As will be clear to all who work
closely within the social media sector, it is a sector that evolves rapidly,
often shape shifting with little or no warning. Indeed, non-conformism is one
of social medias greatest assets and strengths, as it adapts and evolves to
consumer demand rather than design. This constantly shifting and evolving
nature makes forward planning a particularly tricky task for those on the front
line of brand communication through social media, but at the outset of 2012,
there may well be a few elements from the past that will help guide how the
sector will evolve.
It is important to remember that
social media is a young beast, be that from a consumer perspective or in the
case of brand use of social media, even younger still. It was towards the end
of 2009 and throughout 2010 that brands only truly began to adopt the main
social media platforms of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as a means of building
and engaging with consumers. Indeed, the choice of words is relevant here, as
whilst engagement may be the hot topic now, back in 2010 realistically, it
was just a pipe dream.
No, 2010 was the year of
acquisition rather than engagement. Whether through the billions poured into
advertising on Facebook, to the more resource-aware, tactical campaigns, brands
set about tapping into the 500 million global Facebook users. It was little
other than a land grab in the main part, as brands recognised there was a
limited opportunity to capture as many fans and followers as possible. As a
result, many brands went from particularly nominal fan bases at the start of
the year to those numbering millions or tens of millions by the end of the
year.
However, as the pressures of the
second economic downturn hit, and the fan increases became more difficult to
come by, some serious questions began to be asked, as those holding the purse
strings wondered about the value of such significant fan numbers if the brands
were unable to engage with those fans. And so, if 2010 was the year of
acquisition, 2011 became the year of engagement.
Budgets and resources that were
previously allocated to building fan bases were now applied to ever more
interactive and engaging apps and campaigns that would provide the means for
brands and businesses to more closely engage with their users, building
brand-fan loyalty in an increasingly competitive environment.
So, if 2010 was the year of
acquisition and 2011 the year of engagement, what will categorise 2012? Well,
as indicated, the shifting nature of social media makes it difficult to map
out, and anyone that prescribes a blueprint for any more than a few months down
the line should be treated warily. However, given the significant sums invested
in building and engaging such enormous fan bases, allied to the tough economic
times, it would be neglectful in the extreme if brands were not looking at how
best they could leverage cold, hard commercial return on their
investments. At a simple level, this
equates to more developed and evolved social commerce functionality, and deeper
fan mobilised marketing.
The only thing that is know for
sure is that social media demands continual evaluation and that the only known
quantity is either the past or present
, not the future.
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