2011 is gone, and 2012 has rolled in without missing a beat. The social media marketing industry keeps growing in leaps and bounds. I often hear people say social networking is similar to the Wild Wild West! So answer this question for me personally. Would it be valuable in the event that you knew the future social media marketing trends for 2012? How wonderful would it not be to know what trends are in store for the coming year? Could you adequately prepare for this rapidly changing industry? In this post, I provide my 2012 predictions for the evolving trends in the social-networking industry. It certainly is gratifying when my predictions become a reality. My predictions are not based on any type of special powers. They are based on my industry research, what I read and what I see happening every day in my own work. My accuracy rate in the social media industry has been about 97 percent. However, even though I’m wrong it’s only because my timeline finished up being longer than I thought it had been going to be. I’ve a knack for spotting social media trends. And this article lists four powerful trends unfolding right now. You can profit from what I say or ignore me, the decision is yours. In any event these trends will unfold because the year progresses. So continue reading and heed my advice. Prepare your social media campaigns to take advantage these trends for 2012 and beyond.

Prediction #1) Social Media Networks and Marketing will continue to grow at an alarming rate.

This past year Facebook grew from around 600 million to 800 million users depending on whose numbers you think. Twitter and LinkedIn also both showed growth and added many new features, (not to mention that they both acquired several new partners and internet assets). Add to this, Google started Google+, and Microsoft is reported to be in the works of building their own social network. The adoption rate of small company will lead just how, but expenditures by large corporations will exceed that of both small and medium-size businesses. My first advice to you is; create and implement “an employee social media use policy” to regulate business hour usage. Second, develop a social media marketing plan to reach and engage this enormous market. Combining both engagement and pay per click campaigns work best.

Prediction #2) Among the largest players in the social media marketing arena can make a “miss step” in 2012.

I believe that one of the very best four Social Media Network companies will make an expensive mistake causing them to reduce significant market share. At this time several of the larger social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all share one crucial flaw. They try to make it almost impossible to talk to them. Take Facebook, for instance. They do not list any contact information apart from a Facebook page. Sure they have plenty of help pages. Yes, Facebook has a blog, lots of YouTube videos, but provides no contact number where one can call and talk to a human being? They do have a Facebook page you can enter suggestions on, but that’s it. What happens when you get yourself a strange message from Facebook, or you’re having difficulty with your account? You post a message and never get a reply! Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t much better. Social Media Brand Management agency don’t really list a contact contact number or address either. However, I have found that they do reply to your email and posted messages, though it sometimes takes given that seven days to have a reply.

In my opinion, of the most notable three social media marketing companies, LinkedIn provides the best service. Google is new in this game. It isn’t as an easy task to lump them in with all of those other social media giants yet. However, I could tell you that Google includes a notoriously poor customer service reputation. It has been my experience with Google that the grade of service you receive depends upon the person you get on the phone. The good news is that you can get someone on the phone! Google does list contact numbers. My advice to any business is easy, be ready to make changes to your social media campaign if need be. Furthermore, if you’re using the top four social media services, make a backup of your data. This is in the event you decide to make “the switch” and ditch one of these players.

Prediction #3) Google+ will become one of the top 3, in the social network arena by the end of 2012.

I know I’m going from a limb here, but I really believe this is inevitable. Google’s share size and current customer base allows Google+ to cultivate at a considerably faster pace than other social media marketing sites. The exact number of Gmail users isn’t public, but we do know that it is huge! I’ve read estimates which range from about 190 million to 250 million accounts. Furthermore, Google owns so many internet properties, they can easily integrate using these properties into their social networking. This adds value with their social network. Increase this, the fact that Google owns Google Search, Google AdWords, YouTube, Blogger and Picasa. Are you starting to get the picture? Google is gigantic. Google controls the lion’s share of internet traffic and advertising dollars.

Google has also had the opportunity to produce a social-networking product that is user friendly, search engine friendly and innovative. These qualities’ have made them the web leader they are today. I’m not sure they can keep this frantic pace forever, but also for 2012, it’s a done deal. My advice to you is to review what your location is spending your advertising money and see if it seems sensible using the Google properties. If you’re an individual, and have been waiting on the sideline with Google+, stop what you’re doing and take the 10 minutes to set up a Gmail and Google+ account. If you already have a Gmail account, this will only take you about five minutes. The bonus here is you can even set up a Google+ Brand page with out a lot of fuss.