How Content Became King on Social Media

You've probably heard the phrase before; "content is king". This might make you wonder; "how did that come to be?"

Think about this phrase for a second, 'Social Media'. It's made of two words; Social and Media. You probably know what each of the words means on its own and have heard them used together many times and you've probably used the phrase yourself; but what does it really mean?

Let me begin with the word, 'Media'. Whenever we hear this word we think TV, Radio and Newspapers. The singular form of the word is 'Medium'. Here's how Oxford Dictionaries defines 'Medium' (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/medium).

medium

NOUN

1

• An agency or means of doing something.

‘using the latest technology as a medium for job creation’

‘their primitive valuables acted as a medium of exchange’

1.1 A means by which something is communicated or expressed.

‘here the Welsh language is the medium of instruction’

2

The intervening substance through which sensory impressions are conveyed or physical forces are transmitted.

‘radio communication needs no physical medium between the two stations’

From this definition we see that a 'Medium' or 'Media' in plural is the 'thing' in between two or more things that allows them to interact or communicate.

A good analogy is your 'earphones'. They connect your phone to your ears allowing you to listen to music.

But do you like the music?

The first word is "Social". This is how the same dictionary defines it:

social

ADJECTIVE

1

• attributive Relating to society or its organization.

‘alcoholism is recognized as a major social problem’

1. 2.1 Relating to or designed for activities in which people meet each other for pleasure.

‘Guy led a full social life’

In layman's terms I guess we are just saying that "Social" refers to something to do with people.

When we put the two words together and again ask the dictionary what the phrase means, this is what comes up:

social media

NOUN

• treated as singular or plural Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

‘85 % of women made decisions based on information they read in social media.’

The websites and applications like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn are the cables that connect peoples' minds so that they can share CONTENT.

"The reason most businesses are failing in their Social Media efforts is that they are concentrating on one aspect of it; SHARING and forgetting about the other more important aspect; CREATING."

Stephen Mugo, Director Marketing and Advertising Stategy, Sandi Agency, Nairobi, Kenya.

Social Media is simply about sharing content with other people.

Since Social Media is about sharing content with other people, there are two things you need to think about here:

1. Who are trying to share content with (audience)
2. What content are you trying to share with them?

So what comes first? Audience or Content?

In my opinion, audience comes first. I think audience comes first because as a business you are not trying to reach everyone with your content, you are targeting current and potential customers. This means that since you are targeting a specific group, you need to know what they are interested in which will in turn guide you in creating content that will resonate with them.

YOU CANNOT SHARE CONTENT MADE FOR 12 YEAR OLD KIDS WITH 50 YEAR OLD PEOPLE AND EXPECT A FAVORABLE REACTION FROM BOTH GROUPS.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NEITHER A CLASSROOM NOR YOUR COMPANY'S WEBSITE

Don't make the mistake of using Social Media like a classroom where people come to learn about your company and products, you are better off redirecting them to your website.

The state of mind that people are in when you engage them greatly influences how they respond to you. You wouldn't try to crack jokes at a funeral would you?

Have you ever asked yourself why you are on Facebook or Instagram? What are you looking for there? Is it products and services?

People are on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube MAINLY for ENTERTAINMENT!

Social Media is the new form of TV. You are on it to get entertained. You are on Social Media to:

• Watch funny videos
• See what fun things your friends and family have been up to
• Show people what fun things you've been up to

Other reasons people are on Social Media are:

• Networking and Learning: LinkedIn
• News: Twitter

I have not covered all Social Media platforms just the ones I feel are the major ones.

Here's a really simple way of thinking about Social Media in terms of why you are or you are not getting engagement:

1. What are you favorite TV channels?
2. Why are they your favorite?

Social Media is Media just like TV. You love whatever station you love because of the content they have, be it movies, comedy, news, music or whatever you like. I don't think it is because of the Ads or is it?

If you don't watch your favorite TV channel because you like the commercials, then why use your Facebook and Instagram to only talk about your products?

How To Attract An Audience On Social Media

The magic is all in the content. Just like the most popular shows are such because there are many people who enjoy the content, your social media pages sink or swim in the same way. If you make something that a lot of people find interesting, your page will become popular quite fast, and vice versa.

But how do you create content that many people will like?

You basically have two options:

1. Experiment: content creation is all about creativity and creativity is all about experimentation. Try different things that you feel you can do well, for example jokes, funny videos, inspirational messages, relationship advice etc. The good thing is you can look around to see what kind of content has been doing well. You can Google for example: "Most popular food pages on Facebook" and see what comes up. From this, you can discern to see what they post that has made them so popular. Then create similar content. By similar I do not mean copy them exactly but rather discern the theme that is working e.g. food recipes, weird delicious foods, food tours around the world and so on. Always put your own unique twist on things to give them authenticity and that special you flavor.
2. Hire Content Creators: the other thing you could do is hire Content Creators to come up with the content for you. These guys could come up with ideas for videos, articles, e-books etc. The most important thing here though is to decide what you want your audience to associate your pages with and try to be consistent. For example Redbull is known for extreme sports videos on Social Media so it would not suit their strategy very well if they also did comedy clips. You could try different things at first, but once you find what works, try to be consistent. This is because your content is kind of a brand on its own. Once you become the go-to people for extreme sports videos, you don't want a fan to land on your page to find comedy clips, that are probably not very funny.

Forget about your products at first, build a connection to begin with...

When you are starting out, don't focus too much on promoting your products, instead try to create an interesting page that will attract a lot of people and get them engaged. What this means is that you can create content that has nothing to do with your products. Where you have to be a bit clever though is how you will eventually link your content to your products. Great content will get you the audience but how do you sell to them without sounding too pitchy and scaring them off? I cover this in a separate article.

As a parting shot:

Today is 22nd August 2018, I've just check Red Bull's YouTube page and they have 7,567,210 subscribers. Just check out their content and see if you can figure out how they became so popular.

I guess that you also do know that Red Bull is the best selling energy drink of all time.

Red Bull YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/user/redbull