Is it that time of year already?  We’re slipping and sliding towards the start of the new year when social media is forecast to mature as a strategic communications tool for brands.

We’ve put together a quick guide to the word on the web on what’s hot for 2011 – whether your social media strategy is still a green shoot or you’re one of the trailblazers, this will help you navigate the fast-moving currents in the space.

Internal social media

Companies that use social media across departments, and beyond the marketing team, have been selected for some of the best social case studies in 2010.  Jay Baer also recommends brands should roll-out social media tools to all employees – which he defines as ‘decentralized listening’ with broader engagement: ‘Content marketing, storytelling, and understanding that ‘the difference between helping and selling is just two letters’ are hallmarks of this approach’.

The key thing to remember is – be social – your staff have the personality and consumers are looking for a discussion not saturation by brand marketing.  Social media is a community, not a traditional marketplace.  So, interact and engage.

What will be the big trends?

Starr Hall at Entrepreneur.com offers his top ten predictions for next year.  These include the rise of location-based services such as Foursquare, Facebook Places and Gowalla as people become comfortable with checking in with a business.  New video sites with a business focus such as Viddler, Vimeo and Dailymotion will also become more prevalent.  Tweet-a-thons will boost charity coffers and help brands build relationships.

The digital community on NewBusinessDaily suggests other buzz trends will include social shopping, media tablets, mobile apps and the outsourcing of social media for content and engagement.

Pulse Group CEO Mike Spicer pins his predictions on ideas, intelligence and engagement.  He believes that 2011 will be when ‘both agencies and clients alike shift their focus towards creating great ideas, that demonstrate intelligence and creativity, engage, interact with consumers and ultimately, deliver tangible ROI’.

As brands develop a fully integrated social media programme, it is also essential to select an intuitive monitoring and evaluation tool, with the option of authored intelligence reports, to provide actionable intelligence to help plan your digital strategy.  We’re here, if you would like to find out more.