Deborah Sweeney, CEO of MyCorporation, My Corporation provides online services for entrepreneurs and businesses.? Deborah states that ?2012 was definitely a year of growth with 66% of small businesses surveyed by Vertical Response saying they spend more time on social media now than they did a year ago.? Social media usage will doubtfully continue to grow and is an important tool to interact with customers.
Her top prediction in 2013 is that there will be a ?blurring of the borders between business websites and social media? and that expertise in technology becomes more important than ever. We live in a tech-driven world and small to medium sized businesses will need to adapt and evolve or risk obsolescence. Internet technology and concepts now permeate every function of business, from accounting to supply chain. ?Deborah states ?I would expect a lot of businesses will begin trying to blend their social media presence and their website?. This will shape how businesses present themselves online, as well as by asking employees to both promote and interact with the company online.? In 2013 expect technical proficiency across a wide range of common Internet standards and concepts to become more important than ever, across the enterprise and regardless of functional role.
Read more: http://socialmediatoday.com/deborah-sweeney/1076211/where-businesses-meet-social-media-predictions-2013?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Daniel Backhaus of Social Media Today predicts for instance, as mobile device proliferation drives anytime/anyplace access, it will greatly increase network traffic and growth in ?mineable? data volumes, which in turn will accelerate the growth of both cloud computing and analytics to extract value.
One of his predictions was ?When in doubt, think mobile and especially tablets?. Cell phones have become smartphones during 2012, and tablet usage is now eclipsing the smartphone numbers by threefold in the case of the Apple iPad to iPhone adoption. In 2013 expect the computing environment ? along with our lifestyles ? to moving away from the desktop and even the laptop, with users relying more heavily on their smartphones and tablet devices to do business, stay connected and share. User expectations are exceedingly high in terms of navigating a site for informational purposes, to complete a task, to make a purchase or a donation. Users will expect a browsing experience akin to the simple, intuitive navigation found in buying a book on?Amazon or the crisp visual experience of inhaling your Facebook stream via the?Flipboardapp.
Daniel?s other top prediction was ?Recreating mobile ads to support user?s goals?. In 2013, mobile advertising revenue will continue to fall, although its collapse is temporary dampened by the popularity of tablets, which despite having mobile functionality, are usually used to consume data. This makes interruptive advertisements somewhat more tolerable. However, the breakthrough will come to advertisers that realize interruptive ads ?do things to people,? so they shift to ?doing things with people.? This works by reimagining ?ads? as software that supports users (of the device or site) who are engaged in what?s most important to them. Where interruptive ads take away from users, ?software ads? support them. Small businesses will need to identify the users they want to engage and map their workstreams; what knowledge or tools you have that could support users in unique ways and design ?ads? to deliver the support.
Read more: http://socialmediatoday.com/daniel-backhaus/1057796/top-business-technology-trend-predictions-2013
Chris Abraham, a leading expert in online public relations with a focus on blogger outreach states ?Some of us see a benefit in over sharing?. He also says ?I?ve become obsessed with carrying my Necus 7 tablet all the time so that Google can stalk me and become ever more useful ? to me.? Until now, social stalking software companies have been so afraid of being accused of privacy invasion that they?ve intentionally limited the amount of share one is able to provide with their friends. He predicts in 2013, this will soon end. The value of being able to actively passively share where you are, what you?re doing, even when you?re not going out, is too high to prevent the boldest of us to participate gladly.
2013 will be the year when Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Google and Bing will have convinced you to cross-integrate your calendar, email, search history and privacy setting in such a way that there will be a small, easy step ? infinitesimal, in fact ? toward location- and context-awareness, with opportunities to share everything: what you?re doing, where you are, how long you?ve been there, and whether you?re a regular. Chris?s prediction for 2013 is that ?The coming year will mark a watershed, and privacy will no longer stand in the way.?
Read more: http://socialmedia.biz/2012/12/05/social-media-predictions-business-recommendations-for-2013/
JD Lasica, a writer for Socialmedia.biz states that in 2013 ?There will a rise in a number of new arrivals on the recommendations bandwagon, so much that its now officially its own sector.? 2013 will be a year to make way for online recommendations. ?Check-ins will become quaint or even unhip from a year from now.? While most of us aren?t about to log into Facebook to rave about our latest purchase from Bed Bath & Beyond, we may take a snap of our cool new crockpot with our iPhone 5 or Android, upload it toInstagram and share it on Foursquare and Twitter. Recommendation technology is seeping into our lives through social sharing activities that are becoming part of the invisible fabric of our lives.
The current champ of geolocation, Foursquare, is working hard to reinvent itself a social recommendations engine. Check-ins are so 2010 and will become quaint, even unhip, a year from now.
Read more: http://socialmedia.biz/2012/12/05/social-media-predictions-business-recommendations-for-2013/
Justin Fishaw, manager of content strategy and development, works with DigitalSherpa to customize unique approaches to social media and content marketing.? He has presented his top 4 social media predictions that small business owners may want to prepare for in 2013.
