in your industry over at YouTube.
2. 2008 will be the year of Google backlash. A new search war is brewing–Microsoft isn’t the only big player looking at buying Yahoo. So if you’re only doing Google AdWords, it may be time to look into Yahoo click advertising so you can benefit from any spikes in Yahoo traffic as this war plays out.
3. Companies are disaggregating their marketing expenses. For those of us in the marketing arena, speaker Howard Greenstein predicts that companies will expect one-stop-marketing shops to hire niche sub-contractors or will start spreading their marketing dollars among smaller, specialty firms in the year ahead.

After the presentation, I asked the speaker Howard Greenstein what he thought would be the best interactive tactic for very small businesses and he said blogging. And I agree, done correctly, it can very be effective in promoting the business. And with the advent of audio and video blogs, it’s even easier for all the non-writers. But when it comes down to it, the most effective tactic for you will be whatever you will enjoy most–because then you’ll do it regularly.