A series of articles worth reading summarized in a post by author Chris Syme.    I’ve echoed her bullet points…

1. More real-time marketing. From John Kultgen on PR Daily.

2. Whether your real time is faster than my real time will no longer be the problem. From Marketing Profs. 

3. Word-of-mouth marketing will take off. From Jason Falls on Social Media Explorer.

4. User-generated content will be the hot content commodity. From Marketing Profs.

5. Short form content will dominate. From Julie Fleischer, Director of Media & Consumer Engagement at Kraft (via Content Marketing Institute).  

6. Niche interest networks will increase in prominence and usage. From Adam Vincenzini on PR Daily.

7. More visual, less text. From Jessica Smith on Social ‘N Sports.

8. Erasable media. From Dave Kerpen on Inc.

9. Social listening will become a requirement, not an option. From Pam Moore on Marketing Nutz. and also at Preachin’ to the choir.

10. Investment in social media will become a necessity, not a luxury. From Jayson DeMers on Forbes.

This last one was so important I quote Chris Syme’s summary here:

“As demand for good content and measurable results increase, brands will move from spreading social media duties across existing positions to hiring social media managers, according to DeMers. The era of assigning social media duties to a “tech-savvy, passionate” staff members is over. When companies need outside help, they will be looking for agencies that know social media business, not just social media tools.”  — Chris Syme