Kind of. It’s a semantics thing. Talking about “social media” will ID you as an outsider. More on that in a bit.
I love end-of-year lists as much as I love new year’s predictions. I think it’s worth a little reflection -hey, we just went around the sun- and history’s a great teacher. Plus, you can check in on what brilliant people are thinking, which is always a good way to spend time.
Now’s the time to make (spot on) preditctions for the new year…
-”Social Media” will lose it’s distinction. In 2010, the internet is social media. The medium thrives, but the name will distinguish active participants from newbies.
-Content Strategy will be a touchstone for good digital marketing.
If your content is the substance of who you are online, your strategy determines how it will all walk and talk in any online medium. Why is this new? Because before 2010, very few people planned for it.
-Video is going to be more important than it used to be, which is to say, pretty damn important. Good marketers are going to have interesting video to post, in lots of places.
-Search engine optimization is going to be more varied, more interesting, and more demanding than ever. With all of the avenues that social search is opening, SEO once again will be the digital discipline that’s needed by everyone, and understood by few.
-Nearly every online business will have some sort of regularly refreshed content. Either blogs or microblogs will define how well business know their customers. More determined businesses will create more ways to connect (podcasts, slidesharing, or the aforementioned video).
-The biggest challenge for businesses online will be how they’ll use those tools to distinguish themselves. The ones that try to please everyone will fail, or at best, not improve. The ones that create their own voice in a space that’s crowded with voices will reach their goals.
-Whoever gives the most will win. This has long been the information age; it’s now becoming the free information age. It’s not a huge stretch from where we’ve been. Everyone wants to give away good information about what they do. The success of your information will be determined by how easy it is to get, and how reliable you are when you give it.
Well, that’s what’s on my mind. What’s on yours?
Tags: content, content strategy, Digital Marketing, online reputation management, Social Media