Living on a Content Marketing Fault Line

The past 3 months have been a social media wake-up call. Hope you didn't sleep through the alarm. Since the election, we've seen seismic rumbles throughout the social media landscape. Is it leading to a bigger event?

Twitter (only those who drink the Willis Tower Kool Aid call it X) saw a mass exodus of long-time users the day following the November 2024 election. TikTok legal matters left them wading in a murky swamp of confusion, resulting in a social media nap where the app went offline in the U.S. for 14 hours. Even with TikTok coming back for now, the political interpretations of TikTok's messaging both in going dark and coming back online - along with rumors of potential sales to suitors ranging from Zuck to Musk to Mr. Beast(?!) - sparked backlash and users to voice their displeasure and even boycotting of the app. Speaking of Zuck, his own about-face stance on Content Moderation for Facebook and Instagram caused a similar backlash and users stating their decision to delete their Instagram and Threads accounts.

Even without the politically-charged reasons for this (extra) tumultuous time in social media, the constant algorithm changes and privacy concerns have fueled user dissatisfaction with some of their favorite platforms.

"So what?"?

I'm glad you asked. The social media tremors may be nothing. Normal occurrences that flair up from time to time. We've seen users once flock to and then from MySpace, Tumblr and Vine. Maybe this is just what social media is. But this … it feels different.

Now with paid models driving the current era of social media and politics not only being tightly woven into the fabric of the very conversations fueling these platforms but the laws that govern them too, the stakes are higher than ever for social media. It's not just a distraction or hobby anymore. It's peoples' livelihoods and business, too. Social platform popularity and usage will continue to ebb and flow based on what users and content creators do and where they go.

As marketers, it becomes easy to feel like you're playing whack-a-mole trying to chase where the users are going. Social media itself isn't going anywhere. It's too big of a city for it to just vanish anytime soon. But its skyline will go through some drastic -- perhaps even unrecognizable -- changes over the coming year(s).

I hear you tapping the caps lock and this time shouting, "SO WHAT?"

This is where I say none of the above is terrifying or meant to come off as though the sky is falling. Because it isn't. Not if you're aware of the forecast and can plan accordingly. And as I see it, there are 2 big ways you can prepare for both the short and long term impacts with your content marketing strategy.

First, you prioritize and develop social media content that not only serves your current needs but provides flexibility for platform or user shifts. Crafting content that's going to work across multiple platforms with limited modification is paramount, whether that's in edits or simply asset dimensions. And that does not just mean posting your tv spot across all your social channels. Ahem. I've already written about the need to develop content in a nomadic social media future, with how to dip your toes in those waters and where to consider, depending on your industry. So I won't focus there. But this second way to prepare is the one I don't hear enough people prioritizing. Even though it's the most obvious.

Your website is your most important marketing tool.

And that's what makes now perhaps the most important time in the past decade to prioritize developing content for your website. This IS the big "so what?". Social media algorithms will continue to change, often times overnight and with little warning. They'll add or remove features that will break what you've been doing or remove a lifeline of yours. It's their platform, their right, and as we've seen, a right they fully embrace. But YOU control your website experience.

Continuing to use social's great reach, extensive daily touchpoints, and its targeting capabilities will be just as important. And to do that, you'll still need good, smart content and ads that resonate with your audience while also reaching them when and where they are. But as users continue to move between their platforms and as privacy or data sharing policies change, it's important to develop your social and web content in tandem so they work as hard together while simultaneously remaining as efficient as possible on limited resources. It's about bringing users to your community, from social (whatever that platform mix may be or become), from digital, from email and then being able to give them an experience tailored to their wants/needs for a mutually beneficial customer-brand interaction.

And all of that being trackable because it's on your platform, so you can understand their decision-making process, what info they're looking for, what's bringing them in or leading them out, and using that to both convert AND drive your own future content decision-making process. It's truly a self-sustaining ecosystem, when maximized, and something any organization that's already creating social-centric content can ramp up.

And in building up your digital content foundation now, your brand will be able to experience each of these rumbles as more of an annoyance or disturbance rather than an event to recover from or clean up after.