[smartads]
Social Media along with Cloud-based services and mobile computing will be the key technology trends of 2011, according to IDC. The research firm believes that more and more businesses will turn social next year but there will be fewer social networking platforms to choose from.
The year 2011 will provide a defining moment for the mass-scale adoption of social media and social analytics (aka socialytics) in the business world. Last month, I wrote a story which explains why Garner is so bullish on the prospects of social media amongst the business fraternity. IDC has gone a step further and claims that social media will play a key role as the mainstream platform in the enterprise.
The SMB Segment
IDC believes that social media will thrive amongst small and medium-sized businesses next year. Facebook has gained massive traction amongst small businesses this year and it’s expected to further step up the ante with new business-friendly profile changes and email integration via Social Inbox.
Twitter will continue to gain popularity amongst small businesses and Jive is being projected as the next big social media platform for the business world. Social business has come of age over the past 18 months and it’s set to rise further with a staggering annual growth rate of 38% each year till 2014.
The Biggies
IDC believes that a large number of enterprises will embrace social media with open arms in 2011. Large technology giants including Microsoft, HP, IBM and others will look for acquisitions in the social media collaboration and socialytics space. In fact, social media is expected to rule the roost in 2011 for acquisitions and mergers.
Overall IT spending on social media is expected to receive a major boost next year.
Social Media & Business Analytics
Commonly known as socialytics, the amalgamation of social media and business analytics is expected to rise through the ranks next year. An increasing number of businesses will be open to using sophisticated tools to track and study customer habits on leading social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
To put it in more romantic words, the love affair between social media and business analytics is finally expected to turn into a happy marriage next year. Social media is expected to make inroads into all kind of business applications along with mobility and unified communications.
The year of convergence & consolidation
A significant proportion of business users use smartphones to access Facebook and Twitter. This number is set to rise further next year as the world witnesses the convergence of social media, mobile computing and cloud-based services.
2011 is expected to be an year of consolidation for social media and the lesser-known players are likely acquisition targets for the bigger players.
What are your social media plans for 2011? Are you planning to use more social media for your business next year? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment below this post.
Seeing the current trends in social media and social business in general, it’s a safe bet to say the numbers are gonna inflate by far in 2011. I am very curious to see what’s going to happen, especially with Google entering the social networking business with his announced +1 product.
The trend for 2011 is ‘social’. For Google to become a major player in the space it has to stop attempting to come up with an improved versions of Twitter and Facebook and come up with a complementary or a major industry defining product. From my understanding of +1 thus far, it’s very far from being revolutionary. Let’s see what it has to offer.
Thanks for another thought provoking comment Gabriele.
The basic idea is more and more people are moving to social media and social networking websites to seek opinion and keep track of companies and brands they deal with. So business has to be where clients and customers are. This also happened with TV but in that case it was just mono-directional: they knew the people were watching TV all the time so they kept beaming promotional messages. On social media it is two-way interaction so the impact also is more and direct. The best part is it is easier to measure engagement on social media compared to conventional media.
Well said StormDriver.
Great article. Good timing as we just had a Brown Bag Lunch session today on Twitter and how our organization can start using it. Building a Facebook presence is on the To Do List for us in January. The biggest opportunity we see for social media is engaging people in conversation, no matter where they are located. That opportunity for online, integrated conversations – that’s where the ideas are shared, the networks built and the collaborations born – and that’s how we see our business benefiting the most.
Thanks for the fantastic post! I think these are definitely some of the main trends for this year, and will certainly start to emerge and take their form even during the first half.
Examples such as Dell’s own Social Center are huge indicators of the level of commitment larger corporations are willing to embrace, and the amount of social media consultants servicing the SMB sector specifically also tells tales of the room available in that segment.
What I am really looking forward to this year, on a general level, is getting from all of this good advice available regarding social media strategies and how to approach its ROI to the point where we actually get to see some concrete results. Through these results we’ll start to really do some learning on what actually works and what doesn’t.
