The social (media) dilemma
As a population with stark generational demands and preferences, we are all looking for our information in different places. How does a business maintain its reputation amongst the changing tides, ‘out with the old in with the new’, how can they cling on to their market share when their markets are changing or perhaps fading…
In this social age we are constantly bombarded with tailored advertising and information based on algorithms designed to keep us engaged, feeding us the information we have already decided that we want to see. If you want to know what this means, watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix. Bending the algorithm is complex and more often than not it is expensive with little result. To make progress you must reach your audience through many different means.
Whatever social platforms your business uses (most sectors will have their defaults) remember that the purpose of them is to interact with your market, not simply to broadcast or in many cases advertise. The minimum requirement should at least be to add value or insight, best case, create a dialogue. Rather than only having one message on one platform, to stand a chance of reaching the right target markets, businesses should tailor their message to different platforms and this is where having a clear proposition is vital.
Safety in numbers, target communities instead
So rather than thinking about social media platforms as silos and disparate in your marketing tool kit, a surprising remedy could be provided by online communities, which represent different or deeper interests of your target market. One online community is LadBible, with a gender split of 49% male and 51% female(!), they offer a not unique, but very tempting offer of reaching 75% of 18-34 year olds in the UK. Described as “the biggest community in the world for a social generation” LadBible can share your message across its many platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok and Facebook. This is a great example of where online multigenerational communities can boost and engage with your business.
However, I cannot see the professional services (especially traditional law firms) using LadBible any time soon. But do not despair, there are many online communities and groups to engage with, often rallied by a hashtag or common interest. Where expertise is the service, the unsung hero of boosting a business’ profile is its employees. By building brand advocates in an online community (i.e. LinkedIn or Twitter), employees can make businesses relevant and known. To be commercial we segment our audiences and focus on where the work will come from, but with such a differentiated marketplace already, it's important to make some wider ripples of awareness and credibility to your incoming target audience and wider community as whole.
But to achieve the widest ripples, businesses need to be representative of our population. Generationally, ethnically, by gender, sexual orientation, disability and cognitively. For on and offline communities to engage, businesses must make strides towards being representative of, and understanding the community and marketplace it serves.
