With the onslaught of new social media technologies, many marketers are trying to look ahead and prepare for what’s next. But given its rapid growth, how can we predict the future of social media?
According to Forrester’s Jeremiah Owyang, the first step is to look at the problems inherent in today’s social mediums. By noting what’s wrong today, we can imagine tomorrow’s solutions and anticipate what’s next.
What is wrong with social media today?
Says Owyang, “Today’s social experience is disjointed because consumers have separate identities in each social network they visit.” He goes on to suggest that the future holds simple technologies that enable people to carry the same identity with them across all social mediums – whether its Twitter, Facebook or Digg.
People also will turn to others online and rely on their advice when making purchasing decisions. This trend is already evident in online product review forums such as those on Amazon and CNET, but Owyang suggests it will continue, “whether or not brands choose to participate.” By making their voices heard online, consumers will continue to influence the direction of future products and services.
In the future, content will be even more personalized than it is now. And while this could be a marketer’s dream, brands must tread carefully. After all, consumers will have the power to make or break online campaigns, and they will likely voice their frustrations en masse in real time. It will be important for both marketers and PR professionals to have a crisis strategy in place, or to update their existing crisis strategy to integrate social media tools, in order to quickly and effectively respond should this happen.
The recent anti-Starbucks Twitter campaign is an excellent example of how customers can turn against a company’s online campaign. A documentary about Starbucks union-busting practices debuted the same day as the new Starbucks-sponsored Twitter campaign. The Starbucks-sponsored campaign involved placement of advertising posters in major cities, and sought to use social networking by challenging people to hunt for the posters and be the first to post a photo of one on Twitter.
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald hijacked the campaign to spread information about Starbucks’ labor practices. Greenwald encouraged customers to upload photos of themselves protesting in front of the Starbucks advertisements onto Twitpic and tweet them using the hashtags #top3percent and #starbucks – the official hashtags designated by Starbucks for its contest. Within hours, dozens of Twitpics had been uploaded essentially upstaging Starbuck’s efforts.
The campaign may have contributed to a phase-out of the Starbucks promotion. Says Greenwald, “I don’t know if it’s connected or not, but a few hours later after we sent in pictures of people with suggestions for [Starbucks CEO] Howard Schultz to be more fair to his workers, I think the rules were changed and at least that phase of the contest was ended.”
So how can you prepare?
Don’t hold back. As we wrote in a post about Twitter, companies cannot afford to sit back and watch social media mature before participating. Social media is ever changing, but the connections you forge now with consumers and peers are likely to hold no matter what new tools and platforms materialize down the road.
Consider current perceptions of your company before launching a campaign. Perhaps if Starbucks had taken the time to determine public sentiment around their brand on Twitter, they would not have been in this situation.
It is also important to understand where your company is in its lifecycle because this impacts perceptions. People tend to view startup companies very differently than global Fortune 500s such as Starbucks and Microsoft. Corporate giants must tread carefully to establish credibility with customers.
We also advocate transparency online, especially when blogging or commenting on other blogs. As the Web becomes more personal and transparent, honesty becomes one of the most important traits a brand can possess when interacting in social mediums. By connecting with consumers in a transparent way to forge relationships and create evangelists for your brand, you’ll be set up for success not matter what the future of social media brings.
What are your thoughts on the direction social media will take in the coming years?