Here are the buzz-worthy trends to use for the rest of the year:

Bad economy

With raising gas prices, houses going into foreclosure and a steady unemployment rate, the rest of 2008 does not look so bright for the economy. What does this mean to you? You'll probably need to cut costs on your marketing materials. Instead of billboards and commercials, you should do some flyer and brochure printing. This also means that you will have to try to control your shipping costs with the high gas prices and try to keep markups due to this to a minimum. Many marketers are having success by referencing high gas prices in their marketing materials – high gas prices affect everyone and they just keep getting worse.

Election year marketing

You need to create buzz about your product or service that somehow relates to the election. If you can do that, you are sure to get air time on the local news. McCain and Obama already have and will continue to dominate the airwaves until November. It may be a good idea to save your big marketing campaigns for Thanksgiving and Christmas so you don't have to compete with Presidential coverage.

Traditional media tipping over into new media

With the sale of the Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch challenging the New York Times by changing the Journal's coverage and the way it presents stories, marketing will also need to evolve. Both newspapers have online versions, with both adding more social media to their sites. They are also starting to publish other people's content, not just their own. This could potentially open the door for your press releases and stories to onto their Web sites. This is not a definite, but something to watch out for.

Cameras everywhere!

Cameras are not new, of course, but the expectation of being filmed or recorded is. With reality TV shows taking away people's privacy (voluntarily), and Web sites like YouTube proliferating, anyone can get their 15 minutes of fame at any time. Marketers need to create their own viral videos and post them on YouTube as well as their own Web sites. Along these same lines, many companies are adding blogs to their Web sites. Blogs are a great way to connect with the customer and get honest feedback.

PR stays the same

PR seems to still be stuck in the past – still adhering to press releases and one-way PR pitches. No one expects PR practitioners to adopt social media and the 24/7 nature of the Internet for at least another year. This is a great year for you to start a social media campaign and to send electronic press releases and do some virtual consulting, if applicable. It is a great time to get ahead of your competitors, so start researching Internet campaigns and connect with customers this year.