Big Social Media and Digital Trends for 2013 (Part 2)

Apologies readers, I've been a bad blogger. Here is the first of several posts in a vain attempt to catch up. Planning to share more often (best laid plans and all that..). This post first appeared on my company's blog.

One thing is clear. The pace of social media change is not slowing down. Take a look at what’s happened in the 21 days since my first 2013 trends post was published. We’ve seen the launch of Twitter’s new video sharing app / site Vine and Facebook’s Graph Search, LinkedIn Answers has closed and Netflix has launched ‘House of Cards’ – with a distribution model that has serious implications for cable and network TV as we knew them. Undaunted (and catching my breath), I’ve put fingers to the keys and come up with five more thoughts on what’s to come…

RISE OF SOCIAL SMES

Research is telling us that up to 70 percent of a B2B purchase decision is based on information found online, well before a salesperson gets involved. Encouragingly we’re also hearing that buyers feel solution provider subject matter experts are the most credible source of information during the purchase process – above vendor websites, industry analysts and sales people.

Understanding the buyer and the journey they take to purchase are no longer optional. In 2013, subject matter experts must be empowered to meet buyers and influencers online. Encouragingly, buyers are increasingly valuing this engagement. This requires profiling, training, coaching and management – and changes to our SMEs’ job descriptions to allow them to succeed. The good news is software management and curation tools are making this easier. The bad news? If you aren’t doing this, your competitors probably are…

CONTENT IS FINE – BUT IT NEEDS CONTEXT

With an average of nine information assets downloaded during the B2B purchase process, 2013 must be the year we start thinking about our content strategies. At the heart of this is a solid messaging architecture that ensures content reflects the brand’s identity – and most critically meets the needs of a clearly defined audience while competing with ‘traditional’ independent alternatives.

No longer simply filling the gap left by declining media outlets, content strategy will become central to marketing strategy. The opportunity is there for content to drive behavior – and this necessitates an understanding of how owned, earned and paid content can work in harmony. But more critically it requires an understanding of how content informs and accelerates a decision or supports a branding initiative. Not all content is created equal – and where and when it is placed is critical to its success.

CUSTOMERS ARE SOCIAL. GET OVER IT.

There are almost two billion visits to social networks each day. 45 percent of these visitors engage with brands for a bunch of reasons (including frustration with traditional customer support channels). This has put marketing into a steep learning curve as marketers take on customer support and sales roles (and customer support folks and sales people assume marketing roles!).

Increasingly, social customer relations has become a new marketing discipline as brands attempt to create communities in social networks. In 2013, we’ll see a much greater investment in social help desks within social networks. These will build trust in ways ‘like’ hungry marketers could only dream of. On the plus side, social consumers willtell 42 people about their experiences. On the other side? They’ll tell 53 others about negative experiences. It appears the customers have spoken – is your brand listening? Or, more critically, is it answering?

ONE-SIZE-FITS-NONE

Today we realize websites play critical roles in the sales process. Most importantly, they offer an abundance of pre-sales engagement opportunities. Gleanster research identified a direct correlation between the amount of time a prospect spends on a company’s website engaging with relevant content and the likelihood that those interactions will lead to a sale. Not rocket science.

But what gets marketers excited is the ability to create customized content on the fly, shaped to an individual’s preferences. This takes cookie-based browsing sessions and IP lookup for geo-targeting to the next level. Real-time website content versioning dynamically creates content based on the visitor’s history, company and industry, aggregating preferences uploaded into social media profiles.

In 2013 we’ll see more and more customization as marketers try to improve the web experience by creating relevance. Highly targeted messages and offers will be commonplace. But it isn’t about quick wins – the right content must now be served up in real time based on the buyer’s unique needs.

INFLUENCE IS THE NEW BLACK

One by-product of the social consumer’s march is an attempt by marketers to better understand why they do what they do. While some communicators cling to mass media’s ability to reach ill-defined ‘eyeballs’, commonsense tells us this is but one of many influential channels. And with tools such as Google’s Consumer Barometershowing us the most influential channels and content in research and purchase, it is a hard argument to sustain.

In 2013 this type of data will dramatically change the face of marketing. Understanding with a greater degree of confidence the roles of content and channels will shape communications programs. From this analysis will come a more specific understanding of individuals and channels that have the greatest influence over your customers. Tools such as those offered by Text100 partner Appinions provide greater insight into not just who’s talking about topics, but who’s actually driving action.

Armed with this knowledge, we’ll see more attempts to use influencers to amplify messages and drive brand-awareness. Marketers will have to tread carefully here – establishing a shared agenda is critical before attempting what’s rather crassly called influencer ‘relations’. I feel this will also cause a blogging renaissance with 86 percent of influencers using blogs as their primary publishing platform – and cite other blogs as their greatest source of inspiration.

As always, thoughts and counter-points are very welcome. Please add your voice toText100’s LinkedIn Communication Conversation or in the comments below.