Social Media Predictions for 2009 – Part 2

I decided to break out my predictions into a few blog posts, because a) people don’t like to read LOOONNNGG blog posts and b) I needed more time to think through my other predictions ;)  My first prediction is here.  Next up:

Brands will continue to miss the boat when it comes to the social web
For every well-executed campaign by a brand in the social atmosphere, there are a dozen more examples of brands that miss the mark.  As much as social marketing continues to be on marketers Have-To-Do list, they still don’t understand it and most agencies aren’t helping.  With digital marketing still under 10% of total marketing spend and the cost still relatively low to “try things out”, I’m not going to be surprised when I see more social marketing attempts by brands that are ill-advised by their agencies or internal teams.

Search and e-commerce will become more social
Today, the biggest miss on the Internet is the inability of search and e-commerce to even remotely tap into the power of social connectivity on the web.  Imagine <easily> browsing an e-commerce website with a group of friends all in different locations, collaborating on what to buy and what a good price is.  Or when you can rely not on random reviews of a product by strangers but tap into your collective network on the web to see what THEY recommend.  Or which hotels they’ve stayed in and what they thought (ok, full disclosure we’re working on this one).

And search needs to make the same leap.  When I’m working and I search for a term like, “spam”, I’d like the results that come up to be relevant to the setting I’m in and the people around me (agency folk).  Whereas when I’m hankering for that delicious, processed meat we all love and I search for “spam”, I can find the more relevant and <ahem> disgusting content.

Or who knows, perhaps next year will actually be the year of…mobile.  Stranger things have happened.