By Hector Cisneros
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2011 is 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 like the Wild, Wild West! So answer this question for me. Would it be valuable if you knew the future social media trends for 2012? How wonderful would it be to know what trends are in store for the coming year? Could you adequately prepare for this rapidly changing industry? In this article, I provide my 2012 predictions for the evolving trends in the social-networking industry. It's always 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 every day in my work. My accuracy rate in the social media industry has been about 97%. However, even when I’m wrong it's only because my timeline ended up being longer than I thought it was going to be. I have a knack for spotting social media trends. And this 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 take advantage these trends for 2012 and beyond.
Prediction #1) Social Media Networks and Marketing Will Continue to Grow an Alarming Rate
Image by davemc500hats via FlickrLast 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). Add
to this, Google started Google+, and Microsoft is said to be in the
works of building their own social network. The adoption rate of small
business 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 pay per click campaigns work best.
Prediction #2) One of the Largest Players in the Social Media Arena Will Make a “Misstep” in 2012.
I believe that one of the top four Social Media Network
companies will make a costly mistake causing them to lose significant
market share. Right now several of the larger social media giants like
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all share one crucial flaw. They try to
make it almost impossible to communicate with them. Take Facebook, for
instance. They do not list any contact information other than a Facebook
page. Sure they have lots of help pages. Yes, Facebook has a blog, lots
of YouTube videos,
but provides no phone number where you can call and talk to a human
being. They do have a Facebook page you can enter suggestions on, but
that’s it. What happens when you get a strange message from Facebook, or
you’re having trouble with your account? You post a message and never
get a reply! Twitter and LinkedIn are not much better. They don’t list a
contact phone number or address either. However, I have found that they
do reply to your email and posted messages, although it sometimes takes
as long as seven days to get a reply.
Image by williamhartz via FlickrIn
my opinion, of the top three social media companies, LinkedIn provides
the best service. Google is new in this game. It’s not as easy 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 service reputation.
It’s been my experience with Google that the quality of service you
receive depends on the person you get on the phone. The good news is
that you can get someone on the phone! Google does list contact numbers.
My advice to any business is easy: be ready to make changes to your
social media 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 decide to make “the switch” and ditch one of these players.
Prediction #3) Google+ Will Become One of the Top Three in the Social Network Arena by the end of 2012
I
know I’m going out on a limb here, but I believe this is inevitable.
Google’s share size and current customer base will allow Google+ to grow
at a much faster pace than other social media sites. The exact number
of Gmail users is not public, but we do know that it is huge! I have
read estimates ranging from about 190 million to 250 million accounts.
Furthermore, Google owns so many internet properties, that they can
easily integrate the use of these properties into their social network.
This adds value to their social network. Add to this, the fact that
Google owns Google Search, Google AdWords,
YouTube, Blogger and Picasa. Are you starting to get the picture?
Google is gigantic. Google controls the lion’s share of Internet traffic
and advertising dollars.
Image via WikipediaGoogle has also been able to produce a social-networking product that is easy to use, search engine friendly and innovative. These qualities’ have made them the internet 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 to you is to review where you are spending your advertising money and see if it makes sense using any of the Google properties. If you're an individual, and 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. If you already have a Gmail account, this will only take you about 5 minutes. The bonus here is you can also set up a Google+ Brand page without a lot of fuss.
Prediction #4) More Businesses Bill Start using Blogging and Article Marketing to Build Trust
You
may be asking the question: "What does blogging and article writing have
to do with social networks?" The answer is straightforward. Both
blogging and article writing create a following, and they both encourage
fan interaction. These followers will leave comments on the
blog/article sites and interact directly with the authors. Now that I
have established that blogging and article marketing is social in
nature, let’s discuss building trust.
There
are many ways to build trust with people. Here are just a few ways that
a business can build trust; receiving word of mouth and written
testimonials, consistently providing a good product or service,
providing written guarantees and making it easy for your customers to
communicate with you.
Image by kuribo via FlickrToday,
writing articles is creating a new powerhouse for trust building. Any
business that receives expert status from writing about their industry
niche will garner instant credibility. According to the website
“numberof.net," the number of bloggers in 2007 was around 23 million.
The same source predicted that, by 2012, U.S. bloggers would reach 35
million. Guess what, this year's articles in Technorati and Blogpulse
both listed worldwide blogs to be around 164 million by the end of 2011,
almost five times the original predictions given in 2007. I guess the
adoption rate for blogging has far exceeded what was once looked upon as
a strange new type of website forum.
We
live in a society where the published word has high value. This is
truer today than ever. Savvy businesses are taking to blogging and
article marketing as an exciting new way to distinguish them from their
competitors. What?You say you can’t write? Ghost writers are a
cost-effective alternative. They are readily available and well worth
looking into. My advice to you is straightforward, create and use a blog
for marketing. Your blog articles can also be used in article marketing
by submitting them to article databases. They can also be integrated
into your website. Your blog post can easily become part of your website
“current content strategy." If done well, blogging will build your
reputation as the go to expert in your particular business field. As an
extra bonus, you will be able to engage prospects and clients in a way
that builds trust, a commodity that is vastly absent in today’s business
climate.
In
this article, I discussed four powerful trends emerging in the
social media industry. In the past, I
have kept my predictions secret,
and used them as part of my own marketing strategy. This year, however, I decided
to make my predictions public. My accuracy over the last five years has
always been exceptionally high. I have sometimes missed the mark on the
timeline, but I have rarely been wrong at predicting what will
eventually take place. These four social media predictions should make
sense to you. My predictions are based on my reasoning, research and
experience, not some mystical power. My work leads me to believe that
these trends will continue to grow at unprecedented rates. I have always
had an uncanny ability to spot trends before, but anyone willing to
look can spot these trends if they take the time to look. By heeding my
predictions and adjusting your social media strategies, you will engage
and garner more customers this year. Take the time to develop and put in
place all the necessary elements needed to implement your social media
strategy. By doing this, you will profit from social media like you
never have before.
That’s my opinion; I look forward to hearing yours.
If you found this article useful, share it with your friends, families and co-works. If you have a comment related to this article, leave it in the comment sections below. If you would like a free copy of our book, "Internet Marketing Tips for the 21st Century", fill out the form below.
If you found this article useful, share it with your friends, families and co-works. If you have a comment related to this article, leave it in the comment sections below. If you would like a free copy of our book, "Internet Marketing Tips for the 21st Century", fill out the form below.
Hector Cisneros is the director of Social Media Marketing at Working the Web to Win, co-host of the weekly
Internet radio show, "Working the Web To Win"
on BlogTalkRadio.com, a writer, an entrepreneur for more than 30 years, a
veteran of BNI for 19 years and was a BNI director for over five years. He is
still an active BNI member and follows its philosophy of "Givers
Gain." He is the owner of several businesses in Jacksonville, Florida. He
actively coaches business owners in the fine art of online advertising,
business networking and word-of-mouth marketing. He is president of
Website Know How, Inc., a holding company for his business ventures that
include: online advertising, word-of-mouth marketing, real estate holdings,
non-profit training/support, book publishing, health and wellness product sales
and adventure sports. Hector's new book, "60 Seconds to Success,"
teaches business owners how to get the most from word of mouth marketing by
using great 60-second introductions. To learn more about Hector Cisneros,
social media, online marketing or word-of-mouth marketing, visit the Networker's Apprentice workshop or his book's website: http://www.60SecondsToSuccess.com.
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