Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2009
Recently, I asked fourteen friends who are well-known in social media for their predictions on what to expect in 2009. They came up with 50 diverse insights that are worth spending some time with - you can download a PDF of them here.As you know, social media isn't about any single institution dictating what will be - even an amalgamation of 14 minds. So I turned the task of clairvoyance over to the people, by creating a voting application where anyone could vote a particular prediction up or down, or submit their own to the mix.
It's telling that the top three predictions voted to the top so far are all focused on customers:
1. Customer Satisfaction Uprising. With money tight and tensions high, consumers will not tolerate bad service. They will flip out, very publicly, using social media. [from Andy Sernovitz]
2. Customers insist on custoMEr service. Putting the "me" back in customer service, customers, tired of being asked to pay more for less, will look to product guarantees and service warranties to make their purchasing experience worthwhile. When denied, they'll take (or threaten to take) their case to the web. Good customer service will differentiate a mediocre brand and a superb brand. [from Scott Monty]
3. Everyone becomes a marketer. As companies debate who should "own" community efforts within the organization -- marketing, corporate communications, IT, etc -- their front line workers will go about quietly, inobtrusively interacting with customers, partners, and other employees within their social networks. Examples like @comcastcares Frank Eliason or "Nuts About Southwest" blogger Gordon Guillory (who is a mechanical engineer) point to the democratization of social media within the enterprise. Companies will struggle with how to control who says what -- but will increasingly realize that in an economic downturn, they need all the marketing muscle and leverage they can get and actively encourage. [from Charlene Li]
It seems pretty clear to me where we need to focus our attention in the coming year (and beyond).
Peter is currently working with a stealth-mode startup, building an enterprise social services + technology company. He was previously a Forrester Research analyst, and prior to that, was in charge of PUMA's global interactive marketing, internal creative agency, and marketing finance. He also held strategy consulting positions at Razorfish and Coopers & Lybrand. He blogs regularly at Being Peter Kim and tweets once in a while as well.
Posted by Contributor on December 30, 2008 5:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
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