5 social media trends, where are we going right now?
Given that now social media is a trend that is growing exponentially, many small and medium-sized companies keep abreast of the emergence of new social technologies. With new sites, services, applications and just successful cases that help businesses build direct contacts with the target audience on the Internet, it is quite useful to pay more attention to the emerging trends that are already at their peak or are about to come out from the horizon.
It does not matter if specific initiatives in the form of services are shot or die, these general trends are likely to persist in the near future. Some of them will not be immediately applied directly to your company or even the industry, and, at the same time, you need to be aware of oncoming traffic in the social media landscape - this will allow you to catch a wave of a novice trend when it inspires prospects for the company.
')
This has always been fair in relation to real estate, and now more and more it applies to everything that is done online. Sites like Twitter now allow you to attach the coordinates of the location where the tweet was written from, and Facebook also announced that it intends to maintain information about the location without even knowing that this may entail.
In the mobile space, there are a number of individual applications that allow users to first check in and show their current location to friends. From Foursquare to Gowalla, new startups are trying to promote a worldview when you freely share information about places where you are, what you like or not. Major players like Google have also connected to this game by launching Google Latitude , which allows you to automatically update your location if you are not confused by the level of privacy settings.
In general, the focus on geolocation is great news for small businesses, who are primarily interested in meeting the demand of local customers. Even Yelp , one of the best local reference services, added a “check in” function similarly to Foursquare and Gowalla .
Group purchases are such a system when consumers unite in a so-called “gang” to get offers or discounts on products or services, working together to achieve wholesale prices. There is also a fairly strong focus on the local level with sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial with daily offers in specific cities. If a certain number of interested buyers meet, then they can all buy goods at a low price; but if such a minimum number is not recruited, then no one gets the opportunity to take advantage of the offer.
In Russia, one of the most popular services of this kind is Cheap & Daily , which is badly lost in our start-up market. They sell all sorts of things from thermal slippers od breathalyzers. A similar service, only with the provision of discounts, called Darberry , and it has already begun its active development.
In fact, for a small business it is an opportunity to attract additional customers and create a base of adherents of the place / brand who can find you through such daily deals.
Catching a geolocation trend, advertisers can finally take advantage of the mobile ad platforms that allow them to reach consumers at crucial moments, for example, at the moment before making a purchase already inside the store. Being able to reach a customer on the road or near a point of sale can be a very powerful mechanism for brands to connect with a potential audience.
Less than a year ago, Google acquired AdMob , a mobile advertising platform that attracted the attention of the Federal Trade Commission in terms of transaction volume, but was eventually approved in late May. The new iAd Apple platform introduces new rules to the playing field with the ambitious goal of improving mobile ads for the end user, including interactive display advertising on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps.
Google's Android and Apple's iPhone OS (currently just iOS), two of the most dominant operating systems of smartphones, are now creating a platform for a big jump in advertisements in the near future.
Another trend in the natural mobile social world is the ability to both make and receive payments directly from the phone. The project of one of the founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, launched a startup, Square , which developed a special key associated with the iPhone headphone jack that allows you to conduct transactions on a credit card right on the spot.
Existing major players in the financial market, for example, Visa, are also included in the game with the intention of aggressively continuing to promote payments based on mobile platforms. PayPal also has several popular mobile payment apps for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc.
And although all of the above is only emerging in the United States, in developing countries, too, the gradual introduction of services for mobile payments also begins. If you add to all this the ability to make microtransactions directly from mobile applications, while avoiding specialized programs, then there will be attractive opportunities for small businesses that will make sense to pay due attention.
Since now more and more companies are immersed in a variety of social media, the presence of special rules and regulations, formulated in the form of the official policy of using certain social online tools and Internet services, is becoming very common in the business environment. Whether it is a simple one-page set of principles or extensive documentation on what is acceptable or not in the behavior of employees in the surrounding social information field; companies will want to bring this to their existing and new employees.
The official social media policy of a company may vary as widely as corporate cultures. At the same time, it does not matter what kind of business you have - you need to consider entering into the ocean of social media on a strategic basis. Many of the principles may sound quite trivial, such as “being guided by common sense” or “being responsible”, but they can be a powerful reminder for staff, along with more specific rules, the policy serves as a good tool for competent presentation of a company in the field of social media .
In fact, we believe that there are more trends in the field of modern social media. For example, it is also an augmented reality in all its manifestations: fitting clothes in social networking applications, combining with geolocation services, etc. In Russia there are only two more or less normal companies involved in developments in this area: St. Petersburg 2Nova - residents of Ingria by the way - and Moscow RedMadRobot .
