The Deconstruction of Social Media

If I were to try and boil down the evolution of social media to a bulleted list, it would be a long list. I will spare you that. I've been working in the social media space directly & indirectly for over 12+ years & probably the most significant thing I've seen over that time has been an evolution with both brands and consumers. Each has become savvier. Brands, in the creation of content, and consumers in the consumption of said content.

Both are chasing creative nirvana. As content creators and content consumers, we're chasing the proverbial high. For creators, it's no longer about going viral once in a blue moon, it's about constantly creating, maintaining, AND keeping eyeballs on fresh content. It's why we follow right? As consumers, we crave what entertains us. We want what enthralls us. We want to be rewarded for loyalty and we want deals.

As creators, we're all trying to scratch the itch of the user. Feed the demand. It's why the bar keeps getting raised. Or is it lowered? As consumers, we want to be visually, spiritually, and emotionally fed. We want to be moved. As a marketer, as a brand, and even as a creator, it's about trying to deliver or feed that need. I can tell you firsthand, these are the questions that keep everyone up at night: What can I do that will move my audience? What content? what format? what channel? Will this content connect? Will it resonate? Will it convert?

There's one problem through. Let's say, you're able to answer all of those questions and your audience is there and your user base is growing rapidly. Here are ten questions you really need to be asking yourself:

1. What are you going to do with them once you have them?
2. How are you going to keep them?
3. Do you have an engagement strategy?
4. What's the short-term plan?
5. What is your content plan?
6. What's the long-term strategy?
7. What's the ultimate endgame?
8. How will you curate your audience?
9. How can you improve?
10. What does success look like?

As you can see these are all fairly broad-based questions but the thread that binds them really is about staying out in front. In the pre-internet days, brands ruled and consumers drooled. We listened, we obeyed. Now? Consumers call the shots and brands and creators follow their lead.

The one constant in both the pre-internet and internet worlds? Good content will win every time. Regardless of the medium. In social media, that might be the name we call it but really "social" is as much about the platform as it is about the content. Understanding the users of all the major platforms and the content they want and how they create and consume that content, that's half the battle. The other half is your ability to answer the ten questions above.