James Cooper's List: M) Future of Social Media

In 2012 our reliance on email pitching will dwindle in favor of social media connections with journalists. The pervasiveness of social media has officially permeated traditional media relations.Businesses will leverage Google+ as a strategic platform for communicating with customers and prospects.Social Media Gets Strategic: Expect more brands to take a strategic approach to social media marketing. They will begin to concentrate their efforts on the platforms that will offer them the greatest ROI.Measurement Is a Must: PR metrics will go beyond counting clips to new ways of holding PR accountable for prospect conversion and revenue generation.In 2012  social media crises continue to come fast and furious. Luckily, they tend to die out as quickly as they flare up, so don’t expect them to have particularly long shelf lives.Brands Become Publishers: 2012 will mark a surge in businesses not only being the publishers of their own content, but disseminators as well.CEOs Become Journalists: With publications like Forbes allowing CEOs to create their own pages, profiles and regularly contribute content, CEOs will begin to work in step with traditional news media to position themselves as thought leaders.In 2012 we will see more brands putting a premium on niche media that speaks directly to their target audiences.Paying to Get Social: In 2012 social media will go the way of advertising and will no longer be the voice of the people.Journalists will try to find the most salacious angle for every story, so tread cautiously and be sure your spokesperson is media trained.

Social IntelligenceFor several years now we’ve been told that at the very least we have to listen to the online conversations.  The number of social media monitoring tools has exploded and at last count there were over 200 on the market. However, there is much more to be learned from these conversations than just brand mentions, complaints and sentiment.Map your brand’s social graphFind the influencers in each node of the graphDiscover what different groups within one node are talking about and what’s important to themFind out where they are talking about those thingsTap into what your competitors are doing and what people are saying about themIdentify threats and opportunitiesShare the data you find with your team and others across the organizationBrainstorm how best to implement what you find to support the organization ‘s goals

(1) Consolidation. The Trader Joe's business model -- fewer options increases purchases -- will be more prominent. Instead of receiving 5 daily social deals and 5 retail auctions, users will increasingly turn to digital wallets to keep track of their social deals.
(2) Erasure. People are going to want to selectively edit their social history. Tools empowering users to delete photos, clean up their wall and other actions to help protect someone from an employeer are a goldmine.
(3) Television. TV will move beyond the hashtag in the corner and start designing programs with the assumption that viewers have two screens (a laptop, tablet or phone). I expect reality shows and/or a gameshow to take advantage of this. To monitor: live events (Olympics and the 2012 election), reality TV and game shows (NBC's The Voice is trying to be a pioneer), and Late Night programs (Conan and Jimmy Fallon are more innovative than their peers).
(4) Writing Mobile Content. Bloggers will find success writing posts longer than a tweet but shorter than a traditional column/post. Every day it is easier to publish content for mobile devices (look at the potential of OnSwipe) and the next leap will be authors who optimize writing for mobile audiences. There may be value to that English major yet.
  Noah Chestnut, Director of Digital Media @HPSInsight18 votes by Marc Bodnick, Marti LaChance, Matt McDonald, (more)(1) ConsolidationThe Trader Joe's business model -- fewer options increases purchases -- will be more prominent. Instead of receiving 5 daily social deals and 5 retail auctions, users will increasingly turn to digital wallets to keep track of their social deals.Increasing reliance on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn as universal log-ins. The norm will be to log-in using your existing social graph as opposed to starting from scratch. People will be aware of which ID they choose to log-in with and this will have consequences for both business and privacy.Less is more. I expect to see fewer new platforms and more tools that enrich your current social experience, such as Quora. I view Quora as an extension of my time on Twitter and Facebook. It is not in competition with my primary social graphs but strengthens and expands them.(2) ErasurePeople are going to want to selectively edit their social history. Tools empowering users to delete photos, clean up their wall and other actions to help protect someone from an employeer are a goldmine.The discussion of privacy will shift from hiding information to forgetting information. This is an important normative shift that will be influential for the next decade.(3) TelevisionTV will move beyond the hashtag in the corner and start designing programs with the assumption that viewers have two screens (a laptop, tablet or phone). I expect reality shows and/or a gameshow to take advantage of this. To monitor: live events (Olympics and the 2012 election), reality TV and game shows (NBC's The Voice is trying to be a pioneer), and Late Night programs (Conan and Jimmy Fallon are more innovative than their peers).The test for TV will be how to integrate social media into non-live events. On demand entertainment is still the thorn for TV and innovative ways to make social media feel organic regardless of time will be highly desirable.(4) Writing Mobile ContentBloggers will find success writing posts longer than a tweet but shorter than a traditional column/post. Every day it is easier to publish content for mobile devices (look at the potential of OnSwipe) and the next leap will be authors who optimize writing for mobile audiences. There may be value to that English major yet.Writing for tablets is different than writing for smart phones and content creators will need to develop strategies for each. Integration of photos, video and interactive elements will need to be tweaked depending on their device. There will be a demand for those who develop processes to manage content creation.Platforms for creating and uploading (Instagram excels at this) content created on mobile devices will also be in demand. 2012 will be a turning point for tablets as they transition from consumption to creation.(5) Gaming. Sure, sure this was the next big trend in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 ... but 2012 may be the year. Zynga paved the road for simple games and more people are investing and experimenting. Social gaming will go beyond Badges and start influencing people's behavior in the real world. For example, photo scavenger hunts tied to a gaming platform on Facebook may be linked to a social deal site to offer you a discount at a bar.

