My predictions for 2013!

• More & more companies around the world (small, medium, big) will be moving to public clouds (social media) to embrace new marketing tactics, expand their customer base, save money on huge budget marketing campaigns.
• Various organizations will have to deal with preserving, supporting & maintaining their Big Data in Clouds. Big data, as the innovative bridge empowering the connection between businesses & their customers.
• Current social media firms, will focus on mobility. They will spend resources trying to generate additional sources of revenues through mobile ads. Monetizing mobility, as the big bet.
• More people will be going online via mobile or portable devices than their desktops.
• Patent wars (Apple vs Samsung), will probably continue in 2013 among tech giants, settling lawsuits, chasing after media exposure, increasing industry fragmentation. Patent wars exhaust rivals, add market share & value to the winner.
• Visual platforms like Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. will be driving significant traffic to their interfaces. Visual platforms, as enablers of brand engagement.
• Google's Hangout will be explored by more musicians & bands that want to host a virtual performance. Big brands will be using Hangout as a social CRM.
• Gangnam Style showed the way for the globalization aspect of modern connected societies, beyond cultural barriers. The web & digital media, as a global arena for sharing viral content. The trend spotted here, will be promoting a massive event and then have domestic memes that feed the viral phenomenon (extend product life cycle).
• Large numbers of people in China (a country slowly becoming Westernized at its own pace) will be moving to cities & metropolitan areas, raising wages, unbalancing the low - cost status quo which Western companies have invested in.
• Companies will be outsourcing social media engagement to the hands of digital media agencies.
• Consumers are becoming the new marketeers. Extreme word of mouth through social media, affects how people perceive or consume brands.
• Due to the Greek crisis, 2013 will be an interesting year for content creators, writers, reporters & journalists, because people out of work with their skills, will create new opportunities.
• Smartphones, tablets & bandwidth. The necessary triangle for video content producers & small firms that want to leverage in low cost video content for their ads. Personal videos will be uploaded & streamed in minutes.
• In 2013, we will see departments of companies leveraging big data & social media, as serious business tools, to create corporate benefits.
• The Singularity is coming...

- Stathis Kassios (http://skassios.com/)