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http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-predictions-2013/
No one telling the shopper what to buy, when to shop and how much to pay. Too many retailers are failing by not realizing that consumers want to do it on their terms. Time to give them the key to the car. Empower them and youll win loyalty. Social media is a g reat ven ue for con sumers because of th e in teg rated commun ication features an d poten tial ecommerce features. But even Facebook is missin g th e mark a bit. Twitter an d Lin kedIn don t even h ave ecommerce option s. Th at n eeds to ch an g e. Im a big fan of an y way we
Im a big fan of an y way we can use social media to build business, sell pr oduct and suppor t our economy. Makin g purch asin g easier an d more fun is on e way of doin g it, an d is th e reason I see th e mash up of ecommerce an d social media as a h ug e g rowth tren d in 2013. Viveka Von Rosen, known internationally as the LinkedIn Expert and author of LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour a Day.
Ec o mmerc e and s o c ial media will need to gro w to gether. Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
2013 will be th e year of visual marketin g . Visuals an d video don e rig h t are h ig h ly effective in cuttin g th roug h th e n oise. Its a sn ackable type of con ten t th at reson ates with people g lobally an d in creases en g ag emen t with in commun ities n o matter wh ere th ey are located. Bran ds will n eed to under stand what it takes to do visual mar keting well, wh eth er with in th eir curren t commun ities or n ew n etworks like Pin terest, In stag ram an d oth ers. Th is is applicable for an y type of con ten t: paid, earn ed an d own ed. Ekaterina Walter, social innovator at Intel and author of Think Like Zuck.
Ekaterina Walter
Stage two is the brand. Wh en sh ould bran ds create media th at are passive or active? Th ese n ew len ses on both media an d th e con sumer will h elp bran ds fig ur e out the best mar keting mix, an d h elp th em optimize ever ything from con ten t creation an d TV spots to th e amoun t of time, en erg y an d effort th ey sh ould place on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Mitc h Jo el
sh ould place on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image, blogger, podcaster and author of Six Pixels of Separation.
Th e oth er area th at will see h ug e ch an g es is con ten t creation an d curation . Marketers will h ave th e ability, th roug h automation , to g et sug g estions for Pag e updates based on how Facebook user s have been r eacting to a Pag es pr evious posts. John Haydon, co-author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies. He advises nonprofits on marketing strategy and the effective use of Facebook, blogs, Twitter and other tools.
With s elf-pay c o mmerc e apps being us ed, c as h regis ters will bec o me a thing o f the pas t. Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
As social media beg in s to come of ag e in 2013, bran ds will realize th at with un preceden ted clutter comin g from both people an d bran ds, th e n eed for beautiful an d en g ag in g con ten t is g reater th an ever. In B2B, con ten t marketin g h as already taken cen ter stag e with wh ite papers, ebooks, webin ars, in fog raph ics an d articles. In 2013, as In stag ram, Pin terest an d oth er multimedia social n etworks g row, youll see more an d more B2C bran ds usin g social media to pr oduce and shar e beautiful photos, sophisticated comics and other visual aids, an d brillian t TV-level videos. Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable and author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business.
Dave Kerpen
A need fo r brands to have mo re beautiful, engaging c o ntent. Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, author of Managing Content Marketing and co-author of Get Content, Get Customers.
Ric h Bro o ks
Engagement: How often you en g ag e with th e tweeter in th e form of men tion s, retweets an d favorites. Alignment: How closely th e tweeter resembles you, based on your bio, g eog raph ic area, th e lists you follow an d th e lists you both appear on . Gravity: How often th at particular tweet h as been retweeted an d favorited. Your Interests: If th e topic of th e tweet is of in terest to you, based on your previous tweets, retweets, favorites an d h ash tag s. In variably, bran ds will complain
In variably, bran ds will complain th at th ey can n o lon g er g et th e en g ag emen t th ey on ce g ot on Twitter, at wh ich poin t Twitter will roll out an advertisin g platform th at allows you to buy a better T wedg eRank for your tweets. Th ere, n ow I said it. Rich Brooks, president of flyte new media.
