As is typical this time of year, I start canting an eye towards my activities for the new year. I don't think it's just me. Already I'm seeing more and more talk of resolutions, predictions and "top x" lists making the rounds.
It's another reason why I love this time of year. After all, it's part and parcel with that whole process of reflection and on-going professional development, isn't it?
So it was with interest that I read the 2009 Social Media Predictions published by MarketingProfs a couple of days ago. I posted a copy of it here yesterday after scanning the list of interviewees and their predictions.
Today, I took time to print and read it in more detail. For those of you who, like me, tend to scan your daily blogs, I also took the liberty of listing some of the key points that jumped out at me during my "paper-and-coffee sit down read." Those are listed for you in the section below under "Key Highlights." But I'd also encourage you to download the PDF and come up with your own highlights.
My $0.02
I respect all the folks on the list and wouldn't be so presumptuous as to think I've got anything that's much different than what they've already laid out. Experience alone dictates that some predictions resonate more than others. But that doesn't mean I discount any of the other predictions.
Certainly I have my thoughts, especially about themes for the small businesses in my sphere.
From experiences I've already benefitted from this year, I tend to relate with the following themes:
- traditional marketers and PR professionals will misstep and take credibility hits here and there as they make attempts to "socialize" their traditional tactics without first taking time to heed the culture of social media and the concept of how respect is "earned" in online communities;
- customers will place increasing demands for quality service and the human element; customer service dynamics will take a new tone as more consumers realize the web can be used as an outlet to air their dissatisfactions;
- more opportunities will be found in empowering employees (either formally or informally) to interact directly with customers through social media;
- the flip side of the point above: there will also be challenges to deal with in having employees serve as ambassadors to customers (perhaps unwittingly) on behalf of their companies;
- and the prediction that companies will continue to demand metrics to help them gauge the value of their investments in social media. (Though, I should say I don't believe this issue will be resolved in 2009.)
What did I miss? What points would you think to add to those above? Take a read of the highlights I listed below and from the MarketingProfs compilation. If anything resonates with you from either list, then let me suggest printing a copy of the PDF and distributing it to some of your managers for their read file.
'Matter of fact, that's just what I did today.
Summary of Key Highlights
David Armano. VP, experience design at Critical Mass.
- Organizations will grapple with the human web. The reason why...is because we've become used to "launch and walkaway" (strategies), i.e., sites and e-mail blasts which don't require a (human to respond).
- 2009 will prove that the Web is not powered by technology alone.
- Organizations will realize they require warm bodies and bright inds in order to successfully execute...
Rohit Bhargava. Author of Personality Not Included; SVP of strategy at Ogilvy.
- Implement listening programs through social media to get real time authentic knowledge that is actionable.
- Measure with customer service metrics like retention/satisfaction & social metrics like engagement.
Pete Blackshaw. EVP strategic services at Nielsen Online.
- Social media will continue pushing... to more operational considerations like customer service and employee empowerment.
- 2009 will also be the year we rediscover the appeal of "live intimacy."
- More industry analysis will suggest that live conversations with consumers, empathetically executed, can have far bigger payout...
- Along the way, we'll rediscover timeless truths: friendship must be earned, fame is fleeting, excess begets backlash, it always pays to listen, and credibility is ourmost enduring marketing asset.
Chris Brogan. President of New Marketing Labs.
- Lots and lots of consolidation and shuttering. Why? Because the money didn't come the way people thought it would.
- Why? Because there really wasn't a business model beyond "if we get enough people, we'll figure it out."
Todd Defren. Principal at SHIFT Communications.
- As more corporations come to realize the obvious benefits of humanizing their relationships with online communities, they'll grapple with the "how."
- How many people need to be hired and trained?
- How will they measure success?
- How will the rise of employees' personal brands be handled? (When it starts competing with the corporate brand?)
- How does a company introduce new voices in a way that augments the effort, versus causing consumer confusion?
- How does a corporation confidently move forward with so few roadmaps to guide them?
- There will be increased expectations by executives that their marketers can "figure out" how to integrate Social Media programs into broader marketing efforts.
Jason Falls. Director of social media at Doe-Anderson.
- Blogger outreach from PR professionals will get better, but not much. PR pros still don't understand they can't think like a traditional marketer and have genuine conversations with consumers online.
Ann Handly. Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs.
- Companies increasingly crafting content.
- Organizations are increasingly focusing on producing kick-ass content... rather than randomly grabbing folks off the street.
- Printing companies struggle to keep up with the unexpected demand for new business cards newly printed with a Twitter "@" address.
Joseph Jaffe. President and Chief Interruptor of Crayon.
- Better metrics.
- Rise of MoSoSo. (Mobile Social Software.)
- Community becomes the Killer App.
- Social Search. Explosive new functionality which will make search even more valuable.
- "Live". Expect a shift to even more "as-it-happens" content creation in blogging, podcasting and video.
Charlene Li. Founder of Altimeter Group; Co-author of Groundswell.
- Everyone becomes a marketer. As companies debate (which departments) should "own" community efforts, their front line workers will go about unobtrusively interacting with customers, partners and other employees within their social networks.
- Companies will struggle with how to control who says what--but will increasingly realize that in an economic downturn, they'll need all the marketing muscle they can get and actively engourage.
Scott Monty. Head of social media at Ford Motor Company.
- Twitter will cintinue to achieve legitimacy. Brands will adopt it for everything from media/influencer outreach to customer service to crisis communication.
- Online video will come into its own. With corporate budgets slashed, people will still need to have face-to-face meetings and communication; video chat will be a cost-effective substitute.
- Customers insist on customer service. When denied, they'll take their case to the web.
Jeremiah Owyang. Senior analyst at Forrester Research.
- With technologies like Facebook Connect, Google FriendConnect, and OpenID, consumers will be able to see reviews, experiences and critiques from people they actually know and trust.
Andy Sernovitz. CEO of GasPedal; author of Word Of Mouth Marketing.
- Consumers will not tolerate bad service. They will flipout, very publicly, using social networks.
- People will rally to support companies they love.
- Companies that focus on earning "love" will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return.
Greg Verdino. Chief strategy officer at Crayon.
- While social media users will continue to grow, many will scale back on both the number of accounts they maintain AND their number of so-called "friends" and "followers."
- We will finally settle the debate over whether PR or Marketing "owns" social media. The answer will be "neither"... The truth is that everyone in the organization needs to have some skin in the game.
- The aware for "shiny object of the year" will go to... FacebookConnect (or Google FriendConnect).
- Marketers will continue to put tactics ahead of strategy and (attempt to) "socialize" their web presence without quite understanding why it's important to do so.
