5 things I’d like to see happen in 2011
2010 was the year Foursquare ruled the check-in market, Facebook made a move to destroy emails and Groupon made group buying a mainstream activity. A busy year for social media fans, but 2011 looks set to be even bigger.
In 2011, there are a few things I’d like to see.
More brands revealing the impact social media has had.
While 2010 was the year more brands used social media as part of their marketing plan, there is still only a limited number of case studies showing exactly what impact social media has had on their business. I’d love to see more examples of the effect social media can have on a business, in order to encourage more SMEs to embrace it.
Better, free measuring tools.
Following on from point one, I’d love to see more free measuring tools — like Klout — to measure how well you’re using social media and what effect it’s having on your business. A Google analytics for all your social media accounts if you like.
More automatic check in tools, leading to more real-life incentives.
I can see pros and cons for setting Foursquare to automatic check in. It has the advantage of allowing you to pick up on any incentives offered by a venue without going through the procedure of manually logging in. But this option would be better if you can check in on private mode, so your every move isn’t published for everyone to see.
The rise of internal social media networks like Yammer
Internal social media networks like Yammer allow users to easily share information without the formality of email. Having a system where users can share a link, file or document in a Twitter-style format can save a lot of time and help create a shared workspace over a number of locations.
Customer service will become further embedded in social media
While some companies are using social media as a customer services tool (O2 and ASOS are both hot on dealing with customer queries on Twitter) many more companies are missing the boat. I think a lot more branded Facebook pages will offer customer services apps so users can deal directly with a customer services assistant without going through the hell of helplines.
What do you want to see happen in 2011?
Image: [tian2992]
