Social Media Trends for 2013: What Will Change?

There are many predictions for 2013 as far as social media is concerned across the internet.

Increase in online marketing budget and better content

It’s not a secret that that online marketing is the best and most cost effective way to achieve marketing goals like increasing the demand for a product as well as sales. We are seeing companies increase the budget for online marketing and creating better content to ensure a successful marketing campaign. In 2013 this will be more and more evident as 2012 was a stepping stone towards investing in social media campaigns.

Cross-platform storytelling

This is set to be the norm in 2013, as brands start to use several different platforms at the same time to support their social media campaign giving them the ability to deliver a single minded message. The difference with 2012 is that the message will be more adapted to each platform instead of being just copy pasted which will create a different yet related buzz serving the same marketing goal. It’s also clear that companies will focus on visual platforms including videos.

Big data

Companies today gather enormous amount of data from various different sources online and offline. Processing it to give the marketing department the needed information accurately has become more difficult. The biggest software companies have been working hard to be the first to provide a solution that will make data manageable in 2013.

Mobile

2012 saw technology move towards mobile devices and serving consumer demand for mobile applications. That’s where companies will shift their efforts in 2013. Mobile becomes more intense together with social media giving the freedom and privacy that laptops and desktops can’t give. Mobile application will become a necessity and every company will have to create more stimulating and original applications. With most users keeping themselves updated over their mobile phones, everything from online advertising to commerce will be made mobile-friendly to ensure accessibility at all times.

Companies in the Middle East are catching up very fast and 2013 will witness more companies from the region investing in online marketing and social media. Where is your company heading in 2013?