The new year is coming on us and as we say good bye to 2009, which for most industries was a challenging year, we need to keep our eyes on the future. By far, 2010, will be the year when social media marketing is going to get really SERIOUS. You may ask, what does that mean?

For most part, like every maturing industry, here is what we can expect:

1. Consolidation: All the companies that support features and functions for Twitter and Facebook will see some consolidation.

2. Metrics Matter: For those managing marketing budgets, will start to put practices and metrics in place that will help them analyze social media spend and ROI.

3. More Adaptation: The MarketingSherpa report also notes U.S. marketers plan to increase budgets, cites eMarketer. Retail and e-commerce marketers are more likely to increase social media marketing budgets next year, 79%, followed by publishing and media at 63% and computer hardware and software companies at 55%.

Here is a small twist: It is true that 2010 will make ’social media’ more serious and that brings us back to SOCIAL in social media.

Continue Reading on my column at Active Garage: Social media in 2010: Relationships matter more than ever before