Content Marketing. Content curation was so last year. In 2012 we’re going broader; we’ll be talking about a marketing discipline called “Content Marketing.” It’s actually not all that new; in fact, some social media pundits have been talking about it for years. But 2012 is the year content marketing is hits the social media trends list and the mainstream, because content marketing is now a concept that executives can finally sink their teeth into.
Social Media Influence. nfluence in 2012 might be defined by Klout, or Kred, or PeerIndex. It doesn’t matter. The point is that anyone who is looking to court customers is wanting to understand who’s who, else they wind up in a morass of names, unable to know whom to court to help them spread the word about their product or service. Influence-ranking services such as those above, as maligned as they are, are merely trying to help marketers cut through the clutter of tweets and blog posts to figure out who they should talk to. 2012 is not going to be the year that a perfect tool emerges, but it will be a year for broad adoption of the ranking tools and lots of C-suite talk about “influence” in general.
Convergence of Marketing + Technology + Data. Perhaps the most important of the social media trends to come, tighter integration between marketing, technology, and data is at topic I predict we’ll hear a lot about. New positions like “Marketing Technologist” and “Marketing Scientist” will emerge; within marketing departments people will learn these new skills and take on new roles.
Legal Challenges Within Social Media. Let’s talk for an honest minute about one of the pitfalls of the crazy growth social media has experienced over the past few years. It’s a bit hard these days to figure out who’s shilling for whom and what are the rules, exactly. In order to quell some of the confusion, a couple of years ago the FTC laid out some very clear guidelines for blogger disclosure, and though there’s been continued debate about how to comply (do we really have to indicate a sponsored tweet?), disclosure is now the norm, not the exception. So good on you, bloggers and brands, for making that happen. And keep it up.
Social Security. Nope, this is not the kind that Congress is endlessly debating. It’s the kind you’re going to need now that your social networking information is being used by all sorts of outside agencies and companies to judge you in ways you never thought possible. Like insurance. And loans. And law enforcement.
What’s Not Here: Google+. I actually have a sixth prediction: that there will be dozens of 2012 social media predictions posts which include Google+. Yet I’m not really including it here, because it’s simply a platform, not a trend or movement. Brands will use Google+ as well as Facebook, Twitter, blogging, video, etc. to implement any or all of the above trends in one way or another. There is no question that Google+ will likely be a major force for brands in 2012, particularly now that brand pages have been rolled out and it’s seems pretty clear that good SEO for brands in the future will involve Google+ in some way. So keep your eye on this one, but don’t call it a trend, use it as a tool.

I. We, the Digerati of America  
II. Content Curation and Google Will Change SEO
III. Social Media and Copyright Revisited 
IV. Content Marketing Matures: Brands Become Entertainers
V. Influence Gets Overhauled
VI. Apps Create an Ecosystem That Drives the Economy
VII. Year of the Cloud, Thanks to the Tablet

1. Greater Corporate Presence. Many corporations spent the better parts of 2010 and 2011 experimenting with their social media activities and aligning support resources in their organizations. As a group, we are all getting better and, while there will always be standouts, the corporate crowd is definitely learning quickly. In 2012, you can expect a much larger corporate presence on the social networks.
2. Better Integrated Campaigns. As companies get smarter about their social media measurement activities, you can expect to see more properly integrated marketing campaigns in 2012. From the basics, like consistent messaging across platforms, to more complex campaigns in which different mediums are messaged in coordination with each other, marketing integration with social media channels will be one of the keys to a greater level of success in 2012. 
3. Social Takes the Lead. Those who have moved past the challenges of integrated marketing campaigns (and many that have not) will begin to lead with their social media marketing activities. The cost is lower and the feedback loop is instantaneous, which allows for course correction in the middle of a campaign.  In effect, social media marketing will become a test bed for larger marketing and communications aspirations.
4. Google and Facebook Battle for Social Supremacy. This one might seem a bit overplayed: Bitter rivals going head to head in a winner takes all contest. If this is your impression of the Google/Facebook relationship to date, then you’re in for a wild ride in 2012. The launch of Google+ in 2011 put Facebook on notice. The stakes are high for these two companies and their primary streams of revenue (ad dollars) are at risk.

