We are still learning about social media…kinda

When I was recently asked what the trends are for 2012, in the digital communications industry, I quickly started to think of new social platforms like Pinterest.com, or new personal news publishing aggregators like Scoopt.it, or thought about how search might become less and less reliant on Google as mobile  competition like Siri and Facebook come up with search results from their own data or masked Google data.

The real question to me though is, how are businesses going move their organizations forward and generate more revenue using social media marketing and digital communications?

Below are two pieces of data from eMarketer.com that tell us:

a) what companies think of digital communications and

b) how companies measure success

The interesting part in these two pieces of data is that:

a) companies so far, have been ok with not really understanding their return on social media, but know that they need to throw their hat in the circle and play.

b) The number of friends, followers, and likes, is still a huge indication of success. That can be a huge misleading KPI. Without proper context of what that numbers means, and actual engagement from your followers and friends, the number is meaningless.

Can I throw out a couple of trends for 2012?

I see that companies will:

1. Demand results this year. Enough of playing in the waters to “see what happens”. Companies will want to see some type of tangible return for their investment, or will stop doing social media.

2. Start to understand metrics better and develop adaptable capacities to match adaptable campaigns…which will equal more revenue and attainment of goals.

3.Dedicate some type of  full time staff to properly execute social media campaigns. From content creation to metrics. Either this will come internally, or companies will outsource part of the work. Yes, outsourcing social media is ok in some instances.

4. Will leverage their staff more when communicating their corporate message to main stream media. Organizations will understand that their best brand advocates are often sitting right in their own office and create strategies to leverage their employees network.

That is!

Not as sexy as the top 10 apps of 2012. However, generating more revenue and hitting business objectives is sexy enough, don’t you think?

Also, if you liked this article, you will also like my new Uncut Marketing Podcast. Check out an episode here!