Social Media and Marketing in 2014, I believe, will show users and businesses being more accountable for what they say, post, share and interact with. Advertising has to continue to become increasingly innovative and catchy, using a deeper level of engagement and will invade all your favourite networks whether you want it or not.

Prediction #1:

Employee Advocates

People don’t trust big brands. Most understand that the people who work for these multi-billion dollar faceless companies are just doing it for the money. However, if these employees actually go out of their way to tell us, the lowly consumer, that the company is responsible, nice to the people who work there and that the products are top notch, then that is worth gold.

These employees become more than people behind a computer or a sales desk, but ambassadors for the product and more friendly faces of the company on a grass-roots level.

On social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn, people can support, follow and share messages from their company to their own network. This immediately creates resonance and shows that the companies can be trusted.

Prediction #2:

Analytics Moves From Page-Views To Events

It doesn’t really matter how many people are visiting your website if you don’t have a clue what they’re doing there.

Analytics is moving beyond Google’s solution toward products like MixPanel, which concentrates on the ‘events’ (each click) that the user takes on their journey through the page from landing to converting.

Prediction #3:

Further Emphasis on Brand Responsibility

Consumers have an unending choice to make. Where to shop, who to trust and who deserves my money? Brands now have to show that buying from them is a beneficial transaction. Not just for the consumer and the company, but for the environment, community or an ideal.

Prediction #4:

No Privacy

From Facebook to the NSA, everyone can read your ‘private’ messages. If you’re posting it online, make sure that you’re deliberate about it. All your blog posts, likes and DMs are trackable to you, so be responsible about it.

If you have a brand, or personal image to cultivate, then make sure every single item that leads back to you helps support your persona, both online and off. Because if you’re irresponsible online, it can have real-world repercussions. On the flip-side of that, if you’re awesome online and are leading conversations and influencing people for the better, then you will be rewarded with anything from new followers, to Klout perks to future job opportunities.

Thanks for reading and follow me on Twitter – @JamesRCS