B2B Content Marketing Trends 2012 marketingprofs cmi
This is fantastic content.

The 'Next' Lens 4 Social Enterprise Trends in 2012
1. The Power of Real-time -- Harnessing Chaos
2. The Global Social Brain -- It's Everywhere and It's Getting Really Smart
3. Content Curation and Discovery- Just Give Me What's Important and Let Me Find What I Need
4. Social Media Education -- The Enterprise Goes To School

1. Mobile optimization becomes a “permission to play”.
2. QR codes will continue to be the most “misused” hot item in 2012.
3. Facebook Credits will finally matter, and be introduced as a true method of payment.
4. Location-based marketing continues deeper integration with merchant service companies (think Amex’s Like Link Love) to make “deals” via checkins much more scaleable.
5. Retailers finally get it. 
6. Google+ takes a totally opposite approach from Facebook, in that in 2012 they worry way less about users, and focus more on working with brands.
7. Likes alone won’t be enough to satisfy companies.

1) C-Suite as Content. Several prediction posts reference the C-Suite as Journalists or Content Creators.
2) Gamification Overload. Several in the industry are hot on gamification and badges, but ill-conceived initiatives are flooding consumers with useless icons in an effort to increase public advocacy.
3) A Return to Inside/Out Social Media. If 2011 was the year of “Social Business Theory,” than 2012 is the year of practical execution.  Several large organizations have turned their focus to internal activities recognizing that old policies and programs were not nurtured effectively.  As a result, employee social media activity was siloed and disjointed.
4) External Collaboration Grows Up. Over the past 6 or 7 years, expectations have remained, “if you build it, they will come.”  By now, most should have realized that this is not the case.  Passionate customers and advocates want to be a part of something.  For many, it’s about being included, appreciated and heard.  While we can give them a platform to share their thoughts, it’s simply not enough.
5) Social Media Guru’s Get Exposed. This may be a bit of wishful thinking, but with the increasing credibility and long term potential of social media, it’s hard not to believe that companies are becoming more savvy at identifying the pretenders.  In 2012, actions will speak louder than words.  The talk has reached a deafening pitch, but many of those talking have little experience in actually deploying social programs or building social businesses.

Don’t dismiss Google+ just yet. Now that brand pages have launched, the hangout feature will be an amazing opportunity for brand advocates to connect with spokespeople, experts and other advocates. I'm not sure if it will take off, but I think we will see a similar initial spike in the brand pages to what we saw in the initial Google+ public interest. Google will also be launching a wallet feature, which might make it an adversary for Facebook’s possible commerce play.The continued expansion of Smartphones will drive interactions in all channels because more people will be able to access social from their phones - Location based services may get a bump from this too.Twitter brandpages with clickable backgrounds and analytics.Social will get more photogenic - Instagram and Pinterest will become as widely known as Twitter and FB, and hopefully as widely adopted.Facebook fatigue - The new timeline is too busy. Newsfeeds will become too infiltrated with ads (whether via Fan pages or FB injecting ads into the newsfeed). People will look elsewhere to stay connected.Common retailers will finally integrate and see the value of social; and how they can create and target users with targeted messages to increase their revenue.  Non-tech industries (like retail) always lag behind tech advances by a few years, and while a few big brands have tech-savvy marketing teams you'll see checking-in and store promotions instead of brands simply saying "join us on social network X".RIP Myspace. Someone put a fork in it. It's done.

Convergence Emergence.
The Cult of Influence.
Gamification Nation.
Social Sharing.
Social Television.
The Micro Economy.

1. Social media marketing disappears
2. Integrating social media to corporate websites
3. More support through social media
4. Social CRM will make inroads in larger organizations
5. Social media will influence more sales
6. Social commerce on mobile devices
7. Social media budgets will grow
8. Social media advertising will grow
9. Social media ROI is a must
10. Rise of the branded content
11. Content Curation and Discovery
12. Tabletizing and mobilizing websites
13. Social gaming will grow and spill over to real world
14. Location! Location! Location! (Location based services will be everywhere. Local information, reviews, coupons, loyalty programs and more.)
15. Most social media usage will be on mobile devices
16. Group buying sites will add location based services
17. Interacting with live TV in social media
18. News will be social
19. Mobile apps will become more social
20. Your social media footprint will grow
21. Facebook will break the 1 Billion people mark

This one is excellent.