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We Now Operate In An Era of 'Earn'
September 9, 2014
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As I waited for the big Apple event this week and the announcement of iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and what will become known as the Apple Watch, I started thinking about how mobile has propelled the use of social media.
Social platforms were around long before smartphones, but the rise in the use of Facebook, Twitter, and others is being credited to mobile, and these social apps. They are what drive most of our social consumption today.
At any moment when you look at the top apps used, social media is always well represented. ComScore recently broke down top apps used by various age groups.
While Facebook, the big dog, is universally used by all, look at just how much social is being consumed on mobile devices -- especially by the younger end of Millennials:
This should tell anyone who steers the culture for a brand socially that communicating with fans must grow beyond Facebook if you're to ever earn any believability as a real time brand with the younger end.
This is not to imply that it's smart to move away from Facebook, but it is a call to carefully study the trends. Even with Jacobs Media's Techsurvey 10, we saw growing usage in the "secondary platforms" among different format fans.
And that's why it's very tough to hear people driving brands socially dismiss the smaller platforms. Whether it's rejecting Twitter because only a smaller portion of their audience tweets, or ignoring Instagram because they only get 17 'likes' on a picture -- secondary platforms still matter.
But ego-driven thoughts and focus on vanity metrics will fail a brand, every time.
Think more strategically in the social space. Harness the ego and those knee-jerk responses, and develop the discipline and patience required to build active social fan bases.
This stuff takes time. It's a process. We no longer operate in the era of entitlement, where hundreds of people just show up and gather to cheer us on because we're a radio station.
Times have changed. We now operate in an "era of earn."
And when you're not earning your fan base by being where they are socially - regardless of the smaller size -- you're giving them permission to form new loyalties elsewhere.
Secondary platforms are important, especially the ones that are solid in the mobile arena. You just need to know where to go -- after Facebook. That's where trends and research come in handy.
Don't get sucked into the Facebook vortex -- it may be fun for the ego -- but doing little for your growth. And as Taco Bell CMO Chris Brandt puts it so powerfully,
"If You're Doing The Same Thing You Were A Year Ago, You're Already Behind."
So jump in -- play around with Snapchat, start becoming a visual storyteller on Instagram, and live tweet with fans (not at them).. Exciting things can happen.
It won't be long before AllAccess and Jacobs Media start talking about Techsurvey11, launching early in 2015. To get a true picture of your brand's "social footprint," participation in this study is the smartest thing you can do.
Reach out to me anytime on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter.
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