2011 is gone, and 2012 has rolled in without missing a beat. The social media industry keeps growing in leaps and bounds. I often hear people say social networking is similar to the Wild Wild West! So answer this question for me personally. Would it be valuable if you knew the future social media trends for 2012? How wonderful would it not be to learn what trends come in store for the year ahead? Could you adequately plan this rapidly changing industry? On this page, I provide my 2012 predictions for the evolving trends in the social-networking industry. It’s always gratifying when my predictions become a reality. My predictions are not predicated 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 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’ve a knack for spotting social media trends. And this article lists four powerful trends unfolding right now. You can profit from what I say or ignore me, the decision 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 take advantage 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). Increase 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 to you is; create and implement “a worker social media use policy” to control business hour usage. Second, create a social media marketing intend to reach and engage this enormous market. Combining both engagement and pay per click campaigns work best.

Prediction #2) Among the largest players in the social media marketing 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. Right now several of the larger social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all share one crucial flaw. They make an effort to make it almost impossible to communicate with them. Take Facebook, for instance. They don’t list any contact information apart from a Facebook page. Sure they have lots of help pages. Yes, Facebook has a blog, lots of YouTube videos, but provides no contact number where one can call and talk to a individual? They do have a Facebook page you can enter suggestions on, but that’s it. What goes on when you get yourself a strange message from Facebook, or you’re having difficulty together with your account? You post a message and never get yourself a reply! Twitter and LinkedIn aren’t much better. They don’t really list a contact phone number or address either. However, I’ve found that they do reply to your email and posted messages, although it sometimes takes provided that seven days to obtain a reply.

In my opinion, of the very best three social media marketing companies, LinkedIn supplies the best service. Google is new in this game. It isn’t as easy to lump them in with the rest of the social media giants yet. However, I can tell you that Google includes a notoriously poor customer support reputation. It has been my experience with Google that the grade of service you receive depends upon the person you get on the phone. Fortunately that you can obtain someone on the phone! Google does list contact numbers. My advice to any business is easy, be ready to make changes to your social media campaign if you need to. Furthermore, if you’re using any of the top four social media marketing services, make a backup of one’s data. Private Jet Travel is just in case you opt to make “the switch” and ditch one of these players.

Prediction #3) Google+ can be among the top 3, in the social network arena by the end of 2012.

I know I’m going from a limb here, but I really believe this is inevitable. Google’s share size and current customer base will allow Google+ to grow at a considerably faster pace than other social media 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, they can easily integrate using these properties into their social network. This adds value to their social network. Add to this, the fact 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 make a social-networking product that is simple to operate, internet search engine friendly and innovative. These qualities’ have made them the web leader they are today. I am not sure they can keep this frantic pace forever, but for 2012, it is a done deal. My advice for you is to review where you are spending your advertising money and see if it makes sense using the Google properties. If you’re a person, 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. In the event that you curently have a Gmail account, this can only take you about five minutes. The bonus here is you can also create a Google+ Brand page with out a lot of fuss.