20 Social Media Trends for

Business

Thought-Starters for 2011

Dave FleetVP Digital, Edelman

Edelman.ca

Themes

1. Silo busting

2. Maturation of social media

3. Rise of the „less shiny object‟

4. Communication accelerates

5. Ubiquitous social

Theme #1:

Silo busting

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Trend #1: Integration

Organizations will increasingly realize that social media

achieves little unless they integrate it with other communication

forms and with other business functions

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Trend #1: Best practices

• Structure social media across silos

• Integrate and share intelligence across the

enterprise

• Plan communications across functions

• Bring diverse departments together for

planning

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Trend #2: Social customer support

Multiple factors lead companies to adopt social support

activities alongside their traditional channels

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Trend #2: Best practices

• Engage proactively AND reactively

• Where possible, solve problems in public

• Support resolution by the community

• Reward third-party advocates

Photo: angelaarcher

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Trend #3: Social impact drives reputation

BP‟s deep-water disaster reminded organizations – and people

– that their social impact affects their reputation

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Trend #3: Best practices

• Look towards social impact of business

• Invest in CSR activities… and

communicate them effectively

• Avoid „greenwashing‟

Theme #2:

Maturation of social media

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Trend #4: Death of the campaign

Companies look beyond campaigns and towards ongoing

activities as drivers of results in social media activities

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Trend #4: Best practices

• Identify an executive sponsor

• Budget, staff, plan for ongoing activities

• Diversify responsibility for activities

– Between functions

– Within functions

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Trend #5: Consolidation

Consolidation in social media tools will continue in established

sectors such as blogging platforms and monitoring. We‟ll see

that expand to sectors such as social CRM and campaign

management platforms in future years.

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Trend #5: Best practices

• Build your social media presence around a

„home base‟

• Plan your social presence carefully

• Don‟t chase after shiny

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Trend #6: "Influence" matures

Companies evolve their approach to influence beyond just

considering reach. Thought leadership and experts take

precedence.

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Trend #6: Best practices

• Consider context

• Consider spheres of influence outside the

top tier

• Measure outcomes to refine approach

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Trend #7: Democratization of voice

Companies continue the path broken by others to allow

additional corporate spokespeople in the online space

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Trend #7: Best practices

• Set boundaries for free engagement

• Develop community guides to ensure

consistency in approach

• Hire experience and train for success

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Trend #8: Return of websites

After several years of being told to “fish where the fish are” businesses realize that social integration to existing web sites doesn’t only help them become relevant—users will expect it.

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Trend #8: Best practices

• Incorporate social data from connections,

friends

• Design for function & form

• Be conservative on privacy

Theme #3:

Rise of the “less shiny object”

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Trend #9: Digitally driven crises

No-one thinks they're going to experience a crisis until they do.

More and more organizations will realize too late that they need

to incorporate digital into their crisis plans.

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Trend #9: Best practices

• Identify potential sources of crises

• Plan ahead

• Monitor continuously for emerging issues

• Practice through crisis simulations

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Trend #10: Digital Curation

Social media allows everyone to produce content. Some is

good; some is bad. As the volume of information increases,

companies may benefit from curating the former.

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Trend #10: Best practices

• Identify under-served niches and meet

them

• Frame up issues and discussions;

editorialize

• Make curation collaborative and social

Photo by chrisjbarker

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Trend #11: Search strategy

Companies will increasingly factor search considerations into

the earned and social realms of their online activities.

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Trend #11: Best practices

• Think beyond SEM and on-domain SEO

• Factor search considerations into

communications planning, not just content

• Optimize activities to realize long-term

benefit from short-term campaigns

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Trend #12: Community management

Community management evolves beyond random engagement

and towards rigorous, measured strategic activity

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• Engage community members and

encourage participation

• Personalize interactions while reinforcing

corporate priorities

• Act transparently

• Engage respectfully

• Act as a real-time first line of defense for

online issues

Trend #12: Best practices

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Trend #13: Developer Engagement

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Photo by bugbbq

Developers are driving innovation across all key digital platforms. Marketing innovators will begin working with developers to scale their programs and boost their surface area.

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Trend #13: Best practices

• Make valuable assets available for

developers – e.g. art, text, videos, data

• Build APIs and cultivate a rich developer

network

• Adopt developer creations

31

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Trend #14: Measurement matures

Measurement has long been an Achilles heel for PR.

Advertising agencies are still stuck measuring impressions.

Measurement will, by necessity, evolve in 2011.

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Trend #14: Best practices

• Mandate metric sharing between company

and agencies, & between agency partners

• Measure outcomes of activities, not outputs

• Consider measurement at the beginning

and middle – not just the end

• Tailor reports to the audience

• Insist on context alongside numbers

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Trend #15: Rise of the content strategist

As campaigns evolve to sit alongside ongoing community

management, content creation and optimization takes a central

place at the social media table.

Photo: John Two Persons Benedick

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Trend #15: Best practices

• Place audiences at the core of content

• Plan and maintain a flexible content

calendar

• Create social objects to drive attention

• Optimize based on previous results

Theme #4:

Communication accelerates

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Trend #16: Listening becomes mandatory

Increased occurrences of social media-driven issues, combined

with the potential for insights and for building brands and

reputations drives monitoring as a core social activity

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Trend #16: Best practices

• Formalize monitoring for the organization

• Tailor search taxonomies to functional

needs

• Establish processes to route and escalate

conversations as needed

• Extend monitoring boundaries beyond the

organization to a wider context

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Trend #17: Marketing in Streams

Increasing prevalence of streams of news means that “what”

and “where” no longer answer enough questions. “When”

becomes an important consideration.

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Trend #17: Best practices

• Analyse your audience activity

• Schedule updates throughout the day

• Post content at optimum times

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Trend #18: Social media overload

Social media overload is nothing new to early adopters, but it

will become an increasing issue for “average” users

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Trend #18: Best practices

• Don‟t over-extend your presence

• Keep participation simple

• Integrate social networks into website

sign-ins

Theme #5:

Ubiquitous Mobile

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Trend #19: Ubiquitous social

Mobility has already expanded beyond mobiles. The market for

tablets will become saturated in 2011, and competition will drive

even more innovation

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Trend #19: Best practices

• Plan content for multiple digital

experiences & platforms

• Optimize for mobility, not just mobile

• Combine social sharing integration

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Trend #20: Location, location, Facebook

2010 was Foursquare‟s year, but it never broke through.

Facebook is now paying attention to location, and is poised to

make location-based marketing relevant.

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Trend #20: Best practices

• Think “LoSoPhoMo,” particularly on

Facebook

• Combine real and digital world

engagement

• Reward advocates with additional

privileges and rewards

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Questions?

LinkedIn.com/in/davefleet

dave.fleet@edelman.com

416.849.8940