Social Media Trends for 2012
Social Media has proliferated at an unprecedented rate to become one of our society’s most preferred forms of communication. It is now almost “criminal” to ignore Social Media at both personal and professional levels.
Mobility: According to Gartner, midway through 2011, more people accessed the Internet from their mobile devices, than from their PCs. As society continues its drive towards instant access to information, mobile websites will dominate how consumers send and receive information. Social Media offers real-time information exchange capabilities that give mobile apps a huge competitive advantage over the PC in this scenario.
Channels: The world’s leading hardware research firms are of the unanimous opinion that Social Media will explode faster than before given the advent of new channels like smartphones and tablets. It is projected that these NEW kids on the block will outclass PC and laptop sales as early as 2012 or 2013. This can only mean more power to Social Media.
Reviews Rule: Product reviews and consumer opinion will become consumers’ preferred method of learning and sharing opinions about products and services. The customer wants his information instantly, and tends to trust feedback from peers.
Beyond Creation: Aggregation and Curation:
Creation: Building a website and designing the various methods of delivering content, i.e., text, videos, audios, etc..
Aggregation: How the website offers access to all information to the customer.
Curation: Organizing aggregate information in a way that is relevant, coherent and easily accessed.
Companies will explore building a social layer into their existing IT systems or work with one of the new vendors that are continually popping up to create their Social Media presence. Those companies that are able to rapidly create effective aggregation and curation will have a significant competitive advantage in their respective industries.
Education: Organizations will need to train their employees on Social Media use much like they did when the company transitioned over to computers in past decades. Many individuals do not understand how to use Social Media, and as it is further inculcated into our collective society, organizational fluency will be imperative; those companies that ignore the uses and benefits of Social Media will be at a serious competitive disadvantage.
Regulation: Regulatory bodies across nations have so far adopted a “wait and watch” approach in their guidance on the dos and don’ts in Social Media. However, this might not continue at the same pace, in the future, given the sheer velocity of adoption of Social Media across the masses.
Corporate Policy: Along with developing corporate wide fluency in Social Media, companies will have to develop policy and procedures for its use. Development and implementation of guidelines for etiquette, use of materials, and acceptable use of the media will gain traction in 2012.
Applications: Social Media is providing new applications and hence, is generating increased interest. The latest success seen from Social Media, as an example, is identification of potential kidney donors. Such successes will only elevate the importance of Social Media and fuel rapid growth in its usage across both individuals and organizations, regardless of size, location and format.
Commerce: Social Media will start playing a pivotal role in facilitating commerce, whether it is in the form of online retailer visit sharing, group buying prompts, reviews sent from mobile apps, direct marketing or through purchase of game-based currency. This is another growth trajectory that will get increased attention in the coming years.
It should therefore come as no surprise, that Social Media is poised to explode at an exponential rate; these are just a few of the trends that will have significant impact in 2012.
