The social media spell: How my friends are totally under its influence

I find it quite surprising how effective social media can be in influencing the decisions of my closest friends. While there's a lot of discussion about the power of social media to shape behavior and opinions, it becomes even more intriguing when you witness its impact up close. Just the other day, we gathered a few friends for a casual conversation that touched on various topics. During this chat, a friend mentioned that he had recently purchased a new pair of sneakers. Curious, I asked him why he chose those specific sneakers, and he revealed that he first came across them on Instagram.

Another friend shared a similar story, as he had recently invested in a new car. His journey toward this purchase began innocently enough with some casual browsing on YouTube, but he eventually found himself immersed in a car review video. These were two separate cases, one involving a low-value product and the other a high-value one, yet both were initiated by social media.

What particularly fascinates me in these scenarios is how these thoughts even entered their minds. None of them had any immediate needs or intentions to make these purchases, but social media managed to influence them nonetheless. So, it begs the question: what prompts us to think about something? The next time an idea pops into your head, take a moment to reflect on why you had that specific thought. What influenced you? Was it something you saw in the street, an email, or perhaps a YouTube video?

Based on my own observations of both my thoughts and behaviors, it's clear that many of our product-related considerations are not driven by inherent needs but rather by external stimuli. In our day-to-day lives, we encounter an array of these stimuli, ranging from word-of-mouth recommendations to traditional advertising. Social media channels, however, appear to be the most dominant and impactful influencers in this regard. Fresh of the press, in the new stats about social media use in Sweden for 2023, we can find some very interesting facts:

MEN

YouTube is the undisputed favorite, with over a third choosing the platform as their favorite. YouTube is popular across generations among men, from those born in the 1960s to the 2010s. For women, YouTube is not as dominant and is especially less popular among older generations.

WOMEN

Instagram is the undisputed queen among women, especially among those born in the 1980s and 1990s. Almost one in three women chooses Instagram as their favorite, and in these generations, it is even more beloved (56%).

OLDER

Facebook still holds a strong position, especially among older generations. Both men and women born in the 1970s or earlier, and men born in the 1950s or earlier, primarily choose Facebook as their go-to platform. This social media pioneer still holds a special place in the hearts of those who witnessed its rise and growth.

TIKTOK

As you're likely aware, TikTok continues to grow, reaching 24% of the population. Among the younger generation, Roblox has gained popularity.

TWITTER

Twitter has never been very big in Europe among the general population and in Sweden over half of men born in the 1990s actively use the platform. In total Twitter has just 11% penetration, ranking in 8th place.

NO USAGE AT ALL

A mere 6% of Sweden's internet users abstain from utilizing any social media channels.

Implications for Marketing

Now, let's switch to my growth marketing mode and dive into what all this means. I have organised them into four areas:

Audience Targeting: It is important to target marketing towards platforms where the target audience is most active. If the goal is a younger audience, Instagram can be effective, while older generations are still active on Facebook.

Content Customization: To be successful, it is necessary to tailor content to the specific platform and audience. Traditional way of advertising on social media is not that effective any more. For example visual content works well on Instagram but it has to be more user generated looking, while YouTube can benefit from tutorials and more in depth reviews.

Scheduling: Publishing content at times when the audience is most active is important. We talked about stimuli leading to action, and timing is crucial. For example it is well established that online shopping occurs mostly on Sunday afternoons.?

Data Analysis: Let your data scientist do continuous analysis of performance on these parameters: Gender, Age, Interest, Platform and Timing. By experience I know that measuring ROI on social media is hard and arguably not the best metric. That is why it is critical to gather all data you can and try to use your Data Scientist and AI to understand the connections.

Wrapping it up

Just like we discussed earlier how my friends are influenced by social media without them actively knowing it, the use of social media especially in the B2C world is a must. It's all about hitting your target audience on the right platforms, with the right stuff, at the right moment. I am of the opinion that tackling social media advertising should be more like thinking in ways of triggers rather than measuring strictly on ROI. Looking forward when we will be able to produce much more AI generated content, we will probably turn into an even more personalized world. Maybe something like what one can see in the movie Minority report. God save us all.