For several years now, social media has been the hidden, interwoven fabric of the web, connecting people, brands and organisations. That in itself is not going to change. It’s likely in the future, with the proliferation of the Internet of Things, that social media will be the starting point – a personalised hive mind – connecting objects, information and transactions, alongside people.
Just consider WeChat. The future is already here in China, and the West will follow suit. The lines between ecommerce, mobile and social have blurred, creating a broad convergence between online and offline retailing. In this way social media will become a platform for not just online growth but everything from brand building and customer engagement through to supply chain operations.
Already, social and retail are merging, with the growing abundance of ‘buy now’ functionality in social content. Looking ahead, brand activity will grow in scale and become more deeply embedded in new types of social spaces, like a shoppable 3D world for social users to hang out in.
Brands that want to stay relevant need to think about social as integral to their business, not just their marketing and communications. Disrupt yourselves, or be disrupted. Agencies slow to invest, innovate and evolve their social capability won’t be able to keep up with their clients.
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