"Facebook Forever, Man"
Two years ago if somebody had told me that I would spend most of my time scrolling on social media split between Snapchat and Tiktok, I’d laughed and said, “Facebook forever, man.”
The world of social media continues to change on a weekly, if not daily, basis. With Elon Musk’s recent purchase of Twitter combined with this brand new form of social media called BeReal; it’s almost impossible to keep up with all of the changes taking place around us.
Our goal today is not to overwhelm you with more things to add to your to-do list, but rather to educate you so that when your teenage daughter asks you to pose in her BeReal you won’t stand there lookin’ like a fool. We want to give you the tools you need to make informed decisions about what your business should/should not be actively participating in.
The world might not be ready for your plumbing company’s BeReal account; however, have you considered incorporating TikTok into your strategy? Let’s dive in and break it down below with some updates from some new and some of our favorite social media platforms.
BeReal
If your audience consists of Gen Z consumers then you better listen up. I’m not asking you to run out and download this app right this second, but I do want to give you a little information as to how brands are becoming early adopters of this new form of ad-free social. BeReal is a relatively new social platform where, once a day, you receive a notification that you have two minutes to snap a photo of what you’re doing and then share it with your friends who are also bound to those same time constraints.
The idea is, well you guessed it, to be real with your friends and show off what is happening in your world at a randomly selected time throughout the day. It’s kind of like a game for those that check the app once a day. An interesting element they’ve added is that the photo is actually taken with both your front-facing camera and rear-facing camera to capture every angle of “the moment” in all its glory.
You can com
ment and react to your friend's posts and engage with brands that may be offering special BeReal exclusive deals. If you are going to dive headfirst and download this app, be sure to focus on creating authentic and relatable content.
The real question is how long until BeReels become a thing? If they aren’t already in the works we should try to make some money from that idea.
This is my version of BeeReal (featuring my sleepy pup, Bee)
TikTok
Holy smokes – The growth we’ve seen with TikTok over the past two years has been absolutely unreal (in contrast to BeReal). From someone who rejected the app for quite some time, it has easily become one of my all-time favorite platforms. Looking for a recipe for dinner tonight? You won’t find me Googlin’ that because I’m already on TikTok searching for dinner recipes. Need some Christmas gift ideas? Look no further.
TikTok’s algorithm is so powerful that it can entertain people for hours once they’ve interacted with enough videos on the platform. Did you know that overnight the TikTok community created a mini-society with its own economy and laws and also managed to destroy it on the same day? That’s power.
What we’ve seen with TikTok over the last two years is that if you are a company using the platform, you need to create authentic content surrounding a niche audience. Hopping on trends is a great way to gain traction but sometimes being yourself and showing off cool services your business offers is enough to gain a following. There’s something for everyone on TikTok.
You just never know when a billionaire will purchase your widely successful company and derail it. In a matter of weeks since the acquisition took place, the company has lost 70% of its employees and loses more and more major advertisers daily due to the serious issues Twitter has been facing.
They are looking to update the platform and make major changes but it doesn’t seem to be resonating with their current users. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for this once-loved platform.
Meta (a.k.a Facebook & Instagram)
Oh, Meta… Facebook… Instagram… Whatever you choose to be – how we love and hate you. In this neck of the woods, advertising on Meta is still the best bang for your buck.
It has proven time and time again to be the most affordable when it comes to CCP (cost per click) and conversions. The platform’s Business Manager is far from user-friendly but they are working to improve the backend almost weekly which is both a pro and a con. Pro, because we love to see things work in a more functional way. Con, because once you get used to something it disappears entirely.
We don’t see this social advertising platform going away anytime soon so this would be a great starting place if you’re looking to dabble in the world of social media.
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Now we haven’t forgotten about our friends at Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn, or Youtube - we just haven’t hit gold with marketing on these platforms in this region. They can still be effective tools depending on who your target audience is.
Let Twitter serve as an example as to why it is dangerous to play in someone else’s sandbox. You don’t own that platform or your audience even if you paid to gain followers. While social media is an incredibly important part of your marketing strategy, don’t put all of your hopes and dreams into a single outlet.
At the end of the day, the only digital presence you truly own is your website and your email list - Protect those at all costs and then find ways to add social to your strategy. As always, we’re here to help! If you have any questions whatsoever about what direction you should take your organic social in, please do not hesitate to reach out.