The Joy of Content Minimalism
FO·MO
?fōmō/
noun informal
- anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website."I realized I was a lifelong sufferer of FOMO"
There is a certain desire, in brands, to want to be active everywhere. To have a presence in every channel, every medium. 'If we can have a Facebook page,' the reasoning goes, 'why wouldn't we make one?'
I've written in the past about the dangers of getting caught up in the FOMO of social media marketing, and why brands should stop rushing to "Me Too" their way into every new channel or platform feature. The short version is this: Not every brand is a fit for every channel. Yes, Facebook Live is a neat feature, but have you stopped to ask your audience if they're even interested in watching your interns talk about product releases before clicking the "Broadcast" button?
Over the course of 2016, the amount of dramatic changes and shifts on social media alone have been nearly impossible to follow. Factor in changing trends in email and print, Google's disruption of SEO and AdWords, a massive upswing in video consumption, and the task of staying relevant across all media channels quickly becomes impossible. Brands, and their agencies, are vying for top performance in so many different areas that it's no wonder they're failing at most of them.
When is the last time you saw a brand truly make a remarkable impression across all of their digital channels?
It's time for a breather. Every brand can be a true standout in one channel. Maybe two. I believe there is much more value to be gained by finding that singular voice and supporting it. There are precious few brands out there that have the resources and audience share to tackle ten or more channels with any level of maintained quality. Chances are good you're not one of them. Chances are better that if you are one of them, you aren't looking to me for advice.
Find your niche!
Invest in a bit of audience discovery. Find out what is missing from your industry's potential audience, and strive to provide it. If your competitors are going all-in on Twitter and providing amazing after-purchase customer support, maybe that gives you a sign that you should be investing earlier in the customer journey, creating inspiring YouTube content that capitalizes on the search queries your competitors ignored. If your industry is dominated by long form blog content and high-investment white papers, you could find more success by putting your resources into faster-paced guerrilla marketing and user-generated content through Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
Find your passion!
Tiny digital audience? Lack of time/money/resources for a deep dive into your industry's online demographics? Looking to Get Started Now?? Take a more internal approach. Audit your staff and figure out what kinds of content really make your team excited. If you have a talented blogger with an intimate knowledge of your company, hand them a keyboard and let them go to town. If your CMO was the class clown and can't stop herself from performing every time a camera turns up, build a set and start producing branded videos. Your brand will churn out much better content if you spend that time creating things your team is excited about, rather than producing things because "you should have something up on Twitter this week."
Overall, my belief is this: We should think, not listen.
Stop chasing headlines, stop trying to tackle every new feature. Put down the App Store Trending List once in a while and spend a few moments of every brainstorming session being introspective. Identify your strengths, or your opportunities, and spend your time working on things that can really make a difference.
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These comments reflect the opinions of Tim Howell alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of his employers, partners, peers, or family members. Opinions or advice in this blog should not be taken as direct recommendations or suggestions. Any statistics, information, or metrics provided are linked to referenced source material, and are not sourced from any current or past clients, customers, or related brands.