2011 is fully gone, and 2012 has rolled in without missing a beat. The social media industry is growing in leaps and bounds. I often hear business people say social networking is similar to the Wild Wild West! So answer this question for me personally. Would it be valuable if you knew the future social media marketing trends for 2012? How wonderful would it not be to know what trends are in store for the coming year? Could you adequately plan this rapidly changing industry? In this post, I provide my 2012 predictions for the evolving trends in the social-networking industry. It certainly is gratifying when my predictions become a reality. My predictions are not predicated on any sort 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 marketing industry has been about 97 percent. However, even when I’m wrong it’s only because my timeline finished up being longer than I thought it had been going to be. I have a knack for spotting social media marketing trends. Which article lists four powerful trends unfolding right now. You can benefit 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 take advantage 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 think. Twitter and LinkedIn also both showed growth and added many new features, (in addition they both acquired several new partners and internet assets). Increase this, Google started Google+, and Microsoft is said 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 regulate business hour usage. Second, develop 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 most notable four Social Media Network companies will make a costly mistake causing them to reduce significant market share. Right now several of the larger social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all share one crucial flaw. They make an effort to make it almost impossible to talk to them. Take Facebook, for example. They do not list any contact information other than a Facebook page. Sure they will have plenty of help pages. Yes, Facebook includes a blog, lots of YouTube videos, but provides no phone number where you could call and speak to a individual? They do have a Facebook page it is possible to enter suggestions on, but that’s it. What goes on when you get a strange message from Facebook, or you’re having difficulty together with your account? You post a note and never get yourself a reply! Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t much better. They don’t really list a contact contact number or address either. However, I’ve found that they do answer your email and posted messages, although it sometimes takes provided that seven days to acquire a reply.
In my opinion, of the most notable three social media companies, LinkedIn provides the best service. Google is new in this game. It’s not as an easy task to lump them in with the rest of the social media giants yet. However, I can tell you that Google has a notoriously poor customer support reputation. It’s been my experience with Google that the quality of service you receive depends upon the person you obtain on the phone. The good news is that you may get someone on the phone! Google does list contact numbers. My advice to any business is easy, be ready to create changes to your social media marketing campaign if need be. Furthermore, if you’re using any of the top four social media services, make a backup of your data. This is in case you opt to make “the switch” and ditch one of these brilliant players.
Prediction #3) Google+ will become among the top 3, in the social networking arena by the end of 2012.
I know I’m going out on a limb here, but I believe that is inevitable. Google’s share size and current customer base allows Google+ to cultivate at a considerably faster pace than other social media marketing sites. The exact number of Gmail users is not public, but we can say for certain that it is huge! I’ve read estimates which range from about 190 million to 250 million accounts. Furthermore, Google owns so many internet properties, that they can easily integrate using these properties into their social networking. This adds value to their social network. Increase Private Jet Travel , the truth 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 been able to make a social-networking product that is convenient to use, internet search engine friendly and innovative. These qualities’ have made them the web leader they are today. I am not sure that they can keep this frantic pace forever, but for 2012, it’s a done deal. My advice for you is to review where you are spending your advertising money and see if it seems sensible using any of the Google properties. If you’re a person, and also have been waiting on the sideline with Google+, stop what you’re doing and take the 10 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 5 minutes. The bonus here is also you can create a Google+ Brand page with out a lot of fuss.