The death of Blab and the roll out of two-person broadcasts on Facebook Live are indicators of something bigger than solely social platform changes. Keeping an eye out on what new features the social channels you’re using roll out with or which social platforms are disappearing is common sense to any business owner or social media marketer doing social media marketing. What isn’t as clear at a first glance is the fact that these continuous changes are telling entrepreneurs and social media marketers that they can’t rely on the social platforms per se to build their strategy.
Most of their time is spent _____________________
When you take on social media marketing you evaluate where your community and target audience are spending most of their time. Then you identify the best type of content that fits the social channels you’re planning to be active on and alongside this, you decide on what you want to address in your content to help your community, as well as what type of content your community enjoys consuming (live videos, blogs, podcasts, memes, etc.).
Based on these things you start creating and distributing that valuable content, but with the changes that are happening in the social media space (and the frequency with which they’re happening) it is clear that you can’t stop here; or better yet, your starting point needs to come from a slightly different place. What I mean is that you really want to start your social media content analysis and construction from your community; building your content with them in mind and only them.
Optimize content for the platform
Of course you need to adapt the content to fit the social platform you’re publishing on, but what you really want to do is establish a strong relationship with your community through that content. It’s no longer about what social platform your target market is using; you keep this in mind to get in front of them, but once that process has been initiated the rest of your content creation strategy needs to have the end goal of creating a true relationship with your community. Of a community that will become loyal to you because of the value you’re always offering; a community that will follow you when one of the social platforms you’re using dies.
Throughout my years of guiding and supporting businesses in social media marketing, the community has always come first when working on strategy and content or any online marketing component; and luckily, I’ve always had clients that have community in mind first and foremost. They know the value of social media in getting their message out there and they’re excited to have the opportunity to build true relationships with their clients and potential clients. Why? Because their ‘Why’ has always been helping others with the products and/or services they offer. This has made my job a lot easier because instead of having to prove why community needs to come first, they already know why. I’m sharing this tidbit with you because as an online marketer I’ve seen a shift this year that solidifies the community component in social media.
Think “community” first
If you think of any successful brand, you’ll notice that they’re always thinking community first. From the content to the user experience and employee experience they create, to the social platforms they adopt or change. With community first they build a brand people identify with, feel connected to; a brand that they want to follow no matter where they are online.
In this digital era, changes will take place faster and more often. Social networks and apps will come and go, but if you base your social media and online marketing efforts on building a true and caring relationship with your community, no matter what online channel or tech software dies, your community will follow you to the next one you decide to use so that they can continue having easy access to you, as well as access to the valuable content you’re sharing.
How are social media changes affecting your marketing strategy?
