5 predictions for Consumer web in 2011

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter were all the rage in 2010 and became synonymous to ‘likes’, ‘followers’, ‘B2B’, ‘community’. As more and more consumers have got access to social media and are likely to use it (basis the various surveys that were conducted in 2010), these leading social networks have also come out with renewed ways of advertising and satisfying the demand of these brands. The 5 trends that I see gaining more traction in the year 2011 are:

Virtual gets hotter

Recently, Cityville was reported to have outgrown Farmville; ‘Gamification’ is the in thing. The trend is to stay and if I may dare say has just begun. Not only that, virtual goods, avatars would be the next thing that brands take on to in order to engage with their fans.

Networking becomes better and quicker

Networking is nothing new. The whole of 2010, people were networking either through B2C channels or B2B. 2011 would take networking to new levels – Facebook came up with groups in order to provide customized control to users. I think that’s the word – customized – which networking would be related to. How much of control is the user being given is the question that social networks would face. We have the connections, but how and in what manner can we prioritize them is what most of us would seek from 2011.

Mobile, Apps and more

Mobile is already huge and there is not an ounce doubt about it. However, even with 3G becoming available and all the social networking on mobiles, mobiles are not the ‘new laptops’. What I see is the convergence of different devices. The direct result of that would be further customization of apps. If I can add in here, with mobile, location would gather more traction. Location based advertising would grow especially as players like Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Yelp etc have included check-in space. Not only had that local advertising bound to resurface as the location become prevalent and important.

B2B takes on B2C

2010 was a good year for B2B but its true potential would surface in 2011. I expect more engagement on B2B platforms this year and companies investing much more time and spends here. According to recent India Social Media Report Edition 2 – LinkedIn Answers’ is the most preferred channel to answer brand/business questions while B2B adoption is at 41%. Quite interesting and something to look forward in 2011!

Users will be the celebrities online

A loyal ‘fan’ or ‘follower’ online would reap benefits of being loyal like never before.

Happy 2011