2011 is gone, and 2012 has rolled in without missing a beat. The social media marketing industry is growing in leaps and bounds. I often hear people say social networking is like the Wild Wild West! So answer this question for me. Would it be valuable in the event that you knew the future social media trends for 2012? How wonderful would it not be to learn what trends are in store for the coming year? Could you adequately prepare for this rapidly changing industry? In this posting, I provide my 2012 predictions for the evolving trends in the social-networking industry. It certainly is gratifying when my predictions come true. My predictions are not based on any kind of special powers. They are based on my industry research, what I read and what I see happening each day in my own work. My accuracy rate in the social media industry has been about 97 percent. However, even when I’m wrong it’s only because my timeline ended up being longer than I thought it had been going to be. I have a knack for spotting social media trends. Which article lists four powerful trends unfolding right now. You can profit from what I say or ignore me, the choice is yours. Either way these trends will unfold as the year progresses. So read on and heed my advice. Prepare your social media marketing campaigns to make the most these trends for 2012 and beyond.
Prediction #1) Social Media Networks and Marketing will continue to grow at an alarming rate.
Last year Facebook grew from around 600 million to 800 million users depending on whose numbers you believe. Twitter and LinkedIn also both showed growth and added many new features, (not to mention that they both acquired several new partners and internet assets). Increase this, Google started Google+, and Microsoft is reported to be in the works of creating their own social network. The adoption rate of small company will lead the way, but expenditures by large corporations will exceed that of both small and medium-size businesses. My first advice to you is; create and implement “an employee social media use policy” to control business hour usage. Second, create a social media marketing plan to reach and engage this enormous market. Combining both engagement and ppc campaigns work best.
Prediction #2) Among the largest players in the social media arena can make a “miss step” in 2012.
I believe that one of the top four Social Media Network companies will make a costly mistake causing them to reduce significant market share. At this time several of the larger social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all share one crucial flaw. They make an effort to make it extremely difficult to talk to them. Take Facebook, for example. They do not list any contact information apart from a Facebook page. Sure they have plenty of help pages. Yes, Facebook includes a blog, lots of YouTube videos, but provides no phone number where you can call and speak to a individual? They do have a Facebook page you can enter suggestions about, but that’s it. What happens when you get yourself a strange message from Facebook, or you’re having difficulty together with your account? You post a note and never get a reply! Twitter and LinkedIn are not much better. They don’t really list a contact phone number or address either. However, I have found that they do answer your email and posted messages, though it sometimes takes provided that seven days to get a reply.
In my opinion, of the top three social media companies, LinkedIn supplies the best service. Google is new in this game. It’s not as an easy task to lump them in with all of those other social media giants yet. However, I could tell you that Google includes a notoriously poor customer service reputation. It has been my experience with Google that the quality of service you receive depends upon the person you get on the phone. Fortunately that you can get someone on the phone! Premium Vacation Packages does list contact numbers. My advice to any business is easy, be ready to make changes to your social media marketing campaign if you need to. Furthermore, if you’re using the top four social media services, make a backup of one’s data. This is just in case you decide to make “the switch” and ditch one of these players.
Prediction #3) Google+ will become one of the top 3, in the social network arena by the finish of 2012.
I know I’m going from a limb here, but I believe that is inevitable. Google’s share size and current customer base allows Google+ to grow at a considerably faster pace than other social media marketing sites. The exact number of Gmail users is not public, but we do know that it is huge! I’ve read estimates ranging from about 190 million to 250 million accounts. Furthermore, Google owns so many internet properties, they can easily integrate the use of these properties into their social network. This adds value to their social network. Increase this, the point that Google owns Google Search, Google AdWords, YouTube, Blogger and Picasa. Are you currently starting to get the picture? Google is gigantic. Google controls the lion’s share of internet traffic and advertising dollars.
Google has also had the opportunity to produce a social-networking product that is user friendly, internet search engine friendly and innovative. These qualities’ have made them the internet leader they are today. I’m not sure they can keep this frantic pace forever, but for 2012, it is a done deal. My advice for you is to review where you are spending your advertising money and see if it seems sensible using the Google properties. If you’re an individual, and also have been waiting on the sideline with Google+, stop what you’re doing and take the ten minutes to set up a Gmail and Google+ account. In the event that you already have a Gmail account, this can only take you about five minutes. The bonus here is you may also setup a Google+ Brand page with out a lot of fuss.