Goog le will con tin ue to roll services an d products un der th e Goog le+ umbrella, forcin g busin esses to use it if th ey wish to g et the advantag es that Goog le+ offer s. Already its th e place to manag e your local business pr esence within the Goog le ecosystem; an d its cen tral to establish in g auth orsh ip of your writin g s aroun d th e web (Goog le Auth or Markup). But wh en it comes to pure social, its use will con tin ue to be limited mostly to tech early adopters an d marketers. It h asn t caug h t on from th e social stan dpoin t in th e same way th at sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pin terest an d In stag ram h ave man ag ed to captivate an d tran sform users in to ravin g fan addicts. So irrespective of wh eth er your frien ds or customers spen d an y time socializin g on Goog le+ today, you still n eed to be active on it. Anita Campbell, founder of Small Business Trends and author of Visual Marketing.
Anita Campbell
Go o gle+ will bec o me the c entral hub fo r managing yo ur "o ffic ial" o nline public pres enc e in the eyes o f Go o gle. Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
I wouldn t n ail th e coffin sh ut on Goog le+ yet. Little by little, th e Goog le en g in eers h ave been quietly buildin g features like Communities th at mig h t yet build up participation on th is platform. Mean wh ile, frustration may be buildin g with Facebook, as it rolls out in creasin g ly in trusive advertisin g . Th e h istory of Facebooks g rowth makes for a fascin atin g read. Th e way it was rolled out slowly across colleg es an d un iversities h elped to create deman d. Th e ph oto an d album features of Facebook were key in attain in g th eir rapid popularity, yet th ose very features h ave been lag g in g in th e ph oto an d album features of Goog le.
Ric Drago n
Th e differen ces between Goog le+ Commun ities an d Facebook Groups are pretty slim rig h t n ow. Both can be private or open , an d both can h ave multiple th reads of con versation s. Goog le+ still h as th e edg e with video in teg ration usin g Goog le Han g outs. Goog le is also rollin g out Auth or Ran k wh ich promises to make a connection between content and the author of that content. Auth ors will th en be g iven a g reater or lesser weig h tin g score Bo th Go o gle+ Co mmunities and Fac ebo o k Gro ups c an be private o r o pen. depen din g on wh ere th eir con ten t appears an d h ow th eyre con n ected with oth er relevan t in dividuals in th e social g raph . Th is is yet an oth er example of h ow a person s or org an ization s participation on Goog le+ will h ave an impact on th eir fin dability in search . In th e 1991 lan dmark book, Crossing the Chasm, auth or Geoffrey Moore demon strated h ow tech n olog y compan ies could build up momen tum by appealin g to n ich e seg men ts of early adopters. Th is appears to be Goog les playbook as it attracts ph otog raph ers, search marketers an d oth er creators of media. Ric Dragon, CEO and co-founder of the digital marketing agency DragonSearch and author of Social Marketology.
Mark W. Schaefer, marketing faculty member at Rutgers University and author of Return on Influence.
Wh at do th ey all h ave in common ? Th e common th read is en courag in g folks to subscribe via email. Wh y? Studies h ave sh own time an d time ag ain th at if you wan t an en g ag ed audien ce an d buyers, th ey are most likely g oin g to come from your email list. An d Ive foun d th at to be extremely true an d your email list is truly th e on ly list YOU OWN. Its yours. Does th is mean social media isn t importan t? Ph ooey! Of course n ot (duh ). However, my prediction is you will see fewer sites n ext year en courag in g people to follow th em everywh ere an d in stead focus on the often-
people to follow th em everywh ere an d in stead focus on the oftenfor g otten but extr emely impor tant email addr ess. David Siteman Garland, creator of the web show and resource The Rise To The Top and author of Smarter, Faster, Cheaper.
