A big theme amidst the gadgetry at CES this year, The Connected Home, is turning into a real-life domestic internet you live in. So what exactly could your home look like by 2020?

Augmented reality is moving into advertising. Magazines with printed adverts can feature live animation if your phone is placed over the advert - with characters or information jumping off the page.

The way we now choose to engage with brands and in turn how we expect brands to engage with us has evolved. 2013 will be a year of continued innovation in the digital marketing space, as brands seek to better understand us as consumers and communicate with us in new and more effective ways.

Retailers need to ensure that any personalisation strategy they do use to target consumers is fair and when they get this right, the result is beneficial for both parties.

Blogging represents an opportunity. If you are authentic and interesting, you will see numerous benefits, from SEO to greater engagement on social networks. Like any business opportunity there is a cost associated, which is why those who will benefit most will blog smart in 2013.

On the surface, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Instagram all look like they cost us nothing, because they cost us no money. But unfortunately, they all cost us information, which we don't value, but which is gold dust to the people who actually do want our money.

The more content you produce, the easier it will be to support positive search engine results and stay on the good side of Google. The zoo animals Google have released only want to see authentic, well written, and relevant human content. Be true to your business.

Nike knows that somewhere deep inside, some of us would love to be the guy who runs through the ice, to conquer the cold on a Tuesday. And it knows that if we were that guy, we'd buy more shoes.

With a mobile wallet the process could be quite different. Consider this: you're walking past your favourite Indian take-away on the way home. As you walk past you get a text offering you half-price on your favourite curry. The next day you walk in and order the curry, paying by flashing the back of your phone at the point of payment with the offer applied automatically.

It will be interesting to see whether Virgin paves the way for more experiential retail strategies - as technology continues to evolve, this is undoubtedly something we'll be seeing more and more of. With 2013 just around the corner, are we set for the year of 'sensory retail'?

LinkedIn has gone from that grey, dull website to the most vibrant new business and recruiting tool on the planet, complete with the prerequisite cutting edge mobile app.

Whenever I'm with clients, at an event or marketing function and somebody brings up the subject of gamification - the word is usually met with a wince or a grimace. The very word itself is received with either hatred or bewilderment.

If there's one keyword at the centre of the burgeoning fashion and tech scene at the moment, it's 'shoppable'. Just as retailers and brands get a grasp on how to handle content, it's commerce that begins to drive the sector forward again - undoubtedly the effect of greater need for ROI within the social space.

Convergence of communication devices has been a concept discussed for nearly the last 20 years as something that will happen. But today it is a reality and guess what - it isn't a keyboard connected to your connected TV playing online video or your TV playing on a mobile device.