Comet Branding - Branding | PR | Social Media

2011 Social Media Predictions from Comet

Over the last three years we have seen a lot, done a lot and learned a lot in social media. So, with our eyes on the future, while working in today, here are our thoughts for what will happen in the social media world in 2011. Unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball lying around to know for sure, but here’s what the Comet Team sees happening in 2011. What are your picks for social media trends in 2011? Please share!

AL KRUEGER

In general, social media content and its associate experience will play a much bigger role in the standard Web experience. Bringing social to non-social media users.

• Facebook - This platform’s dominance will continue and FB developers will roll out more ways to integrated into our regular Web experience. From a business perspective, companies will be able to do more to connect their Web properties to Facebook and create more of a seamless or integrated experience that will combine the best parts of Facebook with the best parts of a wholly-owned website. Right now, these experiences are too divergent. Look for these two entities to come closer together.

• Social Media Commerce – The ability to execute transactions and the exchange of money to take place directly in social media will improve and perpetuate the space. Right now, commerce is only executed separately from social media and for the space to continue to evolve and improve, these two will need to come together better.

• HTML5 Will Bring the Social Web Alive – The Web and social Web will come alive with HTML5. This new platform will bring App-like experiences to websites and mobile to an extent that some Apps may cease to exist. My hope is that HTML5 will create such functionality that mobile websites will take the mobile experience to the next level. This will impact social media significantly. If HTML5 is able to fulfill these hopes, maybe we won’t have to do all of those lame App updates every other week. But, then again, Apple just released its Mac App store, which seems to be treating what used to be known as programs, now as apps. So, this death of apps prediction may not come true at all.

SARA MEANEY

• Livin’ La Vida Local - Company use of the global Internet will continue to focus on the local level as mobile advertising will grow and is driven by geolocation to drive last minute and local buying and loyalty-based deals. Social media drives meaningful one to one interactions, thereby increasing the need to connect with individuals where they actually are. Virtual connectedness will no longer be enough as our networks of connections grow larger and larger.

• Twitter is the Gateway Drug - The “free” nature of social media platforms will change in order to cash in on the widespread adoption by businesses. Social platforms that have been primarily free will continue to introduce premium paid versions for access to anything but the most basic of features, metrics and multi-platform integration. Expect this trend to continue and to expand to include the things that businesses want most (and are willing to pay for): access to the measurement, metrics and people with whom they are building online relationships.

• Corporate Culture Darwinism - The companies that are the most culturally social will clearly stand out as winners in the social media arena over the long haul. It doesn’t take long for even causal users of social media platforms to spot the fakers from the real deal as companies discover the need to embrace more open, two-way dialogs with their fans and followers. We will see an emerging demand for a more objective, journalistic approach to marketing and sales, requiring a shift from the traditional approach to business growth and promotion. While companies may not yet be forced to embrace social media to survive, those that want to thrive must embrace a more social corporate culture, lest they be exposed as disingenuous.

MIKE WISNIEWSKI

• More Personalization To The Individual - With more and more websites collecting data from previous visits, we will see the integration of personalized marketing messages extend beyond websites and email into social media, mobile and geo-location platforms.

• Social Video - With its power to connect people, social video will continue to strengthen the relationships between a brand and its current customers and help attract new ones. Keep a look out for more videos and unique styles from brands and individuals.

• More Mobile - We are all at a state where our smart phones have been integrated into our everyday lives. With the combination of newer mobile devices, increased network speeds and more GPS integration, markets, more now than ever, have the ability to target key consumers at the right place and time. Keep an eye out for an increased push from location-based services, mobile gaming and the continued evolution of augmented reality platforms.

EMILY LENARD

• PR Strategy: Blogger Outreach - While fostering relationships with bloggers has been on the industry’s radar for a few years now, the importance of developing strategies to have clients comment on key industry blogs still hasn’t gotten as much attention as it deserves. In 2011, garnering attention and engagement on brand’s social media channels will require sharing some love on blogs from brand representatives looking to engage.

• No Longer an Option: Share-Friendly Content - It amazes me how many brands, I’m looking at you specifically traditional media companies, still don’t make it easy for consumers to find and share web content how they want. I’m looking forward to websites (or a social platform) that enables visitors to share content without having to login to Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

• Blast from the Past with a Twist: e-Newsletters - This marketing channel is nothing new. Dedicated email accounts that primarily serve as coupon and e-newsletter inboxes are evidence of that. The good news is that in 2011 we might actually want to read, share (and gasp!) do what the e-newsletters ask us to do: engage with comments, likes and contest entries. Brands might even be able to persuade consumers to purchase something.

