At the end of 2009, I wrote a two-part post reviewing social media’s biggest stories for the last decade (part I, part II). This hopefully left you thinking about what 2010 will bring us. The following are five trends I see on the horizon.
1. Smartphone use takes off—even more than before
Do you have an iPhone, a Droid, a BlackBerry, or a Nexus One? As 2010 progresses, the likely answer to this question will be yes. This one factor allows for the next two trends to become reality.
2. Location-aware applications
Have you heard of Foursquare or Gowalla? If not, I’m sure you have at least heard of Twitter. The addition of GPS functionality to many new mobile phones allows you to let your friends, and the entire world, know where you are with every update you send. This will surely raise security fears among many—telling the world you’re on vacation while your home remains empty could lead to problems—but for others, this ability is just one more gee-whiz technology that makes life more interesting.
As location-aware applications spread, look for businesses using the technology to offer coupons and other creative promotions. MobiQpons, for example, sends coupons to your phone based on your current location.
3. Live video
Programs such as Ustream Broadcaster and Knocking allow iPhone 3GS users to share live video. I expect to see more competitors enter this space, leading to more people sharing their experiences live with friends, family, colleagues, and customers.
4. Expectations
Seeing your favorite brand on Facebook will no longer be a cool thing—it will be expected. If your company’s 2009 online presence consisted solely of a website and an email address, you were already in trouble. In 2010 you will be in big trouble if you fail to make some kind of social media commitment.
Good businesses stay in touch with their clients and customers. Social media allows businesses to connect with customers directly. If you aren’t making an effort to communicate with your audience through social media in 2010, you will appear to be disregarding your customers.
In the past people expected to see a mailing address, phone number, and more recently a web address on the side of retail packaging. As 2010 progresses, people will expect to see a Facebook or Twitter account too.
5. B2B’s major foray into social media
Up until this point, much of the focus on social media for businesses has been on B2C (business to consumer) companies. In 2010 we will start seeing B2B (business to business) companies becoming more involved in social media in ways unique to that economic realm.
Is it any less important for a B2B company to build relationships with their customers? I would argue that it’s more important because B2B companies have fewer customers (generally speaking)—and those customers are worth more money than the average consumer who buys a pack of gum every week.
John Quelch, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School published a paper in 2007 that emphasized B2B branding’s importance. He wrote, “Coordination of company websites worldwide to present a consistent face to stakeholders is the best way to get control of marketing communications that may have become too decentralized.” Social media should be a part of that unified branding plan.
The major discussions last week focused on big announcements coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas such as 3D television, tablets, and even apps for cars. There isn’t an industry-wide social media conference to kick off 2010, so I will ask this question here: Where do you think social media will take us this year?
Share your ideas on the future of social media in the comments below.
[Photo from Librarian by Day on Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0]
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