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- Shiv Singh on the future of branding
 | | Shiv Singh |
To help you get a jump-start on 2010, we recently spoke with Shiv Singh, vice president and global social-media lead for Razorfish, author of "Social Media Marketing for Dummies" and the blogger behind Going Social Now. Here's an abridged version of his conversation with SmartBrief on Social Media Senior Editor Mary Ellen Slayter. Read the full interview onSmartBlog on Social Media. What are the three trends on the horizon that business leaders absolutely must keep up with?
- Social brands. The company must be willing to let its employees and its brand advocates become the face of the brand. Consumers demand that, and brands like Best Buy, which are evolving into social brands (think Twelp Force), will be the ones that win.
- Real-time brands. Companies that are dynamic and responsive in real time to their customers and their needs will be the ones that succeed. This doesn't just mean real-time customer service, but real-time market research, real-time product development and real-time customization and personalization of products and campaigns alike.
- Identifying, nurturing and managing relationships. Customers increasingly are also influencers, and companies will need to know who those people are and how much influence they actually have. Along those lines, understanding how customers come together as communities and make collective decisions will be important, too.
What emerging technologies related to social media do you think have the greatest potential for businesses next year? I'm really bullish on mobile for probably the first time. Location-aware applications that integrate your social graph are going to revolutionize how we engage with each and with our favorite companies. Sure, we're probably going to find it all a little invasive at first, but, as consumers, we'll get used to it. And the businesses that provide the smartest solutions will be the ones that succeed. The other emerging technology is what I consider the applification of everything. More companies will have the opportunity to deliver their services, products and advertising as applications -- niche, compartmentalized mini-applications that travel between platforms and provide discrete value to consumers. What will be the greatest challenge for businesses in adopting social media in the coming year? How do you suggest they overcome that? Consumers aren't going to have the time, energy or inclination to engage with brands the way they engage with people. To address that, try to become as much a part of your consumers' lives as you are trying to get them to become a part of your brand world.
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- Of these social-media problems, which do you think is most likely to be solved in 2010?
| Measurement/analytics. |  42.41% | | Twitter's business model. |  22.76% | | Determining ROI. |  16.90% | | Time management. |  11.03% | | Online privacy. |  6.90% |
- Of these social-media technologies, which would you most like to see evolve the quickest next year?
| Mobile Web. | 25.53% | | Content aggregation and curation. | 24.11% | | Real-time search. | 18.44% | | Portability of social networks. | 17.73% | | Geo-location. | 7.80% | | Ratings and reviews. |  3.55% | | Virtual worlds. |  2.84% |
- Do you anticipate a change in how much your company will spend on social media next year?
| Our level of spending won't change. | 34.86% | | Our spending will increase slightly. | 33.94% | | Our spending will increase significantly. | 25.69% | | Our spending will decrease slightly. | 2.75% | | Our level of spending will decrease significantly. | 2.75% |
 | |  | | | The State of Social Media Marketing: Benchmarks, Trends, & Metrics
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| Looking Ahead to the New Year |
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- 3 trends that will drive 2010
Social media gained ground as a tool for marketing and business communications in 2009, and 2010 should prove to be no less significant. What will evolve is a leaner and meaner version of the medium from a business perspective, one that has proved its return on investment value. Maturation of social media for business should take place on three fronts: aggregation of content, further integration with the mobile Web and, most important, improved analytics. - Building better filters. Because we are inundated with a fire hose of information daily, the need for content filtering will become paramount. In fact, job descriptions will be written around this topic and, as with measurement, software tools will be built to ensure that we only see the content we need.
Going mobile. Thanks to the iPhone, BlackBerry and, now, Android, the mobile Web will be the third area to gain acceptance in 2010. The real-time, always-on evolution of the Web requires that we stay connected to our communities of practice, and the only way that can be accomplished is through the use of mobile technology.
Measuring our work. The mystique around measuring social media's effects will evaporate thanks to better software, as well as a keener understanding of how social media supports business objectives and a better grasp of which metrics a business should track. The notion that social media is difficult to measure will give way to greater clarity, leading more CEOs and other leaders to readily adopt the technology. No longer will it be considered a "curiosity," but be seen as an aligned channel designed to integrate with other, more traditional, forms of marketing. The end result will be that, as you indicate, more money will be shifted to online and, specifically, social media.
2010 promises a bright future for social-media endorsement, adoption and engagement. Problems we began wrestling with in 2009 will be more fully addressed in this coming year. The question of "why should we use it" will give way to "how can we use it more effectively." -- Paul Chaney, Internet marketing director for Bizzuka, author of "The Digital Handshake" and member of the SmartBrief on Social Media Advisory Board       | | |  |
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- Thursday, December 10, 2009
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- Tuesday, December 08, 2009
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