My eleven year old daughter said something mildly profound the other day. My wife and I are still dealing with how much time our daughter should spend on the internet, but we agreed to let her set up her own Pinterest account, and we'll probably let her set up her own Instagram account as well ("But all my friend are on Instagram, Dad!" I am constantly informed by my daughter). Anyway, after agreeing to the Pinterest account, I asked her about Facebook. What she said shocked me. "Facebook is for grandmas," my daughter informed me. Ouch! While "old people" may still use Facebook, my daughter explained to me, none of her friends did. My daughter is only eleven-going-on-twelve, I know, so I wouldn't sell Facebook stock just yet, but I was then further surprised this week to read a post here on Social Media Today about another person who is going to forgo making a Facebook page for their new business.
Which in a round about way, leads me to my bold prediction on the future of social media marketing. Just as Dustin Hoffman was told in 1967 in the movie the Graduate that the future is in plastics, I'm saying the future of social media marketing is in pictures. I'm not saying that words are going to go away, just like paper hasn't disappeared from our offices. But smart social media marketers should begin to think more in pictures (and videos). In our more and more selfie-obsessed world, people want to see and share pictures, and hence the rise of instagram and Pinterest. In today's world of social media, an unknown Jen Selter becomes famous and gets 2.6 million followers on Instagram by taking a selfie of her behind in form-fitting yoga pants. She didn't write a clever blog post or an article on how to protect your email address from spambots. She just took a picture of her butt and shared it. The old saying is just as true today, one picture is worth one thousand words.
The future, my boy, is in pictures!