Marketing

[Photo: Adam Wigall]

"The concept of social media and sharing online in general is becoming much more broadly accepted. You're seeing people in their 50s, 60s and 70s using these tools to reconnect with children, reconnect with friends, with co-workers. That's changing the landscape pretty dramatically. When I started IZEA, the concept behind our company was that everyone in the future would be a publisher, creating content. I think you're starting to see that prediction come true. These tools now have an impact on the business that can be very positive or very negative, depending on how they're employing these tools and treating their customers. We're seeing more and more that companies are bringing on a community manager. They're looking for social media expertise. I see it as an incredibly powerful tool for small, local businesses that have prided themselves on providing a high level of customer service. Social media can be very fluffy and make people feel good. At the end of the day, it's about results — 'as a result of this we were able to increase sales X amount.' "

Marketing, Design

"You're seeing a big shift away from paid into earned. The lines are really getting blurred between PR and social. You're seeing PR agencies really entering that space. 'Let's spend the money to create something that's interesting and that the social networks will pick up and pass around for us.' "

Advertising

"I think the biggest issue with social network marketing going forward will be the whole privacy thing. Social networks have a tremendous amount of personal information, and they use it to help advertisers target you. Some people are cool with that, but a lot of people aren't. It's already a major cultural and legislative issue in western Europe, and it will be here as well. I think we'll end up with some kind of opt-in system where you'll have to allow social networks to share your information — maybe not in 2011, but in the pretty near term."

Tags: Trendsetters