As social networks become even more important for reaching customers, by the end of 2010 Facebook will be the No. 1 social networking site in all but 25 countries and will attain a total membership of 600 million (including inactive accounts and a small number of users with multiple accounts), according to Gartner.

However, Facebook will not be the No. 1 social network in Brazil, Russia, India, China, or Japan. 

Meanwhile, customer relationship management (CRM) will remain high on the business agenda in 2010 as the single most logical way to differentiate the business, according to Gartner.

Below, other Gartner predictions for CRM in 2010 and beyond.

Social Media

  • Marketers and customer service management will need to switch focus from the large number of social networks to the three or four that will dominate specific languages.
  • By the end of 2010, more than 80% of market growth in social applications will center around a business case for improving external customer relationships, rather than improving internal collaboration.
  • Among social projects evaluated by Gartner, those with a clear and direct mutual purpose (benefits for both company and customer) are the most like to show measurable results. Social application vendors that make a business case for social media, including with hard metrics and specific outcomes, will see double- or triple-digit growth in 2010.

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Gartner: Key CRM Predictions for 2010

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