ANDREW WIECH

• Video Pitching – Landing a story is about establishing a good relationship with a reporter and making them feel important, and what’s more personalized than an individual video pitch sent directly to them? Ford recently launched a public personalized video pitch campaign to influential industry reporters for the Ford Focus Global Test Drive Campaign.

• Social Commerce/Group Buying – Just look at Groupon and LivingSocial. Every time I purchase one of these deals, I’m encouraging my friends and family to also get it. For Groupon, I might receive a $10 referral credit. For LivingSocial, if three of my friends purchase the deal, mine is free. Blippy might not have been successful but companies that can leverage group buying and sharing through social communities can greatly increase your product awareness and overall profit.

• Closer Collaboration – Social media has a lot of attributes. I specifically use it more for marketing and PR, but in the upcoming year be on the lookout for other departments hitching onto the social media bandwagon and all groups within a company collaborating together.

DAVE RACINE

I’ve seen the future. It’s local, it’s simpler, and it’s a whole lot more Groupon-ified.

• Location-Based Marketing Meets Values - It’s not a game anymore. For consumers and businesses, it’s not about notifications, check-ins or point-accumulations, but about receiving a genuine value.  Incentives to purchase and motivation to share content will still hinge upon the local businesses’ ability to connect and engage with local consumers, but it will happen on a deeper level. More traditional offline events will integrate with proximity-based sharing technologies and both the brand and the consumer will enjoy a richer brand experience where financial value meets moral values.

• A Simplified Life - As the smartphone emerges as the most popular mobile device, it will also become the default internet-access device. This is where convenience creates simplicity. Simple-to-use and easy-to-access apps will help channel the real-time web, package it, and make it much easier for us to maintain productivity. Software and mobile applications will advance to help us simplify our lives by identifying and organizing what’s most relevant to our lives and our interests. If the personal computer helped us organize our lives, then our mobile devices will take organization one step further.

• Collective Contributing - The Groupon promotional model will evolve beyond simple discounted offerings to the consumer sector. Service-based businesses will take advantage of new opportunities to sell their services and capabilities in bundles to other businesses with shareable, measurable and lead-generating links within the community. The non-profit sector will embrace new opportunities to seek donations, organize their campaigns and raise support for their cause, rewarding their ethics-led advocates with something more valuable than a financial advantage.

ADAM KUHN

• Convergence - With Google buying up everything from YouTube in 2006 to the rumors of them purchasing Groupon, we’ll continue to see the large online enterprises get larger and incorporate more outlets for “social friendly” activity.  I wonder what, or should I say who, Facebook will buy with their newly fundraised $2.8 billion?

• Mobile and Social Commerce - Gone are the days when you had to head to the mall and walk up and down every aisle looking for a deal.  The online marketplace has come to save the day; and it’s only going to get bigger!  When you have hundreds of millions of potential customers on Facebook alone, predicting that the marketplace on such a social media website will grow is an easy assumption.

• Virtual Cash – Zynga’s “Farmville” proved once again that people love to game online… and that they’re willing to pay to play.  As long as there are fields to plow in the online world, there will be money coming into the online marketplace.

ANDREA PARINS

• Facebook Outlook - With 550 million users, 2011 will be an exciting year for Facebook. The new ‘face lift’ that allows your profile page to tell a story by reorganizing your information and allowing you to add more content to your education and work experience. This feature resembles a LinkedIn profile and it will be interesting to see if Facebook begins to connect professionals as well.

• Facebook Fan Pages - New metrics will now allow you to see total impressions for each post in addition to the percentage of fans that ‘like’ or commented on a post. Monthly activity will now report all users who view the page, even without interaction. This will help businesses see more clearly which posts generate interaction.

• Facebook Messaging – Another feature Facebook is working on is a new message interface which will combine messages, emails and text. With over 200 million mobile users, this feature could be the one-stop-shop when you’re away from your desk. However, privacy still remains a top concern in my book.

Tags: Adam Kuhn, Al Krueger, andrea parins, Andrew Wiech, Dave Racine, Emily Lenard, Mike Wisniewski, Sara Meaney, social media trends 2011