3 Steps to Mining the Social-Mobile-Realtime Golden Triangle

This week Google has put real time front and center.  And for those of us reading the Google tea leaves, mobile and social are clearly important parts of their mix for 2010.

How can you take advantage of what Fred Wilson call the “megatrend” Golden Triangle of social, mobile and realtime in 2010?  Here are three steps you can take to ensure you get your share of this emerging mother lode:

1. Concentrate and converse Sharpen and focus your social presence.  If you’re in too many social places, evaluate which channels are delivering audience relevant to your goals.  This step forces you to stop mining mediocre veins and concentrate effort where it will count most.
2. Research which mobile devices your audience carries and how they use them Don’t skip this crucial step.  Good resources include the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, Nielsen’s Telecom Practice and comScore.  Resolve not to waste money and time developing mobile solutions that your core audience can’t access or don’t regularly use.
3. Help decision makers understand real time. If your senior leaders don’t understand social media yet, you need to spend time and effort here.  Taking advantage of real-time opportunities isn’t an all-or-nothing leap.  Create “on-deck” offers you reserve to put into action when the moment is right.  Test.  Build real-time muscles with cross-functional “go” teams who have been trained on the steps to take to leverage real-time opportunities.

If this is the first time you’re reading about the Golden Triangle, more observations on this emerging “megatrend” follow.  Happy Mining!

Fred Wilson, Oct 10, 2009: “The Golden Triangle”

“What if you build a service that is mobile, social, and real-time? Well that’s a big opportunity folks and I’ve been seeing quite a few entrepreneurs doing exactly that. It is an exciting time.”

Brian Solis, Nov 18, 2009: “The Golden Triangle”

“As we traverse [the triangle of social-mobile-realtime], let us not forget the ties that bind us. Services and products aside, it is the construct of the Golden Triangle that facilitates a new genre of content production, distribution, and consumption as well as social interaction and collaboration. It’s borderless, untethered, and practically device agnostic.”

James Ball, Dec 9, 2009: “Real Time Search & Social Media: Time Waits for No Man”

Real-time search is “more than just another prediction for 2010, it’s happening now. … If you’re not already using a smart-phone to navigate the web/social media/email/Etc., now would be a great time to take that leap. This is all moving directly into the palm of your hand, and this too will be sooner rather than later.”