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What the heck should you do with social media in marketing these days?
Content and marketing teams have been so preoccupied with AI over the last 18 months that many have failed to respond to the fundamental changes taking place in social media.
Some of these changes are based on AI, such as Meta's introduction of AI chatbots on Facebook and Instagram. Others, like the forced divestiture of TikTok, the demise of
These headlines and the more granular changes that come with them should prompt marketers to change the way they use social media platforms for business success. Let's take a look at what's going on under the hood of social media.
Social media grows differently
Social media platforms devalue general news of any kind. Instead, they try to captivate their audience in walled gardens.
Similar web data shows that traffic to Facebook and X news sites fell sharply as of October 2023. Casual sharing, posting and commenting are also declining. The reasons range from the “dismantling” of Twitter in X and concerns about misinformation to general user fatigue.
Still, social media consumption is up almost everywhere, with the exception of Facebook and Twitter (sorry, X).
Where has the “social” gone?
Direct messages and chat.
Research shows that people still spend at least two hours a day consuming social media. But among the top apps and websites, social media ranks behind direct messages and text messages.
Sharing no longer occurs on publicly accessible social media channels. The “social” of social media now takes place in communities where friends share content in private groups, SMS groups, and one-on-one messages.
Social media, as I said, is simply becoming media.
Followers are less important
To varying degrees, all platforms have copied elements of the TikTok algorithm when displaying content to their audiences. These changes appear to be positive.
Instagram recently made significant changes to its Reels algorithm, countering the long-standing proliferation of accounts that aggregate content. It now recognizes whether the post is an original or an aggregated (i.e. republished) post and gives preference to the original content. Additionally, content from aggregators may be removed from the recommendation feature.
What's more interesting is that Instagram has also changed its algorithm to discover smaller YouTubers. This should be good news for social media marketers who run accounts with smaller followings. Your content will attract more attention and cut through the noise of those with large followings.
However, with these changes come even more disruptive implications for the value of social media. The biggest seismic shift is around the importance of followers and community.
Many platforms have introduced more “for you” content to their feeds (à la TikTok). You no longer prioritize content from people or brands someone follows. Instead, they optimize the content feed based on the user's actual behavior and content consumption, favoring content from “new” creators over those the user follows.
Simply put, social media platforms now emphasize the value of having a large following (or audience), refuting lies about what brands have spent years building. The new focus means every post has to compete to be seen.
What does this mean for marketers?
All of these changes to the social media platform can leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused about how to adjust your marketing and content strategy. Let’s tackle some of the biggest disruptions together.
Public communities are mostly dead
Many brands are still trying to use their social media marketing to build a public community with their customers. While some outlier brands could pull this off, most will struggle. Instead, marketers can better build communities through more private distribution, such as a Slack channel, a proprietary community platform, or event-based programs.
Newsfeeds are completely dead
All platforms emphasize the nature of articles and links and audience participation decreases. If you fill your social media feed with content from your blog, a bunch of links promoting your latest news, or links to your brand's new products, you're unlikely to find value in the age of social media.
Promote your own media strategy
“So, wait a minute,” you might ask. “If followers don’t matter and we’re supposed to entertain, engage or educate on the platform itself, how do we build an audience on our own media?”
A shift in the social media platform led to the trend towards a paid content network rather than an organic one. The consensus concluded that organic reach was dead. In order for your content to reach the audience, you had to pay for posts or ads to promote it.
But there are more options now as algorithms enable possible organic discovery through “for you” recommendations (and there is less competition from random images of breakfast, sunsets and news exchanges).
The strategic marketing goal remains the same: attract social media audiences into your own media ecosystem so they can become addressable audiences for your brand.
You can achieve this goal in creative ways. Think of your social media content as a means to create value in this moment. Then ask these audiences if they would like to engage further by visiting, contacting, or subscribing.
“Eventize” your content
One of the biggest trends I see in driving more traffic through social media is “eventizing” your content. Create content that is ephemeral or has a short half-life. Focus on improving the visitor's ability to take immediate action when they see the post, rather than relying on longer-term engagement.
Humanize your content
Audiences still value human faces and names more than brands and product names. Now there are exceptions, but if you don't know if your brand is an exception, it isn't. Brands that collaborate with influencers and engage their employees can distribute their social media content more widely. In some cases, this strategy can beat the company's channel on the social media platform.
Social media can remain an important part of your integrated marketing mix. But to succeed in 2024, focus on creating engaging, ephemeral content that captures attention in the moment and directs users to owned media channels for further engagement.
It's your story. Say it well.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
