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It’s not as easy as it seems in the above picture. If you are an entrepreneur thinking of a startup idea for 2013 or exploring pivoting your existing startup, what markets should you approach and what product should you build?

This topic has come up again and again in my conversations with venture capitalists and corporate executives. Based on those conversations with various experts in the industry, here are my predictions.

1. 2013 is going to be the year for social media marketing. Organizations are finally going to figure out how to measure, monetize and translate social media to create business value. Even though 70% of corporations have already adapted some form of platform for social media, the annual capital spend on social media is less than $10,000 on average. This will change in 2013; social media will be tightly integrated into the marketing plans. Most social projects that are experiments inside marketing departments will soon become mainstream across entire organizations.
2. Enhanced mobile advertising models. This is the Holy Grail that has not been cracked yet. Brands are getting fed up with traditional display banners and demanding mobile rich media ads. Mobile advertising is the fastest growing segment currently accounting for less than 5% of all advertising budgets, totaling $3B annually. This number will significantly increase next year spearheaded by advertising on tablets. With a true convergence happening across linear, social and offline purchases, vendors and advertisers will figure out efficient ways to capture users’ attention along with increased engagement.
3. Enterprise gamification. Almost every platform will have some form of gamification angle to it. We are currently seeing this trend across marketing platforms, enterprise employee training platforms and second-screen applications. 2013 will be the year where enterprise gamification will eclipse consumer gamification.
4. “So-Mofying”. Lately there has been a surge of VC investments in startups that provide technology to make the enterprise more social or mobile. This will peak in 2013. Enterprises/brands will need to think about mobile optimization strategies and how increase downloads for their applications.
5. Mobile Retail. This is another area where companies are coming out of the woodwork. I am not referring to mobile payment companies, but companies providing in-store and out-of-store shopping experiences, in-store navigation experiences, and social and mobile sharing of products.
6. Set-top boxes in 2013 will go through significant changes. Content owners and distributors are looking to increase engagement and provide a better experience in and across the linear channels. Consumers will begin to see enhanced visual guides, seamless integration with second screens, and seamless switching between VOD and linear broadcast.

That’s it for now. I am shutting down the crystal ball and getting back to work.