Will device matter in 2014? How important is a spokesperson and good customer care? The ultimate online source for social media analytic tools and statistics, published 10 predictions for the new year after a careful analysis of data from 2013. Ten important predictions from Socialbakers that will give you an idea of what is about to prevail in Social Media this year.

However, it is very important to be first aware of the last year’s social media trends and statistics. See the Cyprus statistics and then watch this insightful video on the Story of Social Media in 2013:

Social Media in 2014 according to Socialbakers’ CEO Jan Rezab:

• All social ads in 2014 will be native ads.
  Content-based and promoted News Feed ads will take the lead at a whole new pace.
• Most digital ads in 2014 will be native ads.
  In short, most digital ads will eventually turn into social ads. See the data for more.
• It will no longer matter where one consumes content, but rather what the content is.
  We will stop looking at the difference between mobile, tablet, and computer. Everything will be more connected than ever before as people and devices come together.
• Communications and marketing will be closer than ever.
  PR will have a new opportunity to tell their stories alongside their social media and colleagues. Smart companies to merge PR and marketing.
• The return of the spokesperson.
  In the recent years, we’ve watched the title and job of the spokesperson fade away. As content media managers gain presence on the digital sphere, the position will resurface as communication increases.
• Good Customer care via social media will not be an exception, but the rule.
  The lessons of 2013 are loud and clear now. Last year only 65% of inquiries got answered with 58% of all questions being answered by just 1/10th of the companies present on social. See more on this in #SocialStory2013 video.
• Every social media manager will need to have some media and/or spending capability.
  With an increasing amount of native ads a need for boosting posts in real-time will grow.
• Leadership, company management will be more involved in social media.
  As social media becomes much more prevalent in a company’s repu­tation, leaders will step in on everything from strategy to execution of social media activities.
• Companies will uncover new, effective techniques to reach and segment customers over social media.
  Last year was about finding cheap fans and cheap reach. 2014 is about finding real reach, real fans, and real data to segment by defining the right audience to target on each platform.
• Digital advertising will refocus to content.
  A rising focus on content metrics, competition, as well as benchmarking what works best for content will become more important than ever before.
  

If you wish for more, watch Jan Rezab discuss further the above predictions: