I’m not a fan of New Year predictions when it comes to digital trends. Too many talking heads gush twaddle, and their predictions are either blindingly obvious – mobile commerce, anyone? – or so ridiculously buzz-wordy that you end up not understanding their forecasts but assume they’re deep and meaningful because the wording they use is so complex.

Yet despite myself I’ve been rhapsodising to anyone who listens about the future of social commerce, and how product curation – alongside content and conversation – is the next big thing. It’s something I was working on last year with a retail client, but it’s only in the last few months that the epiphany has really settled. It’s accepted by the particularly clever that the future of digital browsing is heavy with user curation (as seen in apps such as Flipboard), and I believe product curation will influence trends in online purchases. In fact, I’d put all my money on it.

When we think about the history of advertising in comparison to where we are now, we know that control has shifted from the men in suits to the consumer. Aspirational messages don’t necessarily have the same impact they once used to, and the way brands speak to customers has changed. Consumers are not spoken to, they are spoken with – and now that companies are having multiple conversations rather than one, marketing to consumers has become complicated. We can use social data to further segment customers, we can be clever and create compelling content which we hope increases conversion rates, but ultimately brands are now at the mercy of the consumers in a way never seen before. We are their bitches, and we do not like it.

And whereas brands once had to persuade bloggers and ‘influencers’ to like their stuff, now we have social content curators to contend with. These are the super-users on ‘traditional’ networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and they’re also rising up the ranks on sites such as Pinterest. They’re the person who somehow always manages to find the cool stuff to buy, the person who inspires us and doesn’t necessarily have an agenda in their brand involvement. They’re sharing because they want the kudos and the self-esteem boost, and fellow consumers follow because they don’t want to be talked at by traditional marketing methods any more. It’s goodbye advertorial, and hello fellow shoppers. It’s social commerce ramped up; it’s power to the people.

There’s a multitude of stats out there that suggest that users have more confidence in user reviews and ratings than any information given by someone in ‘power’ (the PR, the brand representative, the journalist writing about the product). This isn’t anything new.  But when a consumer chooses to ignore these calculated marketing messages, there’s a blip in the broadcast – and a super-user can move into it. They can suddenly be the authority on your brand, and you’re powerless to stop them.  It’s the same reclaiming ethos that spurs on crowd-funding projects, Occupy Wall St-style protests, and possibly even London riots.  And if you can’t stop them, well, the only thing you can do is to join them.

Brands who understand the importance of product curation will be the ones who flourish in 2012. Companies who relinquish a certain amount of power and allow hyper-personalisation will be those who see the most conversion. Yes, brilliant mobile sites are important, and we mustn’t ignore customer service on social networks, the socialisation of search, smart TV, gamification or whatever else is being talked about with regards to ecommerce. But most of all we need to understand that our customers are individuals who want to repackage our propositions as part of the personalisation of their digital profile. For consumers are no longer just what they look like or what they say – they are also now what they buy, and brands cannot afford to ignore this.

This column originally appeared in New Media Age magazine.