The future of social media marketing

One thing that is certain are that many of us are currently struggling with the fact that we're reaching fewer of our Facebook fans than ever before with organic posts. As annoying as it may to creatively find new ways to make Mr Edgerank Algorithm happy each day, it makes perfect business sense for Facebook.

Social networks are incentivised to attract brands to participate in the early years, so that in later years they have access to their brand budgets as they search to monetise their services. That's exactly what has happened at Facebook, and I suspect other social networks will follow suit.

Threat or opportunity?

I feel this is a huge opportunity, but it requires a change in mind-set, from one of social networks acting as independent channels with their 'followers' or 'fans', to a wider view of community, where brands can transfer and track audiences across multiple networks, continually linking back to a socially optimised brand website that operates as a hub of owned media. It is this kind of multi-faceted, cross-pollination that I predict and look forward to in the very near future of social media.

Just like 'they' say with managing money, managing an audience is best done when it's spread across different channels. This lowers the risk and allows you to be insulated against the monetisation strategy of any one network, whilst quickly taking advantage of new opportunities.

From informational and transactional to social

Most social strategies concentrate primarily on Facebook and perhaps it's time to think about transferring audiences. It requires some creative thinking and stepping-up activity on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as well as placing a huge focus on generating solid, meaningful content through blogging -and even experimenting with newer channels.

Many companies neglect their brand website and simply use it as an informational and transactional hub. I predict a huge move towards re-designing company websites to incorporate social features that make it more of a social hub, fit for the social consumer coming from multiple channels. Onsite activations to encourage sharing of content back out through different social platforms are a must, as we move into a world where thinking of social as a 'channel' separated from the rest of digital just doesn't make any sense.