Five Things to Watch for in Social Media for 2010

For companies, 2010 will be about more clearly connecting social media to business objectives and better understanding how to measure the direct and indirect return on investment of social media. Integrating social media into the sales funnel to support lead generation and transactions will be a top priority.

Here is what to watch out for in 2010 for social media:

1. Social Media Publishing Focus on Multi-Media – More posting of video content. Video both recorded and live streamed will see an increase in use, but it is likely that companies will start using more images as well, to help better tell their story. While text and audio have been the staples of B2B social media content up to this point, that will change in 2010.

2. Better to Give-Don’t make the mistake of always asking for something in return. Show some good faith and give some of your content away for free. This will in turn create more trust as well as more customers as of course, every person loves to get stuff for free!

3. Influencer Marketing Gets Even More Important –As industry influencers use social media to build influence, companies will follow to engage with them and realize the importance of building credibility online.

4. Get Smart About Social Data –Social media is here to stay. Most already know that. The major revelation is going to be that the user generated content created every second on the social web can help them make better and more informed business decisions. Leadership will begin looking for ways to collect and analyze this data and then use it to improve product development, customer service, marketing and other aspects of business.

5. Companies, large and small, need to create a social media strategy.   What’s your plan?  Oh . . . you don’t have one? Big mistake in 2010.  You need to start working on one now.  Don’t know where to start?  Do a little research.  There are some really good experts out there who can help you in this area.   Contact Diamond Website Conversion to help you create a strong, cutting-edge social media strategy that will keep your business cutting edge.