Facebook Nevers and the Inevitable Decline of a Duopoly
Facebook is losing the battle for young adults. Instead, Snapchat and Instagram are seeing upticks in their numbers of younger users at the expense of Facebook, and we may be seeing the signs of a generation that will never embrace Facebook, at least not to the point of older generations. It’s on this trend that Snapchat is hanging its hopes. It may not be the massive platform of the modern age in terms of user numbers, but when it comes to the younger demographic, it holds a lot of power.
What about this larger trend? A generation that never uses Facebook would be almost unfathomable in today’s marketing landscape that’s dominated by the likes of Google and Facebook, but that may be the future.
Several years ago Facebook attempted to acquire Snapchat. It didn’t do that because it was afraid Snapchat would steal its users. It did so in fear that younger consumers would never adopt Facebook. The Facebook killer isn’t a new app or platform. The killer is a generation that determines Facebook just isn’t for them.
Obviously, that sale never went through, but Facebook wasn’t left wanting. With Instagram in its product portfolio, it certainly has a tool in its tool belt to survive a generation that deems Facebook isn’t for them.
Breaking the Duopoly
Millennials changed the way marketers thought about reaching consumers. Brands needed to take a more authentic, less commercialized approach, while moving from the traditional world to the digital one. This next generation is going to take that even further, but it won’t be enough to be digital.
Brands are going to need to diversify their approaches to digital. The Facebook/Google duopoly is only as strong as the audience its able to reach. As new generations of consumers invest in more places, marketers will be forced to as well.