Just as the evolution of the telephone has led to so much more than the standard call, the prediction is that the internet will become a sort of assumption. For businesses, not a matter of “Should we participate?” or even “How do we use social media?” I believe that there will eventually be a point where these decisions will be considered some of the most basic an organization will make- almost as basic as the products and services being offered.
That does not mean that its effects should be ignored. Just as companies find success and failure in the traditional landscape, it is really just a matter of using the tools available as effectively as possible. In a University of Maryland's Smith School of Business study, small businesses reported the following regarding their social media usage:
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| image credit: mfinelydesigns via Mashable |
Imagine a survey that reported usages for tools such as:
- Telephones
- Customer Databases
- Print Advertisement
- Employee Training
I would say it's a safe assumption that successful companies employ all of these. My prediction for the future has similar characteristics: the most successful companies will use all of the tools necessary to reach their objective. The one difference- the scope of tools will be exponentially wider.
