http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/10/11/13-memorable-quotes-from-jab-jab-jab-right-hook/#3b7331f42747

Everyday there are creative people all over the world working towards building new futuristic inventions and making advances in the world of technology.  This week I will be exploring the Future of Social Media and its relation to these new inventions.  There are many different directions to go in, when talking about a topic like this, so I will try to give you as much useful content as I can.

What do you think of when I say the words the evolution of social media? And more importantly what does the future hold for us with its use? With social platforms at our disposal,  company’s are changing the way they conduct business, thus impacting the way society functions.  Social Media is being used as a tool to aid in every aspect of the business chain yet one area that still hasn’t made much headway are the CEO’s of today and how they are using Social Media to interact with their customers.

I will also share with you some insight about amazing advancements in the digital world and end with a brief discussion on the importance of providing true content when putting out posts.

After watching the video it is surprising to say the least that so many companies are taking great strides to advance in the field of business with the aid of social media without taking into consideration one key fact, the  social media presence of their CEO.  According to the article How CEOs Will Use Social Media in the Future by Jennifer Van Groveaug, “Today’s CEO is not social.”  She conducts an interview with CEO of Forrester, George Colony who makes it clear that,

“they should be social though, and all signs are pointing to a future filed with CEOs who can speak the language of the people — social media.”

Her article informs us that as older CEO’s are replaced by younger ones, they will need to have a strong social presence.  This increased social presence will either contribute to their advancement in the business or their detriment as companies become more publicly traded.  In Van Groveaug’s interview with Colony, he brings to her attention that, “None of the CEO’s of Fortune Magazine’s top 100 global corporations have a social profile.”  This is quite strange given the fact that “online users spend 22.7% of their time on social networking sites. ”

 

I recently came across a blog post by Michael Stelzner from the Social media Examiner discussing the future of social media marketing with analyst Brian Solis from the Altimeter Group.  Solis gives us his thoughts on the trends we need to check out, “2016 will be the year of live video and the smartest marketers are really starting to understand it.  He says the emergence of live video represents both a challenge and an opportunity for marketers to really connect with people in ways that are intuitive and natural.”  According to Solis, Facebook is experimenting with Facebook 360 as well as the 360 orb cameras operating in real time.  One such company offering such technology is Nextvr, check out their website for more information.  I asked Max Grodnick, Business Development Analyst at Nextvr for his predictions and these are his thoughts on the subject, “well I ultimately think the future of VR is a social experience, being able to share your VR experience with others by communicating throughout and commenting directly upon the shared experience. In the early years that will probably look like bringing social media platforms directly into VR, but as VR continues to evolve that may mean entirely new social media platforms that are native to VR. VR is just an entirely new entertainment medium, that makes traditional viewing experiences fully immersive. Its also still in its infancy so even as we look 5-10 years down the road, that’s still only the very very beginning of VR. Beyond that its very hard to imagine what the experience might evolve into.”

Chris Marentis, writer of the article 5 predictions for the future of social media brings to our attention the importance of Big data.  He elaborates, “Big data essentially refers to the conglomeration of as much customer-related information you can get your hands on. The concept behind its importance is that the more you know about your customers, the more you can connect with them — and therefore make them more loyal customers…combine proximity data with search history and purchase history with social media comments or discussions, we might be able to orchestrate addressable messaging to drive a prospect into a store or click and call without being “interruptive” to that consumer…ie imagine walking by a Starbucks and receiving a tweet with an offer for your favorite latte!”

Social Media writer Mark Shaefer predicts “that by 2020 data will increase 600 percent, 75 percent of which will be created by customers, not businesses.”  He hints that mobile and entertainment will combine to create a whole new range of products such as The Tesla Model S and Google Glass.  I also spoke with Zoran Bosancic, Online marketing and business strategist and co-founder of POINT OUT, what his thoughts on the top trends are and here is his input, “I believe 2016 will be an interesting year for social media. The standout trends are Younger users leaving mature networks in favor of newer platforms.  While newer platforms are introducing ads and new ad forms on mature networks.  Social media will be used within the corporate scene for collaboration as well as more video content (also live video) will come into play.”

Lessons for Others

So how do you feel about where businesses are headed in the near future?  I have provided you with substantial content on the trends that are within our grasp.  Keep in mind that social media is continuously evolving and so we too must evolve to to stay relevant.

I leave you with a brief video on some key points from Author of JAB, JAB, JAB, RIGHT HOOK  Gary Vaynerchuk.

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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