Social media has been viewed as a place where a brand can build up a community of advocates, but anymore, a community it definitely is not. Brands can’t reach their fans or followers without paying, and attention is fleeting in feeds filled with content from friends, family, publishers and competitive brands. This isn’t community. This is media.
Read MoreFans, followers, subscribers are all terms common in social media marketing, and they're things that brands have invested time and dollars into accruing. But it’s been long established that algorithms have made these people all but useless to brands because reaching them organically is next to impossible.
Read MoreSnapchat is no longer Snapchat. It’s Snap. Snap’s not a social network. It’s a camera company. That camera company just launched a consumer product. Spectacles. You look at today’s social landscape, and it becomes painfully obvious that this landscape is anything but social. It’s everything.
We operate in a world where the platforms that were once considered “social" play a much larger and more prolific role in a holistic digital ecosystem.
Read MoreThere is one thing that’s on the to-do list almost every day for countless brands: post to social channels. A lot of brands do it. They ensure something new goes up on Facebook, a new tweet gets sent, something gets posted to Instagram and so on. All in the name of sustained engagement with fans and followers, but a post doesn’t go as far as it used to.
Read MoreThere isn’t an industry out there isn’t facing some kind of disruption. Nimble competitors enabled by technology are redefining the value propositions of entire categories. This isn’t only a challenge facing established companies, but new companies are disrupting each other as well. Disruption means waning loyalty, fickle consumers and constantly proving and re-proving a brand’s value.
Read MoreReal-time marketing’s been said at least multiple times by every marketer in America. What took off with one tweet during the 2013 Super Bowl has turned into a brand pile-on when royal births are announced, the Grammy’s happen or even a random food holiday has its time on the calendar. It was once a way to stand out from the crowd. Now, it’s just a way to be part of it. Everyone’s doing it, and there are no shortage of bad examples from brands. The Prince tributes may take the cake, however.
Real-time marketing had its moment in the sun. Now, it’s growing up. (Many) Marketers are getting smarter with their choices in when and how they react.
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