Shiv Singh of Razorfish names 10 trends in “social influence marketing,” a term his agency coined to describe what old timers simply call Word of Mouth. It’s just that it’s digital now, so the lexicon is expanding (not always in a good way).
Here’s what Singh and his colleagues see unfolding:
- 1. Social media usage will result in more influence.
2. The focus will shift to influencers.
3. Top-down branding will experience growing impotence.
4. Social advertising will grow up.
5. The portable social graph will fuel marketing innovation.
6. Not just friends, but friendsters, will start to matter. In 2009, we’re going to realize that loose ties (like the friendsters of yours on Facebook) are as valuable as your strong ties (close friends) because they’re the ones that bring new ideas into your world and share your opinions with people who are further removed from you. You’ll be less conflicted about them and you’ll share more of your life with them.
7. Social influence research will become more important than social measurement.
8. Marketers will organize around Social Influence Marketing.
9. The intranet will join the Web.
10. Your CEO will get on Facebook.
Only 10? Did he run out of cliches and jargon?
Thanks Bob. I had a hard time getting past “Social Influence Marketing” myself. It’s marketing. Marketing is influence. Marketing is social. Marketing is.