Screen Pilot looked into its very own crystal ball and returned with a few interesting predictions for 2012. It will be a year where mobile will go beyond anything we have experienced previously. As time progresses, we forget what the world was like when we didn’t multi-task all the time, simply interacting face-to-face. Although this may be creating challenges for our human interactions, it is providing new opportunities in marketing. Here are a few trends we expect to see in the marketing world of 2012:

Mobile

Mobile marketing is growing at an alarming rate. As more mobile devices flood the market, people are using them to shop, buy, and search the web. Forty percent of Google mobile search queries are local, according to Screenwerk. You simply must incorporate mobile into your marketing strategy, no excuses.

Also, the time has come to create a mobile website for these devices. Your big flashy site may look great on a PC but when viewed on a mobile device it probably doesn’t render correctly or it may involve lots of scrolling putting off your potential customer. Again, we aren’t joking, this isn’t going away and you must stay relevant.

Let’s use Hotel 718 as an example of a standard site and a mobile site:

Main site:

Mobile Site:

Social Media

As more smart phones flood the market, more people are going to find it easier to participate in social media. Facebook is everywhere with advancements in the Facebook Open Graph. In case you haven’t noticed when you are signed into Facebook and traveling around the web, sites cater information to you and address you personally.

Here is an example of the open graph in action:

You can see what are friends are doing from the TripAdvisor site when you are signed into Facebook. It has personalized the experience for you so that you can do more than just “Like” something or share it. With Facebook integration appearing on many sites, it is essential to integrate social media in your own website.

Hotel 718, a boutique hotel in Brooklyn NY is an excellent example of social media integration with their CONNECT page. The guest is able to connect with Hotel 718 on the various social networks and even sign up for email marketing, providing the hotel a simple way to develop relationships with their guests.

With wondrous new smart phones’ advanced video and photography capabilities, there will be growth in multi-media social networks like Instagram, Viddy, Pinterest and more are sure to come.

Also, keep your eyes out for more QR codes. I expect with more people owning mobile devices and smart phones, we will see those popping up in advertising and marketing materials everywhere. You will first want to have a dynamic mobile website and then you can venture into the world of the funky little QR codes. Use your QR codes to provide interesting content to your customers and be sure to include all pertinent information. There are sites to help you build a QR code or you can always contact an expert, like us at Screenpilot.

2012 is going to be an interesting year with an overall increased mobile emphasis across all marketing and advertising initiatives.

We hope that 2012 is a joyful and prosperous year for you, your family, and your business. Happy 2012 from all of us at Screen Pilot!

If you would like to read more about what to expect in 2012, check out the sources that helped us put together our predictions:

http://socialmediatoday.com/johnserpa/414660/social-media-and-2012

http://socialmediatoday.com/jasonbaer/410876/4-nearly-guaranteed-2012-social-media-predictions

http://mashable.com/2011/12/27/5-tech-trends-to-watch-in-2012/

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2133514/Search-Mobile-Marketing-Trends-SEO-Apocalypse-2012

Mark Zuckerberg and his pals are currently showing the world the upcoming changes to the Facebook platform at the F8 Developers Conference. For those of you that missed his keynote speech online and couldn’t be there yourselves we’ve summarized some of the major talking points for you:

Many businesses small and large who use social media to promote their brand or service are under the false impression that the more followers they have the more influential they are and therefore in a better position to leverage their “klout” to promote a new product, event or service. This is not necessarily always the case.

What is important is to have the right followers that are a mix of people who would be interested in your brand, product or service as well as people who are influential in social media that can help get the word out for you.

Influential people in social media have not got to where they are at by re-tweeting or ‘liking’ anyone and everyone they know or giving their stamp of approval on a product or service. They will do so only if they feel the person behind the brand has something genuinely valuable to offer that their followers/friends should know about.

Trust is also a very important factor to consider before someone of influence gives their endorsement. Trust is earned over time, via interesting and useful content, frequent interaction, generosity in giving advice and help. It allows people to get to know you first and then ultimately your brand. It’s important to give back to the community and not just focus on selling.

If you’re thinking of marketing your brand through social media do your research first. Find out who the influencers are and see who their friends and followers are. Are their friends/followers people who would be interested in what you have to say or your brand? If so, follow or ‘friend’ these influencers and get to know them through commenting on their posts or updates and sharing thoughts.

There are a lot of directories out there for Twitter that will give you insight to who’s who to get you started. A great public Twitter directory is Twellow. You can search Twellow through hundreds of categories and user bios to help you find people who matter to you.

Ultimately it’s not how many friends/followers you have but how well you know them and stay connected with them that will matter to your influence.

A successful Facebook Page relies on compelling updates. With compelling updates you will get more “likes” and comments. Below are 5 tips we would like to share with our readers to help you create Facebook updates that are more compelling.

1. Your updates should be short. This is because people usually go through they updates quickly through their News Feed. If you go over the limit in your update and require a “More” button, chances are people won’t be clicking on the link. If you can keep your updates under 320 characters and preferably under 200, you should avoid the need for a “More” button.

2. Infrequent updates. Unlike Twitter where posting as often as 10 times a day is acceptable, with Facebook this will turn people off. Try staying to posting between 2-3 updates a day.

3. When you post is important. Studies have shown that the rate of users on Facebook goes up at 11:00am, 3:00pm and 8:00pm EST. If you post your updates during these times it will give you the most exposure to your users.

4. Be personable. Write like a real person as if you’re talking to a friend in front of you. This will increase your effectiveness as opposed to writing in a formal and distant way.

5. Use benefits to encourage interaction. Use polls, ask open-ended questions, run giveaways like coupons or t-shirts or even raffle an e-book. This will help to make your Fans feel special and encourage interaction.

Every Facebook Fan Page is different and unique. Experiment and find out what works for your page and fans. Share with us your findings and successes. We’d love to hear from you!