2009 has definitely been a milestone year for social media. I’ve been involved in social media marketing for the last four years. Each year appears to have had its own theme.

• 2006 was the year that brands desperately needed to “Blog”. They didn’t know how or why, but that they needed to blog.
• 2007 was the year of MySpace, in terms of brands needing to be in MySpace. Again not sure why or how.
• 2008 was the migration from MySpace to Facebook, driven by the fact that the user experience on Facebook appeared to be more personal and protective of personal space.
• 2009 has definitely been the year of Twitter, we certainly use it a lot for our clients. More importantly, 2009 appears to be the year in which big brands seem to understand social media a little better and have shown commitment to establishing a credible presence within the space.

Some of the reasons why I think 2009 to be such a milestone year for brands in social media:

• Facebook Fan Pages – in the spring when Facebook introduced the Fan Page (in addition to groups) we saw an explosion of brands creating fan pages. Many of which were engaging. Unfortunately, many of which were largely untouched after creation. Though, the die is cast!
• Twitter Profiles – this year we noticed an explosion of brand Twitter profiles. Some brands discovered that Twitter is a dynamic give and take with consumers. Some brands have parked on their Twitter name until they figure it out. We just completed a Twitter sweepstakes for Kmart Bluelight Specials, which was an amazing thing to watch. The exponential reach of Twitter is mind boggling and very measurable.
• Convenience/Ease of Use/User Experience – the theme of any successful social media platform in 2009 (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc.) seems to have been that it’s convenient (makes your life easier), you don’t need to be a computer genius to use and is more about user experience than technology.
• Social Media Agency of Record Search and Social Media Brand Guru – we have experienced, first hand, that some global brands (can’t name them here unfortunately) are searching for a Social Media Agency of Record. I don’t think one exists at this point in time. The big agencies are still figuring it out and small agencies like American Pop are very specialized (though Social PR/Marketing, like us, paired with a social platform/content agency would probably be a great start). Also, many big brands have in-house social media gurus, a la Scott Monty at Ford.
• Land-Grab – we have experienced first-hand that there is a land-grab going on between Creative, Media and PR. Luckily, we work with all three as well as directly with the brands. Before this year, most social media initiatives were handled by Media Planning and treated as paid media. Social Media appears to be the catalyst for the different silos (Creative, Media, PR, Search, Content) to communicate with one another.

I’m sure 2010 will prove to be no less exciting than 2009. On a personal note, I started American Pop with my business partner, Craig Lazar, at the end of 2008. Starting a company during the worst economic downturn in 80 years was a little scary, but watching it thrive has been exhilarating to say the least. We’ve been lucky to work with some great brands and agencies in 2009 and can’t thank them enough for such a great year. I wish I could give you a list of what to expect in 2010, but that’s not my job! We didn’t put all of our eggs in any one technology, platform, etc., we have hedged our bet that the only thing that will not change in social media this year is that it is a platform to facilitate communication.