This year is slowly coming to an end and folks are already planning their new and exciting conferences and events for next year.  I’ve been contacted by a few people who want to know what I think some of the hot topics in the social media space are going to be for 2009.  I definitely think there are a lot of interesting and “hot” topics, some of which are currently pressing issues of this year.  With that said here are a few of what I consider “hot” topics in the social media space for 2009:

  • Video marketing and distribution.  No doubt the video space is hot and will be hot next year.  How can companies utilize video marketing and distribution channels to reach their audience and drive company goals and objectives?
  • Social media tools.  What should companies be using and why?  What are the new tools and platforms that are making their way into the spotlight?
  • ROI/Value/Measurement, whatever you want to call it, companies and executives are going to want to know what they can expect and how they can measure it.
  • Executive and employee social media education and training.  How can companies go about changing the corporate culture to encourage social media usage?  Do they want to?  Why or why not?
  • How do corporations deal with social media obstacles.  For example if one person complains on a blog and a company gives a refund does the company now owe a refund to everyone who complained?  How can corporations manage their users in a cost effective and efficient way?
  • Communication, both internal and external.  What are the possibilities with social media?  What are the different ways that companies can use social media to build relationships with their users and with their employees and stakeholders?
  • Mobile social media and mobile marketing.  What does the horizon look like?  Is it still too early for mobile?  What are the successes and failures?
  • Advertising.  Who are the social media network advertisers?  Does advertising on social networks work and to what degree?  How do you advertise on social networks?
  • Scalability.  How do companies implement social media strategies across various platforms, domains, geographical locations?  Can a company scale a social media campaign globally?  How?  What resources are required?

These are a few of the topics that I think are going to be hot for 2009.  Some of them are hot topics in 2008!  I’d love to hear from all of you, what are some of the issues/topics that you think are going to be hot in 2009?

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