We live in an age of ad avoidance. What started with DVRs enabling consumers to skip commercials, continued with ‘Skip’ buttons after viewing ads for so long, evolved into premium entertainment subscriptions for commercial-free programming and ultimately became a behavior of installing ad blockers, has made people really, really good at avoiding ads.
Read MoreBuilding and sustaining relationships at scale is tough work, and it’s gotten even more difficult over the past few years. Marketers got used to building up followings across social networks in order to communicate with customers about deals, product updates and content relevant to their lives. Then it all came crashing down.
The algorithms came and with them came dramatically less effective communication between brands and their followers across social networks. It seemed the ability to sustain relationships was over. After all, if you can’t communicate with your audience, maintaining those relationships becomes difficult.
That mindset’s always been a problem with social media marketing. Relationships is such a squishy word. After all, people follow a brand because they have a relationship with it. They don’t have a relationship because they follow the brand. Relationship marketing became synonymous with social media marketing, and social media marketing is often synonymous with the platforms that make up social media.
Read MoreIt’s a conundrum as old as the Facebook Page itself. What is a like worth?
Not much at all.
Read MoreThere’s officially more quality content out there than we have time for. Platforms from Facebook and Snapchat to Netflix and Amazon are in a tug-of-war for user attention. It’s what has led Netflix to invest $6 billion in original content and Facebook to pursue a set-top box app for users to enjoy exclusive Facebook content on their TVs. There’s a deluge of content, and a lot of it is really, really good.
Consumer time and attention is split across different content, devices and senses. Even when some content is being consumed, it’s often at odds with other content a consumer is engaging with on another device. 90% of Millennials use their phones while using another device, which is exactly why I constantly ask my wife what just happened on a show we’re watching.
A lack of attention will be one of the biggest impediments for brands looking to grow. When consumers are unable and unwilling to lend their attention, brand messages can’t get through.
Read MoreThe election is over, but politics is here to stay 24/7 for the foreseeable future. Today, everything is politicized. That’s no secret to you because one of the things that’s been politicized most is our social feeds, which are inundated with news and posts from (mostly) well-meaning people sharing their thoughts and opinions. The Obama and Biden memes are the last funny thing to make its way onto the Internet as of late, and yes, even those were political.
These are not ordinary times. Facebook has taken drastic steps to overhaul its approach to how news is shared and consumed on its platform because of its role in the dissemination of fake news. Twitter has found new relevance (for better or for worse) in its ability to share and shape policy decisions from the government. These platforms are working to define their roles in a political environment they, at the very least, helped create.
These are most certainly not ordinary times, and brands need to be paying attention.
Read MoreThe holidays are a time to get together with friends and family and learn just how inept you’ve become compared to your younger family members. Watching an experienced Snapchat user go to work as they respond, Snap and share is… impressive.
As a Millennial, I like to think I can consume a lot and respond quickly, but my generation will look incredibly slow compared to the next generation. Marketers should take note. They are not going to give marketers any time to make their cases. Marketers need to embrace the speed and responsiveness of the Snapchat generation.
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