There is no hotter trend in the internet, marketing and media space than social networking. What started out as a way for ‘cool kids’ to talk to each other has now become essential part of every company’s marketing strategy.
A recent report from analyst firm IDC shows the market for enterprise social networking products will reach US$2 billion by 2012.
If your business doesn’t have a social networking presence, you’re already behind.
Shayne Tilley, marketing director for Sitepoint.com, says that as the social media space develops, businesses that are late to jump on the trend will be hit hard.
“At the moment, you get incremental gain from being in the social space. In a few years’ time I think that you will lose out if you’re not involved. Consumers will expect you’ll have a presence in things like Facebook and Twitter.”
But this sector is fast moving and constantly changing. To help you try and get ahead of the market, we’ve spoken to a range of experts to indentify the next 15 social networking trends.
One major trend that is already beginning is the move of social networking from traditional desktop computers to portable devices. Clearly, the iPhone has kick-started this trend, but with the rise of smartphones the practice is becoming more popular.
Jim Stewart, founder of SEO firm Stewart Media, says this transition gives businesses plenty of opportunities to rapidly respond to users’ queries on social networks in real-time, and this will also help the development of location-specific networks.
“We’re only seeing the start of it now, really because we’ve only had the iPhone for about 12 months, but the idea is you can send a Tweet out to people within a 25km area. If I was in the Melbourne CBD I would have a Twitter client monitoring the word ‘Melbourne’ during business hours and would have a Twitter client to respond.”
“If someone asks a question and you can help them, they’re going to remember you.”
The nature of Facebook and MySpace means that social networking is often thought of as just that – a space for personal relationships to be built and grow. While some business-focussed networking sites such as LinkedIn are popular, Stewart argues this is an area of real growth. He expects business people will start to behave online the way they would at a networking event, with some sites even dedicated to the practice.
“Social networking is the online form of business networking. When you go to a networking event, you don’t go there to sell stuff, you go to meet people and build brands and products in the hope you’re going to make connections.”
“The same occurs with social networking. It’s along the lines of thinking that this is a business network you’re getting involved in, therefore you should contribute so in the longer term it’s going to improve your business.”
Facebook Australia’s regional sales vice president Paul Borrud says social networking advertising will become more reliant on customisable search results, allowing businesses to target specific demographics for a product or service.
“The ability for advertisers to target people based on criteria will continue to evolve and certainly provide more value to certain type of marketers who have time sensitive updates – airlines having fare sales, things like that.”
Stewart agrees, saying companies like Google will begin to implement searches within social networks.
“I can’t see that taking off in the short-term, but I can see some sort of interface from social networks that says, ‘10 out of 50 people in your social network thought product or service ‘X’ was a good result’ or whatever. As a result, businesses need to get more involved in networks in areas where their customers are.”
Websites aren’t the only destinations that are introducing social networks. Experts suggest email providers are also on the way to adding social networking tool. A good example of this is the yet-to-be-released Google Wave application, which will combine email and instant messaging with elements of social networking, such as the ability to share photos, documents and videos with contacts.
Forrester Research analyst Steven Noble expects this trend to continue.
“We expect many social destinations that currently provide you with a social inbox you access via the web, where you get messages via contacts, in the future will offer an email address. You obviously have a relationship with the person you’re talking with, so it’s not spam. Unlike email which can be exploited by people who have no relationship with you.”
“Traditional email in the hands of developers can pick up social features like mapping social relationships to judge whether a message is high or low priority, or even spam.”
Social networking has been a hotbed for advertising opportunities, particularly with the rise of social profiling, where advertisements are tailored to users based on information in their individual profiles.
But Borrud says advertisers need to do more than target a market and sell to it – they’ll need to actively engage in conversations to get credibility.
“Facebook will evolve with networking, so the things that you’re seeing with us most recently around more real-time experience, I think advertising will follow suit.”
“We’re really moving on from banner advertising which is kind of web 1.0, a one way conversation. As we think about the primary way in which we offer value to marketers, it’s about engagement and brands being a part of the conversation, not shouting and taking away from the experience.”
The major players of the social networking world should survive according to most experts, but Jason Falls, director of social media at advertising group Doe Anderson, expects more networks will appear that are suited to sub-groups and niche demographics.
The trend of gaining as many “friends” and “followers” on these sites will disappear, he says, to be replaced by networks of close friends, family and other interesting people who add value to your network.
“At the end of the day, we only have time for so many social networks. As a result, I think the big players, (Facebook and MySpace in much of the world), will continue to separate themselves from the pack and see niche social networks evolve within their groups and similar functions. The successful ones will be purposed, targeted and relevant to a relatively small, but richly active community.”
As a result, Borrud says this will force businesses to decide where they place their focus in terms of advertising and involvement.
“That’s where it’s going to become more difficult for businesses. Where do they place their attention? Do I focus on my relationships in Twitter, or business services within LinkedIn? It’s important they research where their target market is.”
As Greg Verdino, chief strategy officer at Crayon, says: “Being Facebook
friends with your mum will seem less ridiculous than following 4,000 strangers on Twitter.”
Social networks emerged as an avenue for casual chit-chat, Tilley says, so it’s no surprise that users are often prejudiced towards any advertising within social networks.
As a result, he says businesses will need to be creative in how they engage users within a social networking space, in order to avoid scaring them away.
“We’re seeing a lot more businesses trying to establish themselves in these spaces, and as you throw more corporate messages into what is generally a sociable environment it will be interesting to see how customers react.”
“You look at early adopters to things like Twitter, you’ve got a handful of influential members whose ability to influence a massive audience is quite strong, I think over time businesses will realise that person will influence purchase decisions for people who admire that individual, that admiration exists in a social space now. That has massive PR advantage.”
The concept of crowd-sourcing is moving from a novelty used by some companies to a regularly expected feature of online retailers. Tilley says the use of crowd sourcing will become a necessity in a web 2.0 world.
“We’re seeing good examples of organisations giving trust in the wisdom of the crowd, allowing them to make democratic decisions on behalf of the organisation. They’ve had heavy social engagement in terms of which direction they head.”
“It’s going to be an interesting evolution; there are different schools of thought in terms of the wisdom of crowds. Some consider it to be mob mentality, and in some ways I agree with that, but avoiding people’s willingness to engage with you might be negative in the future if you’re not trusting.”
The development of new, niche networks will also provide businesses with opportunities to make money from a variety of different sources, uSocial founder Leon Hill says.
“Social networking is giving new businesses opportunities to make new products, and as social networking develops, business opportunities also increase,” he says.
“A lot of people starting businesses are generating followers on these sites, and therefore are generating a customer base obtainable at no cost, which for a lot of start-ups is a fantastic thing.”
As the social web develops more sites will begin to integrate their services with one another. Already, widgets are available that can update Facebook and Twitter at the same time, while Hill says this sector will provide opportunities for companies offering “integration services”.
“What I’m starting to see are a lot of sites starting to do partnerships. With a lot of social media sites, you can add LinkedIn profile to other sites, people are not only having social media sites on the net, but are being interlinked, so people aren’t having identities, they’re having hubs spanning dozens of sites, so that’s growing a lot, which helps more people.”
Borrud says this will impact the way companies advertise, as they will have to adopt more of a relationship with a consumer’s overall identity across several sites, rather than a direct channel of information to one particular profile.
“From an anonymous perspective from today, you have a real name attached to a real person with real information, the value I get from providing more information about me really opens up the opportunity for the friends I connect to, the value the brand gets is the relationship with someone today.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
