Now that 2010 has arrived, it’s time for business owners to take stock of their marketing – assess what worked and didn’t work the year before, and determine what, if anything, new to try in the coming year. In an Entrepreneur.com post 10 Marketing Trends for 2010, marketer Susan Gunelius lays out the top 10 trends that will affect all areas of marketing, advertising, branding in 2010 and beyond.

The article is certainly worth a read for any small business owner grappling with marketing strategy and priorities. We spend considerable time focusing on how SMBs and local businesses can leverage online video marketing, and certainly appreciate that online video made the list “Both online video and mobile marketing are set to explode, and we’ll really start to see that happen in 2010″.

However, we were even more excited to read Gunelius’ first point: Transparency and trust are paramount. She wrote, “[Companies] that … make a concentrated effort to be honest and open in their marketing communications will generate positive consumer responses, which can lead to brand loyalty and brand advocacy.”

These words echo the real-world results we see each day when it comes to online video that works. Today’s consumers are savvy. They’re highly attuned to weed out sales pitches. And the Internet puts them in full control — they can instantly navigate away from something that rings hollow or sounds phoney.

As a result, we find that small businesses are most successful with authentic videos where the company owner, employee, or customer tells their story in their own words. Less reliance on scripts and a more organic production process result in an honest, emotionally engaging product. This personal approach differentiates a video from the clutter of marketing jargon on the web today – compelling viewers to want to know more.