Companies already make new plans for 2013, but still it seems that a little really changes in this business and social media coexistence. Moreover, many businesses continue to find social media hard to use.
The main reason for this is that the people who manage the companies have little knowledge on the matter. Moreover, there are some firms that fail to unite their business with social websites. Another obstacle can be the fact that many companies are not used to include this practice in their work.
Nevertheless, more and more businesses now know that social media is here to stay. As a result, a big part of them is planning to become more social-friendly.
However, business owners who decide to take this path must know one main thing. Social websites may be a challenge to a company’s analysis. That is due to the fact that today there are far too many products, social networks, social media services, as well as social strategies. A large number of organizations are simply copying what the best ones do. Luckily, some of the main organizational tendencies that exists nowadays have more to do with practicality. To be more specific, they try to establish some order in the chaotic social media world. The biggest example of that is the fact that more and more companies see social networking as a full time job.
Moreover, the majority of businesses are currently attempting to change and improve their social media practices. The aim remains unchanged. Companies still want to invest in the big potential which some believe is hard to reach through social websites. In most of the cases, that means new ways to establish a connection with the main stakeholders, like partners, workers and consumers, via these popular platforms.
The good thing is that social tools, strategies, platform and techniques are not at one extremely high level. As a result, in 2013, social websites will gain more popularity among businesses and they will even play a main role in their work. This is not a guess, but a logical conclusion because many companies have already decided to start using social media.
Social Business Predications for 2013
We will now take a look at the most important trends for 2013 for companies who want to incorporate social websites in their work.
Businesses will start to integrate social networks in all consumer experience
This trend was established in 2012. This year, organizations will start to renew their whole consumer experience. For that, they will mainly rely on social platforms, as well as online presence, mobile phones, mobile apps and others. The different thing in 2013 will be that businesses will apply social networks in some of their main activities like sales closing, new product ideas collecting, prospect marketing, and supply chain improving. One of the factors that will bring up this trend is that a large number of big company line-of-business apps start to include social media option into their work.
Social media will be added to regular business apps
One of the latest social tendencies are the so-called connectors. They are used to connect social websites with business apps. There can also be established a connection to business intelligence tools, document or content management, consumer care solutions, marketing automations and etc. This year, many companies will learn how to work with these tools and will enable their employees to use them. Also, changes in well-known business apps will still follow the trend to include more options for social marketing. They will offer better sharing and cooperation. Simply put, traditional software will get more social-friendly in 2013.
Social CRM and social marketing will greatly increase, yet they will continue to stay silent
Over the last few year, these social areas achieved a lot of success. However, social media stimulates a steady, self-governed consumer journey across product development, sales, marketing and consumer care. Nevertheless, these companies are having a hard time supporting that. Even in the more successful cases, where marketing is done in a brilliant way, social CRM and social marketing are just starting to become more connected. But the mobile tech trend may change that. Mobile devices have the power to unite these two areas.
Big businesses will start developing and switching to strategic platforms for engagement
Latest researches show that businesses now understand that stable consumer relationships in tech channels atre one very important thing. As a result, they have started to develop mobile apps, communities and other environments to make these relations long-lasting. An example for that is Chevrolet’s “Find New Roads”. This is the company’s attempt to engage its clients over the next 10 years. The building of consumer engagement platforms will be a main priority for companies in 2013.
Data scientists, social architects community managers will be an important part of the social media teams
The most searched position in the tech industry was the information jockey. Their task is to read and explain the statistics accumulated the large companies. However, information jockeys don’t offer ways in which this data can be used. That is where data scientists step in. This position will be very popular in 2013. However, there will be a shortage for data scientists.
Social media will turn into a main source of business intelligence
Over the last few years, there were many predictions about this. In 2013, it will finally come true. All industries will be affected by the real-time views.
Mobile-social integration will still be among the main challenges
Social media integration to mobile devices for business is just making its first steps. Even though, there are businesses which are developing their own apps, software vendors will also have a big share in this field. Moreover, they will make a big progress in 2013. Nevertheless, they will continue to a have a hard time competing with consumer apps. Companies must encourage their vendors to connect the mobile world with that the social one.
Silos and social fragmentation will become a greater pain for social media strategists
The huge variety of social networks, apps and online identities is hand to handle. Because of that companies can’t use the full potential of these platforms. Fragmentation preserves the “dark social,” where you can’t really see any trends. The situation will become even more difficult with the rise of social platforms. Social websites will have presence and stability in all the areas. That is because they are the ones who connect business apps, sites and other media. Companies, on the other hand, will continue to search for solutions to establish a bridge between social apps, identity, social information and social activity. The good news is that identity management for cloud services and Saas is making some improvement. That may offer some solution for business social identity. Meanwhile, companies should try to sort out social silos and approach them in a comprehensive and proactive way.
The limitations of social media that is only internal will be more ostensible. There will be an emergence of strategies that are outward-inclusive, more integrated and complete.
It has become clear that social media that is only internal is limiting possibilities. In addition, it often results in 30% adoption ceiling since employees cannot work with a large number of people. A big amount of the businesses are interested in creating a broader connection with their stakeholders, as well as greater engagement and more environments. Companies like IBM, Salesforce and Jive have already enables wider social engagement. These will be used even more this year.
Social media’s open standards will still show the needs of startups and not those of businesses
It will be interesting to follow whether business and consumer social media will finally make peace. The majority of enterprises don’t remember the struggle for developing open standards or the many benefit which it gave to companies. This topic will continue to be hot in 2013. However, it will not be settled.
Social media cooperation and security create an industry of their own
Many sectors are struggling to find their place on the social map. Legal, financial and insurance services, as well as health care are among them. However, the actions of every public enterprise are limited. As a result, they can use only a small amount of the social media advantages. International companies are struggling even more since they need to follow local, regional and national laws. This has created a sector of startups that aim at settling things out, as well as offering a protection under which businesses can be sure to follow regulations and laws. The sector will greatly develop and it will be easier and more secure for companies to use social media. These capabilities will enable businesses in the social industry to grow even more.
These predictions are not the only thing that will happen in the sector this year. For instance, 2013 may mark the end of the social network uprising meme. There are people who believe that this can result in a Corporate Spring.
Nevertheless, the transition to social media won’t be rapid for a big number of the companies. It will just be something necessary. Many people now use this form of communication. Business cannot deny that and they should incorporate it in their work if they want to stay relevant. 2013 will be a big year for social enterprises not only because these platforms are popular, but also because they can be successfully used in business.
