2010 was an astounding year for New Media Strategies, kicking off a second decade dominating the social sphere. Whether launching the first automotive brand profile on Foursquare or helping our public affairs clients gain critical support, expanding our Hispanic outreach or breaking box office records, the buzz about NMS this year showed nothing short of record growth, not to mention a brand new office space.
‘Tis the season for trend tracking, and as we look forward to another great year, here’s what we expect in social media trends in 2011:
Facebook Places Takes Us Somewhere
Call it being open or call it being lazy: Facebook builds platforms for other companies to customize. Places, its big leap into location, is no different, and up until now we’re still waiting for a major player to take advantage of all the interface has to offer. Publishing check-ins from other apps aside (looking at you Gowalla), few unique programs have been built on top of this gold mine. Starbucks started something in 2010 before the added layer of Facebook Deals. Who will connect 60 million fans’ check-ins and charities to something cool and compelling?
Social Shopping Changes the Deal
Consider it Black Friday in the new world of social shopping – and be prepared for a stampede of CPG products entering the scene. Now that Vons and Safeway have made deals with social leader Pepsi to link up the digital loyalty card to their existing customer database, what was once a space dominated by restaurants, retailers, and travel deals will now be open for business to all varieties of products. Sites like Groupon and Living Social resonated especially well among women in 2010, leaving every news and reviews site out there – from Aol to Yelp, Amazon to Google – wanting a piece of the action. Discounts on these sites are steep, so don’t be surprised if some brands like Uniqlo continue to take matters into their own hands.
Whip Out Your Digital Wallet
Shoppers are changing, too, these days, ready to pay by mobile phone, use QR codes to connect with brands, and checking barcodes for product details and price comparisons. Expect more deals to be done via your phone than coupon in the coming months.
Does This Brand Make My Buzz Look Big?
Social buzz sways marketing decisions in board rooms worldwide. Next we’ll use it to inform not only product strategy, but also whom to partner with. Buzz metrics predict political races and box office earnings, so why not cross-reference partner conversation spikes? NBCU is already tracking a list of top brands among women. Expect more co-marketing and sales deals to use these metrics to see whose social bang can really cause a boom.
The Geosocial Show Down
When location based-apps came out of Austin, Gowalla and Foursquare were still consider the wild, wild west. Now that geosocial apps and social shopping deals have converged (see Facebook Places and its accompanying Deals), Foursquare and its peers begin a fight to survive. The good news is they’re pulling out the big guns. Photo integration using Instagr.am and others add smart layers of value Facebook hasn’t latched on to yet. Watch for even more detail using augmented reality and recommendation engines coming from these players soon.
The Cure for the Common Newsfeed
Niche communities like Instagr.am, Path and GetGlue respond to what’s becoming nightmare newsfeed fatigue. The trend that Ning started years ago is coming back in style as users throw up their hands and ask for just the content they care about.
Be Careful What You Wish For
Remember when people complained that Twitter was a wasteland of users asking what they should have for dinner? Well the pizza man has just arrived. Expect every wish to be a social marketer’s command as cupcake shops to car dealers offer up their services to you. Recommendations from local dealers and vendors who are smart in social and able to trace your zip code and estimated household income are just around the corner. Expect this extension of CRM as corporate continues to dictate how social works among dealerships and franchises. Keep an eye on Klout Perks, too – the market for product sampling and identifying influencers is still an open field.
The Marriage We’ve All Been Waiting On
No, not William and Kate. In the next year, your social marketing team is getting hitched to mobile, and they’ll want a registry full of on-the-go apps and websites, shiny ways to show off HTML5, and built out user experiences for iPads and other tablets. Arcade Fire’s “The Wilderness Downtown” was just a taste of a new wave of web development. The early buzz on the 2011 CES is that content for tablets will be king, and with the proposed value for market leaders, everyone will be running down the aisle.