The media landscape is rapidly changing — adapt or die ????
andreas jonsson
bootstrapped founder | CEO @Shield: LinkedIn analytics made easy. Plug & play, track as many personal profiles you need. Learn more at shieldapp.ai
In my previous article we unfolded the mysteries of the Earned Media space. Well, not really mysteries. It’s pretty simple when you break it down.
You and I benefit personally in our careers from being active and visible as professionals online. LinkedIn is a great place for that, surprise surprise.
The brands we represent benefit from our personal development and online presence as professionals.
If things go well and we are thoroughly aligned with the brand purpose and vision, our employer will be able to drive a solid ROI in the earned media space. As will we, as employees.
If you’re an entrepreneur, your personal brand and company brand are often intertwined and the potential upside multiplied ??
The media landscape is changing
The media landscape is changing and people are creating and consuming content in new ways. Brands are reaching and interacting with consumers as well as customers in new ways. New channels and mediums pop up and some stay for a decade. Others stay for a night or two.
We are all expected to be visible, be present and be reachable. At all times, across all relevant platforms.
An example of this is Gary Vaynerchuck and his crazy (yet winning) content pillar strategy. This strategy calls for a (for most) unrealistic amount of content pieces pushed across all platforms, everyday.
Now, this represents one end of the spectrum. The other end is complete passivity - inaction. This is where we start - and where a lot will stay ??
Since you are reading this, I’m sure you are leaning away from passivity yet wonder how to adapt perfectly to the changes around us. Now, I wonder too.
So what can we do about it? ???♂?
Adaptation becomes vital
Right now, LinkedIn is hot. As in burning hot ??
Organic reach is exceptional. Genuine engagement is real. And actual, value adding professional relationships are established here every day.
Knowing this, the winners adapt. You begin to engage on relevant content from others. You start pushing content yourself.
You experiment. With video, images and text. Perhaps even long form articles, for the aspiring writers.
You figure out what works and what doesn’t ????♂?
The key here is experimentation.
Dare to experiment. Be bold and brave in this endeavour. Set assumptions aside and forget what others may or may not think.
I’ve heard about experimentation. How does it play out in reality?
This is a question I hear a lot. And it’s a good one.
How do you actually go about experimentation with a focus on learning and being successful? ?????
I suggest taking this simple four step approach to experimentation:
- Define a hypothesis, based on data, research or your gut feeling.
- Set up the experiment, and try things in different ways i.e. content types
- Define related metrics to evaluate results, i.e. engagement rate or qualified leads
- Define your expected results from the experiment (and hold it up against the actual results later).
This approach empowers you to consistently choose the most viable path forward since you place your experiments in a system and make decisions based on data.
Keep doing this and you will speed up your improvement rate and shorten your iterative learning cycles ??
Your current audience may connect with one type and form of content. Your future or ideal audience may connect with another type or form of content.
If you really want to hit home-runs with every swing, you need to start experimenting.
There’s a long journey ahead, sure. The difference is that now you know what to do.
Experiment today at your own pace.
Try things you haven’t tried.
Let yourself be inspired by others.
Tweak things and make it your own.
You can either choose to remain passive while the world and media landscape around us is changing or you can choose to adapt and evolve. The choice is yours.
QUESTION! What role does experimentation play in your professional life? Leave a comment and let me know ????
#media #marketing #technology #experimentation #adaptation #content #contentmarketing #branding #personaldevelopment #linkedin
Search Engine Optimization, SEO | Social Media Marketing, SMM | Search Engine Marketing, SEM | Squarespace Web Design | Email Marketing | Content Marketing Professional Collaborating with Businesses Across the Country
5 年Love the Darwinistic approach. Many business owners (especially older business owners) fall into the "We've always done it this way" trap, even neglecting any changes that they might've made throughout their careers. When it comes to integrating a social media strategy, you have to constantly be on your toes because platforms are releasing new updates multiple times per year. While sticking to what worked yesterday isn't an immediate death wish, it will have dire consequences over time. And often, by the time they're realized, it's too late.
Independent LinkedIn? Trainer & Consultant Expert | Keynote Speaker | Data-driven results for generating more leads | Attracting top talent | Igniting the ambassador program | Optimizing ad campaigns | Personal Branding
5 年Good read! Interesting point of view.? I too love experiments and do them every week....
CEO @ AQ22 | Building AI agents for finance and beyond
5 年Might be interesting for you D?iugas, Algimantas, Adrian :)
Relentlessly helpful? LinkedIn? nerd, trainer & speaker. Creator of Espresso+ community & UpLift Live conference. Not a douche canoe ??
5 年I'm sometimes asked how I know about such-and-such thing. The answer usually comes back to "I pressed all the buttons and tweaked all the knobs and this thing happened." If you can leave some space to be curious, it's surprising how much you can find out. My boys Andrew and Pete talk about their 90:10 rule, which is to focus 90% of your efforts on the main thing you're good at in you business and to leave 10% free for testing and experimenting with ideas. I like that and find that it's natural to the way I do things. (I was trained in the sciences, so perhaps it's easier for me. But anyone with curiosity can make this work for them, too.)
CEO @ AQ22 | Building AI agents for finance and beyond
5 年Great quote at the end and an insightful article! ???? Experimentation plays a huge role in my professional life! Especially when it comes down to understanding your audience. How will you know what your audience enjoys the most if you never experiment? ????