Social Media Trends for 2012

Social media is now mainstream and in 2012, we will all see it go to another level. Fellow bloggers that have predicted that Facebook will have more than a billion users may be slightly off the mark, particularly if their user-interface changes don't go down with the loyal followers like they hope it will - but you will see a whole new level of endorsement for social media and any company that has failed to invest in social media whether they are a business-to-business or business-to-consumer organisation - will now know that they have no other choice.

Entrepreneurs and Chief Marketing Officers will place a greater emphasis on social media to the point of this investment becoming the number one 'spend' for most companies in marketing for 2012.

At long last, companies now realise that writing blogs and creating video can enhance their search engine optimisation, lead generation, customer relationship management and many other areas of their sales and marketing efforts.

Marketers who have failed to embrace social media in its enormity will find that they may have to take a paycut in lieu of the 22 year old social media 'genius' who has little more than a Degree. Afterall, it's the 22 year old that is going to 'bring in the business' in 2012 - not the 40 year old Chief Marketing Officer who still thinks advertising is king and every other element of the marketing mix is secondary.

Klout, Kred, and PeerIndex will have a major role to play helping marketers cut through the clutter of tweets and blog posts to figure out who they should be talking to.

Apps are here to stay. In fact, they are fast becoming one of the most important platforms to communicate with smart phones and androids becoming the new 'desktop computer'.

Cluzee is the latest craze in the US and will fast overcome other regions around the world with its sophisticated voice activation mechanism that allows anyone to ask any question at all and have an answer within seconds. Ring your mother, find a list of restaurants in the area, ask what the weather will be like in Moscow today or get Cluzee to read your latest text messages - it's all there in application heaven.

Another great tool that will become an even bigger global sensation is the application Flipbook.  It allows you to stop wasting time going from one social media platform to another to check updates or read through one news website after another. Find the latest in a magazine format that communicates only what you are interested in, in a smart, efficient and time saving way.

Typing of social media updates will become a thing of the past in 2012, with voice activation at its peak. This isn't such a bad thing because I personally think we all spend too much time typing and texting, so going back to voice may be just what the 'Doctor Ordered'. I have forgotten what some of my friends and colleagues voices sound like.

In 2012, a tighter integration between marketing, technology and data will see marketers taking technology into their own hands and by-passing the IT department. A power struggle in many organisations between the various departments will see marketers win on many accounts, afterall, they have ownership over brand and technology isn't what it was 1 year ago, let alone 5 or 10 years ago.

Companies using competitions as part of their marketing mix will forgo other traditional methods of executing a competition using social media platforms as the 'hero' and putting costly other platforms in the trash. Proximity Marketing platforms such as SpidaNet will integrate into social media platforms creating the meaningful one-to-one marketing platform for integrated marketing campaigns.

Business to business marketers that have felt solid in keeping with the old and doing the bare minimum in social media will find their age-old techniques are almost obsolete and will not get the brands that they represent to the level that they need to go to in 2012. If they don't know enough about social media and where it is heading, they will soon find themselves in the unemployment line and more savvy social media marketers taking the top positions in organisations.

Another trend in 2012 that will surprise many is how much more important social media experts will become in big organisations such as banks, large retailers and professional services. Don't be surprised that a Social Media Manager joins the Senior Management team alongside the Sales Manager, CFO, CIO and CMO.

With 98,000 tweets per minute, 695,000 Facebook updates per minute, 600 YouTube video's uploading per minute - there is alot going on. Now it's your job to keep ahead of the curve. Good luck!