Excellent post! It still amazes me that so many companies, especially large corporations, have yet to embrace social media. It can be a daunting task to take on which is probably why they haven’t quite decided to jump in yet. Let’s hope 2011 is the year for a greater amount of businesses to take hold of social media!
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve visited your blog before but after browsing through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m certainly happy I stumbled upon it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!
You need to take part in a contest for one of the finest websites on the web. I am going to recommend this web site!
Excellent article. I’m facing many of these issues as well..
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I really hope to check out the same high-grade blog posts from you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own, personal blog now 😉
Great information. Lucky me I ran across your site by accident (stumbleupon). I have book-marked it for later!
I simply want to mention I’m very new to blogs and honestly liked your page. Probably I’m likely to bookmark your site . You surely come with exceptional articles. Thank you for revealing your blog site.
It’s nearly impossible to find well-informed people for this subject, but you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
I blog often and I truly appreciate your information. This article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your blog and keep checking for new details about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
When I originally left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the same comment. Is there an easy method you are able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it!
Everything is very open with a very clear description of the issues. It was definitely informative. Your site is very helpful. Thank you for sharing!
Re: The person who created the statement that this was an excellent site really needs to get their head looked at.
One thing is that one of the most popular incentives for applying your credit card is a cash-back or perhaps rebate present. Generally, you’re going to get 1-5% back on various buying. Depending on the card, you may get 1% back on most buying, and 5% back again on expenditures made from convenience stores, filling stations, grocery stores and ‘member merchants’.
This website has got some very helpful info on it. Thanks for helping me!
I appreciate your wp format, where did you get a hold of it?
Aw, this was a really good post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to produce a really good article… but what can I say… I put things off a lot and never manage to get nearly anything done.
An intriguing argument that is related to casino and betting agencies is worth my comment. I believe that you should publish more about this issue, it may not be a taboo matter but generally people do not talk about these topics.Casino internet betting is usually the most reliable and risk-free means to place your bets in today’s market. The deposit bonuses and promotions are really an appealing feature for online poker. People will likely never obtain all these features in any physical casino.
I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and amusing, and without a doubt, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The problem is something that not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. Now i’m very happy I came across this in my hunt for something regarding this.
This website is really cool. How was it made ?
If you dont mind, exactly where do you host your web site? I am hunting for a great host and your web site appears to be quick and up all the time
Howdy! This blog post could not be written much better! Reading through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I most certainly will forward this information to him. Pretty sure he’ll have a great read. Thank you for sharing!
Good Stuff, do you have a youtube profile?
Amazing article, thank you, I will subscribe to you RSS soon!
Have you considered including a few social bookmarking buttons to these blogs. At the very least for twitter.
Dude! This blog site is cool! How do you make it look like this !?
If you dont mind, exactly where do you host your web page? I am looking for a good quality web host and your weblog appears to be fast and up most the time
Wanted to drop a comment and let you know your Rss feed is not functioning today. I tried including it to my Google reader account but got nothing.
An Effective A-Z On Speedy Items In attorney at law search engine
Hurrah! After all I got a weblog from where I can truly take useful data concerning my study and knowledge.
Hello. splendid job. I did not imagine this. This is a great story. Thanks!
Jesus Christ there is a lot of spammy comments on this site. Have you actually believed about attempting to remove them or putting in a tool?
Im getting a javascript error, is anyone else?
I was wanting to know if you ever thought of switching the page layout of your site? Its well written; I really like what youve got to say. But maybe you could add a a bit more in the way of written content so people might connect with it better. Youve got a great deal of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Special Hair Care Solutions To Use To Enable Grow Hair Quickly Naturally
Just a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw outstanding design. “Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.” by Harold Bloom.
100% natural solution to be able to thyrois issues & having a baby troubles. Should you be concerned with the unborn infant’s wellness this is actually the option to suit your needs
The look for your blog is a little bit off in Epiphany. Nevertheless I like your website. I might need to use a normal web browser just to enjoy it.