1. Video will be Vogue ? there?s already overwhelming evidence that video increased engagement, and in 2012 we saw the rise or Tumblr and Pinterest. Justin believes that, in 2013 we will see an even larger rise in the use of video.
This means two things: an increase in video being posted to the Internet & an increase in the commercial video published by small to medium sized businesses. ?You can take a high-definition video on your phone, edit it, make it both web and mobile friendly, and post it across all social sites. ?He recommends getting ready to put together a video content strategy in 2013 ? a move that will give small businesses a way to stand out amongst the competition.
2. The Fall of Twitter ? The average user spends 21 minutes a month?on Twitter, way behind Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Couple that with the increasing difficulty to sort through Twitter?s noise and eventual need to increase ad revenues. Justin believes in 2013, I Twitter will lose a lot of the steam that drove the micro-blogging site to over 500 million users in 2012. Make no mistake: Twitter isn?t going to disappear completely in 2013. ?There is still a ton of opportunity for small business to leverage Twitter?s power to build brand advocacy, monitor social discussion, and drive website traffic.
3. Social Commerce will Increase: It?s already known that recommendations drive much of online commerce, but this will move into social media with players like Pinterest and Facebook getting involved in social commerce. For small businesses, this will mean giving incentives to recommend your brand online,?rewarding those that do, and seeing social media as another recommendation platform. It won?t be enough to have a?social media presence and enable fans to purchase online. ?It?s time to manage all aspects of online reputation, while creating mobile friendly websites. ?Smartphone consumers have terrible A.D.D.; if they are even slightly confused on how to navigate your website they?ll move on to Tweeting, Pinning, refreshing, and Instagramming.
4. Social TV ? We already have hashtags appearing during TV programs, Google TV on the way, and reality shows, like The Voice, and X Factor featuring social media comments during air time. Social TV, the epitome of channel convergence, will be the hybrid of social, video, and TV. Commenting and sharing during airtime will be much more common, for both programming and commercials. ?When you add in the steady growth of apps like Fango, an entertainment ?check-in? application, you can see the entertainment industry fully colliding with social in 2013.
Read more: http://digitalsherpa.com/editorial/4-bold-social-media-predictions-for-2013
Take a look at overseas markets and you get a big insight into what?s ahead for Australian retail. Currently, online sales for UK department store John Lewis are up 55% on last year.
There are a large number of mutli-channel orders flowing through UK retailers, where busy consumers are booking online and collecting in-store.
Mobile shopping is going through the roof. Consumers are now far more comfortable shopping on a mobile device than in the past. This comfort factor will increase as the penetration of mobile banking increases.
While the debate rages on about the balance between the high street experience and online, in the UK online sales remain low compared to in-store sales in most (although not all) categories.
Meanwhile, touching luxury goods in-store and buying them online, for example, shows how both channels can work in harmony. This builds a great retail experience that delivers an easy online purchasing path.
What can Australian retailers, large and small, expect in 2013?
1. Mobile is going to be huge
You better get mobile, it is going to be huge. Aside from mCommerce, this also includes mobile marketing, social networking and word of mouth sharing.
2. Integrated multi-channel strategies
You?have to be online,?transacting on web and mobile, and you also have a great in-store experience that works in?harmony.
Service and product differentials between channels will stand out and improve your consumers? engagement.
Retailers with solid, integrated multi-channel strategies will be the winners. This means both the online user experience and in-store experience ? as well as their relationship to each other ? are paramount.
3. Time-poor consumers
Consumers are increasingly time poor, weary and busy people.
Research from Boston Consulting shows women are the biggest spenders in the economy, but are time poor and feel most under-valued by brands. Retailers who get this and make shopping easy will attract these women. The retailers that don?t will see these consumers go elsewhere.
4. Innovative retail models
Innovative retail models are here to stay. Examples include pop-up stores, smaller high street shops that stock just one display item of each product, order in-store kiosks and home delivery from the warehouse.
5. QR codes
QR codes are going to be?big, creating an interactive in-store experience.
6. Augmented reality
Augmented reality maps will be used as store and product finders, bringing a new concept to search and find.
7. Celebrity content
Celebrity content with integrated sales will become the norm. After seeing what Jennifer Aniston is wearing in her film, I will be able to scan and buy it, then and there, via my mobile.
8. Click Frenzy
Click Frenzy will work in 2013.
9. GST is not the issue
GST is not the issue; it is poor online offerings that are the real issue for traditional old-fashioned retailers. They will lose market share in 2013 and some go to the wall, unless they pick up their e-game.
Final thoughts
In the words of Experian Hitwise: ?Whether Australian retailers like it or not, the local retail landscape has irrevocably changed. From ?bricks and mortar? to ?bricks and clicks? to purely ?e-tail? ? the evolution of retail is ongoing and carries significant ramifications for those who choose not to keep up with the pace of change.?
Finally, here are some interesting statistics from Bill Tancer, a leading?US analyst, talking about holiday shopping.
Source: http://www.bendalls.com.au/thoughts/industry-gurus-predictions-for-2013/
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