Socialmedialand

I'd rather not speculate about next year – a lot of people have been doing that already. I'm going to take a cue from a few of my favorite bloggers and simply share what I plan to do for next year:

In general:

1. Focus on people - The last year or so seems to have been the era of explaining to businesses why social media is so important. And while I think we still need to make that clear (see number one) I think that it's time to shift focus. We, as social marketers, need to explain to customers why connecting with our brand via social channels is beneficial to them. We passed the early adoption phase long ago (where brands in social media were automatically kind of "cool" or "hip"), and now we're rapidly moving out of the status quo phase (where every brand is almost expected to have a social presence of some sort). I think we're coming around to the post-social phase where consumers have been so inundated with blogs and Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that they're going to need a solid reason to want to connect with your brand. And I doubt that random videos and pictures are going to be enough anymore.
2. Integrate - flowing from the last thought, I think it's time brands focus on how social media can support and work with their service offering. Rather than having social media as a marketing element, it needs to become part of the product or service itself so that the value of being connected with the brand online supplements and enforces the value of being a customer. Social media marketers need to shift their skills into becoming consumer experience experts rather than advertising experts. *note: I'm not saying that some of the most successful brands haven't already done this – I'm just suggesting that it's going to quickly become that only viable way for brands to use social media effectively.

For me personally:

1. Communicate better - I need to make the connection between social media and my clients' business more clear. I know in my own mind why something I recommended made sense or would fit into their business but now more than ever that connection needs to be underscored.
2. Educate and be educated - In 2010 I hope to get some training to help me advance beyond my current capabilities and do my job better. That includes presentation skills, some basic web design and html concepts (for use on Facebook pages, blogs, etc), and maybe some refreshers on other business/marketing disciplines so I can work on the integration I talked about above. At the same time I want to share the things I've already learned with others so they can do their jobs better. Karma.
3. Converse - The last few months I've definitely slacked off on commenting, blogging and sharing links on Twitter/Google Reader. I've been in the background reading without participating. I want to get back into that discussion. More Karma. 

So that's my plan. What's yours? Leave a comment and let me know, or link back to your own post on 2010 plans!

Posted via email from Katie Van Domelen’s Posterous

One Response to “My Social Media Resolutions for 2010”