Enc o urage peo ple to s ubs c ribe via email. Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
Facebook an d Twitter h ave n ow en tered th e late majority stag e of th e adoption curve. So h as Lin kedIn with in th e busin ess commun ity. But as Goog le+, Pin terest an d oth er rapidly g rowin g platforms con tin ue to g ain adoption an d in creased acceptan ce, users will h ave to decide wh ere to spen d th eir time an d en erg y. Th eres on ly so much time in a day, an d th e n oise is deafen in g . From th e marketers stan dpoin t, its becomin g in creasin g ly clear th at its much more effective to have a solid pr esence in one or two channels th an it is to try to domin ate every sin g le platform. So Im predictin g th at en trepren eurs, small busin esses, freelan cers an d con sultan ts will h ave to make some toug h ch oices th is year as to wh ere to en g ag e th eir fan s an d followers for maximum impact. With th ese ch an g es will come an in creased focus on attractin g h ig h er-quality followers an d con n ection s rath er th an on sh eer Us ers will have to ugh c ho ic es to make when dec iding where to n umbers. Sh arin g on ly relevan t s pend their time and energy in the year ahead. Image s o urc e: con ten t to each targ et g roup will be iSto c kpho to more importan t th an ever. Th at will require improved seg men tation an d a smarter commun ication s strateg y. Ed Gandia, founding partner of International Freelancers Academy, author of the 2012 Freelance Industry Report and co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer.
Ed Gandia
#13: T he Content Marketing Arms Race Continues and Gets More Heated
By th is poin t, more an d more busin esses are realizin g th at un less th ey
By th is poin t, more an d more busin esses are realizin g th at un less th ey embr ace content mar keting soon , th ey may repeat th e Kmart Ph en omen on an d g o from th e top to th e bottom of th eir in dustryall because th ey refused to look forward an d embrace a n ew way of th in kin g as Kmarts competitor Walmart did years ag o. As 2013 is upon us, I see more an d more busin esses racin g to make up for lost time on th e web. I see more journ alists an d writers bein g h ired by compan ies larg e an d small in an effort to produce blog posts, ebooks, videos an d social media con ten t. Frequen cy an d mass will be th e n ame of th e g ame.
Marc us Sheridan
Th e results of th is will be g ood an d bad. Con sumers will con tin ue to be better in formed th an th ey ever h ave been in th e h istory of th e world before makin g a purch ase. At th e same time th oug h , competition will g row more fierce amon g in dustries an d n ich eswh ich in evitably leads to black-h at practices an d poorly th oug h t-out tactics. In man y ways, th is con ten t marketin g arms race will be a major area of con cern for busin esses worldwide over th e n ext decade. Marcus Sheridan, co-owner of River Pools and Spas, the founder of PoolSchool.usan educational site on selecting the right pooland founder of the The Sales Lion.
My on e social media prediction for 2013 is th at busin ess profession als in th e fin an cial, leg al, accoun tin g an d medical fields are g oin g to beg in to g et serious about buildin g th eir dig ital portfolios an d implemen tin g social en g ag emen t strateg ies.
Co mpetitio n will gro w mo re fierc e between indus tries and nic hes . Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
Th ere are reg ulatory issues in th ese in dustries th at h ave caused fear an d delay in movin g forward with in vestin g in a dig ital remodel of th eir practices in order to meet the expectations and exper iences of todays connected consumer .
Stephanie Sammo ns
With th e policies an d tech n olog y solution s in place today th at can h elp to protect th em, I predict th at we will soon see a tidal wave of fin an cial advisers, attorn eys an d medical practition ers wh o will emerg e as dig ital th oug h t leaders in th ese importan t relation sh ip-cen tric profession s. Th ese in dividuals will poten tially
Th ese in dividuals will poten tially find g r eat success in becoming mor e visible, valuable, appr oachable, and accessible to th eir clien ts, customers an d patien ts th roug h social media. Stephanie Sammons, founder and CEO of Wired Advisor.