It does not matter if specific initiatives in the form of services are shot or die, these general trends are likely to persist in the near future. Some of them will not be immediately applied directly to your company or even the industry, and, at the same time, you need to be aware of oncoming traffic in the social media landscape - this will allow you to catch a wave of a novice trend when it inspires prospects for the company.
')
1. Geolocation. Geolocation. Geolocation.
This has always been fair in relation to real estate, and now more and more it applies to everything that is done online. Sites like Twitter now allow you to attach the coordinates of the location where the tweet was written from, and Facebook also announced that it intends to maintain information about the location without even knowing that this may entail.
In the mobile space, there are a number of individual applications that allow users to first check in and show their current location to friends. From Foursquare to Gowalla, new startups are trying to promote a worldview when you freely share information about places where you are, what you like or not. Major players like Google have also connected to this game by launching Google Latitude , which allows you to automatically update your location if you are not confused by the level of privacy settings.
In general, the focus on geolocation is great news for small businesses, who are primarily interested in meeting the demand of local customers. Even Yelp , one of the best local reference services, added a “check in” function similarly to Foursquare and Gowalla .
2. Group purchases.
Group purchases are such a system when consumers unite in a so-called “gang” to get offers or discounts on products or services, working together to achieve wholesale prices. There is also a fairly strong focus on the local level with sites such as Groupon and LivingSocial with daily offers in specific cities. If a certain number of interested buyers meet, then they can all buy goods at a low price; but if such a minimum number is not recruited, then no one gets the opportunity to take advantage of the offer.
In Russia, one of the most popular services of this kind is Cheap & Daily , which is badly lost in our start-up market. They sell all sorts of things from thermal slippers od breathalyzers. A similar service, only with the provision of discounts, called Darberry , and it has already begun its active development.
In fact, for a small business it is an opportunity to attract additional customers and create a base of adherents of the place / brand who can find you through such daily deals.
3. Mobile advertising.
Catching a geolocation trend, advertisers can finally take advantage of the mobile ad platforms that allow them to reach consumers at crucial moments, for example, at the moment before making a purchase already inside the store. Being able to reach a customer on the road or near a point of sale can be a very powerful mechanism for brands to connect with a potential audience.
Less than a year ago, Google acquired AdMob , a mobile advertising platform that attracted the attention of the Federal Trade Commission in terms of transaction volume, but was eventually approved in late May. The new iAd Apple platform introduces new rules to the playing field with the ambitious goal of improving mobile ads for the end user, including interactive display advertising on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps.
Google's Android and Apple's iPhone OS (currently just iOS), two of the most dominant operating systems of smartphones, are now creating a platform for a big jump in advertisements in the near future.
4. Mobile payments.
Another trend in the natural mobile social world is the ability to both make and receive payments directly from the phone. The project of one of the founders of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, launched a startup, Square , which developed a special key associated with the iPhone headphone jack that allows you to conduct transactions on a credit card right on the spot.
Existing major players in the financial market, for example, Visa, are also included in the game with the intention of aggressively continuing to promote payments based on mobile platforms. PayPal also has several popular mobile payment apps for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc.
And although all of the above is only emerging in the United States, in developing countries, too, the gradual introduction of services for mobile payments also begins. If you add to all this the ability to make microtransactions directly from mobile applications, while avoiding specialized programs, then there will be attractive opportunities for small businesses that will make sense to pay due attention.
5. The policy of using social media in the company.
Since now more and more companies are immersed in a variety of social media, the presence of special rules and regulations, formulated in the form of the official policy of using certain social online tools and Internet services, is becoming very common in the business environment. Whether it is a simple one-page set of principles or extensive documentation on what is acceptable or not in the behavior of employees in the surrounding social information field; companies will want to bring this to their existing and new employees.
The official social media policy of a company may vary as widely as corporate cultures. At the same time, it does not matter what kind of business you have - you need to consider entering into the ocean of social media on a strategic basis. Many of the principles may sound quite trivial, such as “being guided by common sense” or “being responsible”, but they can be a powerful reminder for staff, along with more specific rules, the policy serves as a good tool for competent presentation of a company in the field of social media .
In fact, we believe that there are more trends in the field of modern social media. For example, it is also an augmented reality in all its manifestations: fitting clothes in social networking applications, combining with geolocation services, etc. In Russia there are only two more or less normal companies involved in developments in this area: St. Petersburg 2Nova - residents of Ingria by the way - and Moscow RedMadRobot .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/98614/
All Articles