Social Media for Businesses: Things are Changing, Are You Prepared?

Some say social media was meant for personal usage only. Some say social media is about to die. Do you think the bubble is about to burst or are things going to change? And if they are going to change, what is it that you should know so that you’re prepared when the wave hits?

For the last two years, things have advanced so much in social media that it’s quite hard to keep up. Studies pop up every day saying how our lives have changed, in good or bad, or predicting that we may have just hit the peak of the hype cycle. Both are true, and while we’re hearing more and more the doomsday scenario, it looks like 2012 is about to change the way we perceive social media.

Growth & the value of social

You stop calling your friends, you check their pics, leave comments on their posts, and you announce all kinds of major life milestones on the web? That’s “connecting” in the 21st century folks — and it has changed the way we feel about people we know, about activities and what not. Because, in the end it all goes down to trust. And many of us actually trust sites like Facebook, Twitter.

But there’s a bunch of resisters out there who’re still not interested, who think that the experience makes you feel, more or less, alienated. That’s why, although Facebook is preparing for an IPO in 2012, visitors growth was up a “mere” 10% in the 12 months ending in October, down from 56% a year earlier.

And while math freaks would say that it’s better to grow slow on a huge user base, rather than growing big on a rather small user base — which is true — we can’t help noticing that “Social is running out of hours. Social is also running out of people.” [George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research, said at the LeWeb conference]

On top of these all, things are changing as business are running out of patience, too. They want a high return on their investment in social media marketing, and some don’t understand that it takes a long time to grow a community. It’s all about engagement and education, but they’re paying now, and they want it now. That’s one of the reasons why there are a lot of noise makers, a lot of spammers who claim to understand social media, but instead of adding value and acting as a voice for the company they represent, they actually bring poor results and lose the faith of their clients.

It’s not the end of it

A year ago I was traveling to India and was speaking in front of a group of students interested in blogging, SEO and social media. One of t he best question I was asked was inspired by one article the guys read in the newspapers: “Is blogging about to die?” That was a very good question and my answer was … “No, but it’s going to change a lot.”

2012 is going to be different for businesses. It’s going to be the year of “prove it.” So if you’re a social media technology provider, make sure you stand out in your niche — work on the user experience, engage your customers and give them the information they need.

A great social media strategy can do that for you.