My forecast for 2013 is based on my lousy prediction s of years previous, an d learn in g from th at experien ce. My prediction ? Th at we will be taken by sur pr ise by a new social media ser vice that har dly anyone will see coming ! Just look over th e last few years an d see h ow we h ave been blin dsided. Back in March 2007, I was on e of th e man y people wh o dismissed Twitter, on ly to h ave to eat my words an d rejoin . I ig n ored Pin terest in much th e same way. On th e oth er h an d, I was sure Goog le would be able to take a h ug e bite out of th e social media lan dscape with th eir man y attempts, but th at h as yet to h appen . Th in k of all th e social services th at wen t away or are limpin g alon g : Dig g , Delicious, Pown ce maybe on e of th ose will come back to life? It could even be MySpace. So with th is in min d, I predict th ere will be yet an oth er n ew service th at sh akes up th e social media lan dscape in 2013, an d I look forward to it! Chris Garrett, VP of Educational Content at Copyblogger Media and co-author of ProBlogger.
Chris Garrett
A new s o c ial media s ervic e will appear that hardly anyo ne will s ee c o ming. Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
With more th an 1 billion smartph on e users an d h un dred of million s more comin g in 2013, th e con sumer deman d for quality on -deman d talk in th e form of podcasts will g row en ormously in 2013. As marketers beg in to realize th is n ew publish in g opportun ity, we will see a lan d g rab as more an d more podcasts are released to appease an ever -g r owing demand for audio content. NOW is th e time to start podcastin g . Michael Stelzner, founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner and author of the books Launch and Writing White
Wh ile Facebook is curren tly just testin g th e waters, 2013 will surely see th e full roll-out of an ad n etwork for th ird-party websites an d mobile.
Peo ple will begin to realiz e the full po tential o f "s o c ial advertis ing" ac ro s s the web and mo bile.
marketin g at th e expen se of advertisin g to build br ands, attr act pr ospects, g ener ate leads and close sales. Con ten t marketin g (especially as part of social media) is more cost-effective th an dig ital advertisin g (in cludin g search ). You own th e media an d don t n eed to pay for advertisin g space. Furth er social mediain cludin g ratin g s, reviews an d ph otosprovide th e wisdom of crowds. Fin din g s by Kapost/Eloqua an d HubSpot con sisten tly prove th is poin t. Heidi Cohen, actionable marketing expert and president of Riverside Marketing Strategies.
Heidi Co hen
more th an 1 billion people, th an ks to Facebook. Th e story isn t th e 70 h ours of video uploaded to YouTube every min ute th e story is th at an yon e with a story to tell can broadcast it to th e wh ole world on Goog les dime. Th e differen ce is subtle, but it will result in th e ROI, customers, leads an d sales th at we all n eed rig h t n ow.
Paul Colligan, education czar for Traffic Geyser Inc. and CEO of Colligan.
2013 will brin g about an expan sion in social media beyon d a marketin g an d en g ag emen t ph ilosoph y to th at of on en ess. Social media strateg y will start to take a more in teg rated approach wh ere social media becomes an exten sion of importan t ch an n el strateg ies an d busin ess fun ction s. It will be driven by a h olistic effort wh ere en terprise, busin ess an d fun ction al strateg ies work to accomplish busin ess objectives wh ile meetin g th e n eeds an d expectation s of employees an d customers. Wh ere social media is
Wh ere social media is man ag ed today will start to evolve in to a resource cen ter to empower teams to eng ag e ar ound a common vision on th eir own accord. Th e busin ess itself th us becomes social an d th is paves th e way for a focus in 2014 ar ound a mor e human cultur e shift and business tr ansfor mation. Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group and author of Whats the Future of Business and The End of Business as Usual.
What do you think? How do you see social media in 2013? What tr ends do you anticipate? Please sh are your th oug h ts an d commen ts below.
An expans io n in s o c ial media beyo nd a marketing and engagement philo s o phy to that o f o nenes s . Image s o urc e: iSto c kpho to
About th e Auth or, Cin dy Kin g Cin dy Kin g is th e director of editorial of Social Media Examin er. Sh e spen t 25 years abroad in in tern ation al busin ess developmen t an d th en built h er own in tern ation al busin ess from scratch by usin g social busin ess n etworkin g . Other posts by Cin dy Kin g