Is your social strategy adapting to the transforming consumer market?
Posted on Jul 31, 2012 by equimedia
The growing importance of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the marketing sector demand companies modernise their systems, skills and mindsets.
There is a nexus of converging forces - mobile, information, cloud and social - that is transforming user behaviour across the consumer landscape, according to Gartner.
Within the marketing sphere, the impact of social media is not reserved just for the direct retail sales conversion - it underpins how consumerisation is driving IT practices.
Gartner notes that vendors are beginning to appreciate the true power of friends sharing recommendations of products and services on social media sites.
"Mobile devices are a platform for effective social networking and new ways of work," explained Gartner managing vice president Chris Howard. "Cloud enables delivery of information and functionality to users and systems. These forces of the nexus are intertwined to create a user-driven ecosystem of modern computing."
Fundamentally, Mr Howard believes that the convergence of mobile, connectivity, information and services are shrinking the gap between idea and action.
"Organisations that ignore [this nexus] will be displaced by those that can move into the opportunity space more quickly - and the pace is accelerating," he added.
Major online retailers are already grabbing the initiative in an attempt to be the first to innovate in this sector.
Earlier this month, Amazon unveiled plans for an international technology and innovation centre in London's Tech City base.
The new Digital Media Development Centre will have dedicated teams working on major online media products such as LoveFilm and Pushbutton, as well as new avenues of enterprise.
Analysts at Gartner predict that spending on mobile app stores and content will increase from $18 billion (£11.5 billion) in 2012 to $61 billion (£39 billion) in 2016.
This forecast will prove a huge boon for existing content services such as Amazon's Kindle e-reader and goes some way to justifying its innovations and development expansion.
While the technology nexus is revolutionising existing businesses, it is also creating new opportunities as society and consumers adapt to the changing media landscape.
