2011 Four Areas of Growth for Social

Four areas of social that I see becoming more prominent in 2011. Fingers crossed that I'm right.

1. Facebook: Facebook will continue to innovate and dominate.  They just surpassed Google for goodness sake. From Places to Deals to Community and Friendship pages Facebook was throwing out a new curveball every few months in 2010. My tip: It's Facebook's world, and each change they roll out is usually part of their bigger master plan. I try to spend less time complaining about the small changes and more time trying to figure out what direction Facebook is heading in order to stay ahead of the curve.

2. Traditional Media: Social Media will continue to invade Traditional Media. Not only are businesses hosting profiles on social media they are incorporating social into their more "traditional" elements - advertisements, websites, email campaigns.  My tip: Putting social front and center on marketing materials not only makes you look relevant, but more importantly sends a message that you are open to a two-way conversation. It's also a great way to extend the conversation beyond a TV ad, piece of point of sale, brochure, etc.

3. Mobile: Mobile + Social is going to continue to revolutionize the space. Whether it is tapping into the GPS function for a social check-in or using your phone camera  to instantly upload pictures from an event, meal, night out with friends...mobile allows people to tell their stories right then and there. It also allows people to reap instant benefits. I think more companies will take advantage of Foursquare, Facebook Deals, Stickybits in 2011. My tip: If you own a space where customers come to or are hosting an event think about ways you can provide a social experience via mobile, because you know they are going to be checking that phone at some point.

4. Social Media Consultants/Agencies: (Slightly biased here) Social is a full-time job and to do it well people will need some extra support. It's one thing to set aside time to update your status, it is quite another thing to stay on top of the ever-changing world of social media. Keeping up with the new players, the trends and how to best leverage all those Facebook changes can be time consuming. My tip: If you don't have time to dedicate to social or don't have the interest, find a partner who does. It can be a crazy but exciting world out there and a little help navigating it never hurt.

Here's to 2011 and more exciting things ahead. What do you see growing in social in 2011?

It’s Not About Location, It’s About Deals

The Pew Research Center came out with a study saying only 4% of people are using location based services. Mashable points out a few flaws in the study - one being they interviewed people via the phone, potentially landline phone. I'm kind of shocked they even found 4% of people this way.The truth is location is growing and with Facebook Places just announcing Facebook Deals, location is sure to grow even more. For some checking in will always be about the "look at me" factor. I'm somewhere cool and I want you to know. But for most I predict checking in will be about what's in it for me, and nothing peaks people's interests more than free stuff or deals. For example, The Gap is making a splash today by giving away 10,000 pairs of jeans. At a retail value of $60, that's worth checking in and actually driving me back to the Gap, a store that's long fallen off my radar screen.

At the end of the day location is simply a more efficient way of clipping coupons and providing value at the point of purchase. There will always be people who feel it is too big brother, but for the majority, I believe the benefits/deals will wash out any fear of being followed.

If Facebook Deals does explode in a way that Groupon and other online coupon offerings have, I hope that one day we can stop printing up all those circulars I throw away every week. In the future just sending out coupons on a hope and a whim to everyone will seem slightly ridiculous, when we can simply check-in to what we really want.