The Future of Social Media & It’s Implications for Digital Marketing
Social media has played an instrumental role in reshaping the digital marketing strategies implemented by brands. From the types of content to collaborations with various influencers, these platforms serve as a practical and personal avenue for brands to effectively communicate with their followers while simultaneously promoting their goods and services. Many of the most popular social media platforms have acknowledged the business role they play in these marketing strategies, going so far to implement native social media monitoring and analytical tools to help with content promotion. Beyond the commonplace platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter lies a whole new realm of new, up-and-coming platforms that seek to take the world by storm, with some of these platforms finding more success than others.
Take Microsoft’s rival platform to Twitch, Mixer, for example. While Twitch has seen roaring success over the past few years, Mixer, despite the signing of high-profile streamers of Ninja and Shroud, collapsed in June of 2020.
On the flip side, we can observe Twitch’s recent growth being attributed to high-profile names using the streaming service to become personal with their audience and build communities. While risks are always associated with trying something new, the potential rewards are usually always worth investigating. A brand could even be the trailblazer that gets others on board, helping the platform reach new heights in terms of its marketing potential. My recommendation follows the old adage of “not placing all of one’s eggs in a single basket.” Compare it to a stock portfolio; diversification is usually indicative of lesser risk. I find it to be worth exploring new social media platforms to find out what would work best for a brand in terms of product marketing and audience engagement. However, it could prove to be a waste of resources if it all fails. It is important for brands to understand both sides of the coin when deciding whether or not to jump on board right away to new social media platforms. I, for one, am in favor of at least experimenting and testing the platform to see if its users, as well as user habits, can help a particular brand execute their social media strategy. You could potentially be the success story that propels others into action.
By now, TikTok has surely become a household social media platform. Not only has it given rise to a whole new generation of influencers and cultural trends, it has also ushered in brand new potential to revamp digital marketing efforts within ever growing, continuously expanding user base. Although the app first launched in 2017, it has recently taken the world by storm, surpassing Facebook, Instagram, and other prominent social media platforms in terms of app store popularity.
Through the use of effects, AR filters, text, and musical overlays, the creative possibilities are endless. User-generated content, influencer partnerships, hashtags, and challenges all add to the viral, communal nature of the platform that brands would be foolish to not attempt at a minimum. All in all, TikTok is taken to a whole new level when considering the implications the platform has in terms of brand development and promoting viral content.
Current statistics suggest that TikTok will stick around and continue to play a vital role in brand marketing and content exploration. According to the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI), 90% of TikTok users access the app on a daily basis. Additionally, the DMI’s research discovered that users, on average, spend 52 minutes daily on the platform.
Coupled with the number of downloads steadily increasing on a quarterly basis, TikTok is reaching new people and expanding at an exponential rate. At this point, the only thing that could’ve realistically forced TikTok into irrelevance would have been previous legislative efforts to ban the app within the US due to data security concerns. With those efforts having been paused by the current administration, I am fairly certain that TikTok will remain a prominent social media platform for years to come.
Now, does it make sense for brands to rush and put a lot of resources towards implementing TikTok into their digital marketing strategy? Not necessarily. New social media platforms come with their own unique learning curves, as well as an adjustment period to work out kinks in content creation that shows signs of success. Given the primarily visual nature of the platform, more efforts would need to be placed in storytelling and highlighting the features of a product or service in a creative way.
While having a diversified social media portfolio is unanimously helpful, this trial and error period can help brands understand if the platform is worth a heavy resource investment. While TikTok might be great for establishing brand voice and generating brand awareness, it might not be as successful at marketing specific products. Additionally, when considering the user habits of the platform, TikTok may require an increased amount of attention to ensure that enough content is continuously being promoted so not to fade to the background of a user’s feed. However, regardless of what platforms a brand may seek to add to their repertoire, establishing important KPIs and metrics will provide the overall context as to what defines success. This may look like diverting only some resources but not all, but if that leads to greater success, so be it. Trends are only trendy if you find them to be appropriate. It could always be worth a shot to try something new.
