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December 09, 2009
Social Media 2010: it's time to get boring
2009 is feeling a bit like 1999 when it comes to social media.
CNN, Ashton Kutcher and Oprah helped stir the hype for Twitter. Social media and Twitter conferences sprang up everywhere. Social media snake oil salesmen prowled Twitter. Lots of hype, but not a lot of process-driven action.
My prediction for 2010: social gets integrated into business functions. That means: social media policies, aligning social media strategies and tactics with overall business objectives and revenue goals, and realigning functional teams. Yeah, not as exciting as another viral video but those are as reliable as a Vegas roulette table. Social media process is hard work, so it's time for social media to get boring! For process geeks like me, that's pretty exciting.
What was hot in 2009 is out in 2010.
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OUT |
IN |
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Influencers |
Fans |
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Return on conversations |
Return on investment (always in style) |
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Email threads |
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Advertising on Twitter |
Insights from Twitter |
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Taking feedback |
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Interns in charge of posting in social media |
The CMO participating in social media** |
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Showing off |
Showing up |
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Focused on yourself |
Focused on your customer |
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Number of followers |
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Blocking employees from using social media |
Incenting employees to use social media |
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Billy Mays |
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Corp Communications Department |
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Cupcakes |
Ok, that last one has nothing to do with social media. I just like saying and eating cake balls : )
* Via Sean O'Driscoll
** An Ant's Eye View client.
Other blogs that reference Social Media 2010: it's time to get boring:
Jackie - LOVE this approach. And agree with all your "ins" and "outs." Well done!
Great list Jackie... I particularly like the idea of shifting from Corp Comms to an "Evangelism Department."
Well done, Jackie. I think many of your predictions are right on the money. Speaking of money, I love your roulette table analogy. Hard work and perseverance will win out over luck 99% of the time.
Not so sure I agree with "fans" being the in for 2010.
Don't believe a static number of people who profess to be a fan of x, y, or z necessarily is something to brag about.
It's how you interact with those 'fans' that actually matters. It may be semantics..but still.
Ryan,
Thanks for your comments. I was contrasting fans with influencers. We saw alot of companies focused finding the elusive "influencesr" to get word of mouth. I think attracting fans is more effective, and then as you say, engaging them.
this is a great list, live it! Showing off vs showing up really made me smile :)
This is great stuff! I agree with most of your points Jackie, but not sure about fans taking over for influencers, particularly in the B2B world.
As for the CMO, participation is not enough, he/she has to understand it and drive it as well.
I have one other over-arching comment on social media for 2010 and you touched on it in your post and that is we need to lose the celebrity and ego component of it all. Social media should not equal SO ME!
Jackie,
LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog post! I attended MIMA Summit and thought your presentation was AMAZING! I've also had the pleasure of meeting Ramon De Leon this fall at a Latism conference (www.latism.org). He is SO engaged with social media it's insane! Great recommendation.
Not sure I agree with the cake balls, but I love the article. Simple, clear, and to the point.
Jackie,
Thank you for a great post!
I like how you mention the use of Twitter for customer service. It always bothered me that companies would use Twitter in self-promoting ways instead of using it to really serve their customers.
My biggest hope for 2010 is that businesses take a step back and really evaluate what social spaces and tactics will best serve their customers.
Excellent post. Some great examples this year of customer service on the web and the use of Twitter. I'm sure we'll see a tipping point next year.
With this post, you have laid to rest the big question: who is hotter in December: Jackie or her beloved Steelers?
Ouch, low blow, eh?
Seriously, you did a great job on this one...of course I am on board with the fans AND, as you point out, the quality of those fans, not just "let's get more on our FB fan page."
Happy Holidays!
Getting your employees to represent your company via social media is a great idea for getting them more involved in the company, and help with serving more of your customers.
Go, Cake Balls.
Outstanding, Jackie, and dead-on! Or at least I *hope* so for 2010. In fact, it almost feels like a jinx to call your predictions "In"; they're just *right* for business, so I hope the social media froth-n-frenzy finally dies down, and we just start using it as a wonderful new tool for listening and communicating as brand marketers.
Jackie, once again excellent work! What I find interesting and exciting about Social media as a brand marketer is that no one has come up with a definitive plan on how to utilize social media effectively on a case by case basis i.e. what works for one may not work for another. With how frequently the Social Media landscape changes it's hard to pin down one singular strategy that will work across all platforms.
I've to agree. I think social media has become more business oriented in recent years. As Twitter unveils its new ad model, it is a wonder whether such a trend of marketing through Twitter will slowly come to a halt or continue to flourish.
Well, it is almost the end of 2010 and it seems your prediction that social media is a lot more business oriented has come true. Now, more companies are focusing their marketing efforts through social media. Although this is not totally without reason, companies should remember that they still need to deal with the social media as a marketing tool - creating a plan and eyeing the end result.
