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 like the Wild Wild West! So answer this question for me. Would it be valuable in the event that you knew the future social media trends for 2012? How wonderful would it be to learn what trends come in store for the coming year? Could you adequately plan this rapidly changing industry? In this article, 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 sort of special powers. They are predicated 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 marketing industry has been about 97 percent. However, even when I’m wrong it’s only because my timeline ended up being longer than I thought it was going to be. I have a knack for spotting social media trends. Which article lists four powerful trends unfolding right now. You can profit from what I say or ignore me, the choice is yours. In any event these trends will unfold as the year progresses. So continue reading and heed my advice. Prepare your social media marketing campaigns to make the most these trends for 2012 and beyond.

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

This past year Facebook grew from around 600 million to 800 million users based 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 said to be in the works of creating their own social network. The adoption rate of small business will lead the way, but expenditures by large corporations will exceed that of both small and medium-size businesses. My first advice for you is; create and implement “an employee social media use policy” to control business hour usage. Second, develop a social media marketing intend to reach and engage this enormous market. Combining both engagement and ppc campaigns work best.

Prediction #2) One of the largest players in the social media arena will make a “miss step” in 2012.

I believe that one of the top four Social Media Network companies will make a costly mistake causing them to reduce significant market share. At this time several of the larger social media marketing 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 other than a Facebook page. Sure they have plenty of help pages. Yes, Facebook has a blog, plenty of YouTube videos, but provides no contact number where you can call and speak to a human being? They do have a Facebook page it is possible to enter suggestions about, but that’s it. What happens when you get a strange message from Facebook, or you’re having trouble with your account? You post a message and never get yourself a reply! Twitter and LinkedIn are not much better. Personal Growth don’t really list a contact phone number or address either. However, I have found that they do answer your email and posted messages, although it sometimes takes given that seven days to acquire a reply.

In my opinion, of the very best three social media 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 has a notoriously poor customer service reputation. It’s been my experience with Google that the quality of service you receive depends on the person you obtain on the phone. The good news is that you may get someone on the telephone! Google does list contact numbers. My advice to any business is simple, be ready to create changes to your social media marketing campaign if you need to. Furthermore, if you’re using the top four social media services, make a backup of your data. This is if you happen to decide to make “the switch” and ditch one of these players.

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

I know I’m going from a limb here, but I believe that is inevitable. Google’s share size and current customer base will allow Google+ to grow at a much 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, that they can easily integrate the utilization of these properties into their social network. This adds value with their social network. Add to this, the point that Google owns Google Search, Google AdWords, YouTube, Blogger and Picasa. Are you currently starting to get the picture? Google is gigantic. Google controls the lion’s share of internet traffic and advertising dollars.

Google has also been able to produce a social-networking product that is simple to operate, search engine friendly and innovative. These qualities’ have made them the internet leader they are today. I am not sure they can keep this frantic pace forever, but 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 also 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 curently have a Gmail account, this will only take you about 5 minutes. The bonus here is also you can set up a Google+ Brand page with out a lot of fuss.