social media and digital can be a risky game, with trends often
coming from left-field, and hence being extremely difficult to predict. But as a wise man once said, "Screw it - let's do it!"
10. Twitter goes (really) mainstream.
Marketing people know all about Twitter, but what about your uncle, your co-worker, your girlfriend or boyfriend? Truth be told, I'd say less than 10% of people in Australia activelyuse Twitter. That's going to change dramatically this year. We saw this prediction come to fruition at the Oscars, where 19.1 million Oscars-related tweets were posted, and these were viewed by over . Famously, host Ellen Degeneres' epic star-filled selfie, posted to Twitter during the Oscars, is now the most retweeted tweet of all time, with over 3 million retweets. It has also spawned a bunch of parody selfies. If you're not yet on Twitter, you should go ahead and sign up and see if your name is still available as a handle e.g.@FrancisMcCarthy
9. The social media conversation will shift away from the ROI debate.
Business owners will begin to recognise that social media is a communications channel and branding mechanism, not solely a vehicle in which you can say, "If I put $X into this machine, how many dollars will it spit out?" (A phrase which I have actually heard people say).
Let's say you are the head of marketing for Balmain Brewing Company, who have recently taken out a billboard on Victoria Rd in Sydney. Does Mr Balmain Beer say to the sales rep, "Ok, I'll take the billboard, as long as you can tell me exactly how many cases of beer we will sell within 1 hour of people seeing this billboard?" For sure, he will want to see some indications that the billboard will eventually influence sales, but he will also understand that they can generate significant exposure for their brand to an audience that may not have otherwise heard of their beer. And maybe next time they are choosing a beer in a shop, Balmain's ad might ring a bell and they decide to give it a shot.
In this sense, social media for brands is not too different. If your content and your communication with your audience is entertaining, valuable, informative, possibly even clever, then your brand will win some space in your prospective customer's mind and allow you to have a continuing dialogue with them that could eventually influence their choice of product towards you. If not, you at least have the opportunity to ask and answer questions via social media, and update your audience on your latest news, products and initiatives.
Gary Vaynerchuk has elequently expanded on how brands can add value by creating compelling social media content in his new book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.
8. People will further integrate their social and business lives.
The rule of thumb with online personas has historically been to keep work and personal life separate. While this will likely always hold true to some degree, I believe that the trend is towards people being more open with their personal interests and sharing this online.
7. Mobile apps for app's sake will lose their appeal.
Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to have a mobile app. Depending on your product or service, it can be more useful to have a mobile-friendly website or responsive design that optimises your site for all screens, rather than building a mobile app that no one uses. So many businesses fall prey to spending money on an app with poor utility and uptake, meanwhile their mobile website is offering a poor experience to hundreds or thousands of visitors every day.
6. Content overload will only increase.
The rush to produce content will continue in earnest, with individuals and corporates alike growing more familiar with the process and benefits of content marketing. This will lead initially to content overload like we've never seen before, which will then trigger people to take the time to curate who they're following and cull accounts that are not delivering value. If you're going to create content, you may as well invest the time and resources to make it outstanding, otherwise your message will be lost in the sea of noise.
5. Outsourcing social media will become the norm.
Social media marketing is becoming more and more precise, and the field requires increasingly specific knowledge and skills. Specialist social media agencies will be springing up all over the place, and their expertise in this niche will be a compelling offering for those looking for how they can best manage their social media presence.
4. News media will find new ways to monetize online content.
Advertising revenue for traditional news organizations has plummeted in recent years as budgets have shifted from print to digital, and news publishers have scrambled to find ways to charge for online content. I do not believe there is much of a future in the current paywall strategies being employed by News Corp and Fairfax. Their current paywalls essentially offer a limited amount of free content, then ask you to pay for unrestricted access or what they have loosely categorised as premium content. My question to you is, are you currently paying a subscription fee to access news online from sites such as the SMH, Daily Telegraph, News.com.au, or the Australian? Probably not. Most people are able to access more news than they can handle for free by surfing a handful of sites, so the paywall strategy as it is currently constructed is up against it from day one. I would envisage that the future lies moreso in niche, premium publications such as Grantland.com which invests heavily in long-form content from top writers in the world of sports and pop culture, and monetises through products such as the Grantland Quarterly, integrated sponsorships, and sponsorships around events.
3. Non-techy people will start to become techy
It's crucial that you begin to learn at least the basics of social media, the internet, and the Google Machine. I don't need a career counsellor's badge to inform you that digital skills are becoming increasingly important in the employment marketplace, let alone the business world. I met a guy at a New Year's Eve party who is not from my generation. He impressed me with his enthusiasm for connecting with and learning from people that were younger than him, specifically when it came to online marketing. He runs a traditional earth moving business in a part of New Zealand you've probably never heard of. Learn some things about the internet, marketing and social media this year. You no longer have an excuse. Oh, and if you happen to be in marketing, get ready.
2. Visuals will become a priority
On all social media, visuals are becoming increasingly important. Twitter has recently introduced photos and videos to your feed, whereas previously you needed to click to display an image. This is an important move for Twitter as they look to enhance their attractiveness to advertisers. The importance of images will become more pronounced in 2014, and this will be reflected in the amount of time and resources that businesses invest into creating their own custom images and messaging, rather than relying on stock images and the like. Images and video should be viewed as opportunities to create vastly more engaging content which help to differentiate you from your competitors.
1. Personal blogs will become a thing.
Having chipped away at my blog for a few years now, I can say from experience that this has been a while coming. I'm a huge advocate for professionals, entrepreneurs, employees and people of all persuasions to have their own blog of some description. From a personal branding perspective, the benefits are immense: you can express your views to an unlimited audience, demonstrate your expertise in one or several areas, and outline your current projects and give people a means to connect with you on a platform that you own. I could go on for days about this, but suffice to say I think this could be the year that people come to the realisation that a personal website / blog is a must. Remember, you ain't cool unless you have a blog.
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You should follow me on Twitter @FrancisMcCarthy
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