In an ever changing world what should business be aware of in the coming year? Here area my 5 to keep an eye on.

1. Social Networking Increasingly Popular with Older Users

If your marketing demographic includes those over the age of 50, you may want to look at how you could reach them through social media channels. Research shows that of internet users over age 50:

• From 2009 to 2010 social networking by those age 50-64 grew by 88% (25% to 47%)

• From 2009 to 2010 social networking by those age 65+ doubled (13% to 26%)

This growth is significant compared to younger age groups, who use social networking more, but only saw growth of 13% from 2009 to 2010.

Of particular note is growth in the use of status update tools like Twitter to share and follow updates.

2. The Importance of Being Likeable (At least on Facebook)

Growing your fan base on Facebook Pages will continue to be extremely important, as the size of the user base is staggering, with 500 million users and 50% of users checking Facebook daily.

Adding to your fans will depend on:

• Regularly adding valuable content

• Engaging your fans through commenting

• Offering fan-only content

The last point is especially important, as Facebook users need a reason to like you. Exclusive content is a proven strategy.

3. Continuing Growth in Geolocation for eMarketers

Geolocation-enhanced services like Foursquare have proven very popular with users, as they work to serve relevant local content. Savvy eMarketers can use the technology to offer up special offers or coupons for local businesses. Other services include:

• Facebook Places

• Gowalla

• Loopt

4. m-Commerce Grows as Internet-Enabled Devices Gain Rapid Adoption

The mobile web is increasingly gaining traction as internet-enabled devices are everywhere and users are increasingly using their devices for m-commerce. Spending is expected to exceed £72 billion in the next four years.The UK leads the world in smartphone adoption, and this means an accelerated path for consumer acceptance.The big challenge lies in businesses not keeping pace with consumer demands for fast, easy applications that display well on mobile devices.

5. Real-Time Web Now Makes Timely Content Easy to Distribute

The real-time web allows users to get content as soon as it’s published. Tools like Twitter and Facebook can publish in real-time with status updates. Real-time search like Google realtime allows searchers to find up-to-the-second results from social media tools, articles and blog posts.

Real-time search is used today by marketers to find targeted prospects, but going forward we’ll see advancements such as real-time ecommerce begin to gain traction.