In the future, we will probably see new social networks emerge depending on the kind of content that becomes popular at that time.
Your primary engagement strategies?
Blogging and Facebook ads are my favourite marketing strategies because they give such a great ROI.
I highly recommend blogging for a number of reasons, including establishing thought leadership, branding and growing your search impact.
Facebook marketing is simple to setup, gives a great ROI and works brilliantly for local businesses.
Your favourite Social Media Marketing tools?
Hootsuite - for social media scheduling
Google Analytics - to monitor the success of our social media efforts
Twitonomy - for detailed Twitter metrics and reports.
Your biggest prediction for Social Media Marketing?
I have been online since 2001 and seen social media evolve from forums to full-fledged social networks. Because it provides a place to build community and branding, social media networks like Facebook will remain important for a long time, just as Google has been around for a decade.
However, more social networks will evolve for different kinds of content, just as Instagram and Snapchat have evolved to promote the sharing of visual content. In the future, we will probably see new social networks emerge depending on the kind of content that becomes popular at that time.
The next up-and-coming social media platform?
Visual media networks, like Instagram and Snapchat, are growing very fast, especially with millennials and I think they will continue to grow in importance.
But just as Facebook and Twitter have replaced Orkut and MySpace, new networks may come along to capture our imagination and provide innovative ways of sharing content.
Will SMM become increasingly pay-to-play?
Definitely. They won't survive if they don't learn to monetize. However, for users, they will remain free.