LivLarge

If you’re interested in Social Media and what will come in 2009 then Peter Kim has compiled thoughts from several well respected marketers into a great document you can read here.

If you don’t have the time to read the whole doc, here are my top 10 from the list that I hope will hold true in the coming year:

1. Dwindling budgets will suddenly make low cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball. - Ann Handley.
2. In 2009 marketers will find their accidental spokespeople (employees & customers) and give them ways to amplify their voices. - Rohit Bhargava
   
3. Live conversations with consumers, empathetically executed, can have far bigger payout and viral word of mouth impact than most social media tools. - Pete Blackshaw.
4. We’ll need to do more dot-connecting between existing processes and social media output.  We’ll see a flatlining of references to “my Twitter programme” and more references to my offline/online “conversational ecosystem”. - Pete Blackshaw.
5. Organisations will allow the most passionate individual within an organisation from any division to lead social media efforts. - Rohit Bhargava.
   A great example of this that I recently found was the Mars Phoenix Lander Twitter case.
6. Twitter will continue to achieve legitimacy. Brands will adopt Twitter for everything from media/influencer outreach to customer service to crisis communications. But more than any push-channel, Twitter will give customers, advocates and critics unprecedented access to corporate personnel and vice versa. - Scott Monty.
7. One at a time, big companies will have their “Dell Moment” and wake up to the power of investing in earning great word of mouth with one-on-one attention to the community. - Andy Sernovitz.
8. Location awareness will be the mobile utility of the year as more and more  consumers use their GPS-enabled phones & mobile social software to find great stuff to see, do and buy wherever they may be at any given time. - Greg Verdino.
9. Just when you thought search was saturating or mainstreaming, we think there’s going to be an explosive new functionality which make search even more valuable. - Joseph Jaffe.
10. Shopping goes social. Using Facebook Connect & Open Social Platform, shoppers will be able to see what friends are recommending, buying and rating integrated into the shopping experience. - Charlene LI.

Another common theme throughout the document is the rise of mobile social software (mososo) and geo location based tools/applications.  This is where I think things will get really interesting.

Looks like another exciting year ahead for digital marketers!  I’m keen to hear your thoughts on the above predictions and whether you think they’ll ring true in 2009.  Also any other predictions you have to add to the list?