I am often asked this question by our customers when discussing marketing plans for their brands – ‘Is social media worth it?’
And my reply – If Facebook were a country, it would be the largest one in the world today. On average, people are spending more than 2.5 hours a day on social media. So YES, it is definitely worth it.
But social media has caused some fundamental shifts in marketing. Gone are the times when a business is constrained by TV commercials slot or print ad budget. Social media has made available space infinite. The real constraint today is ATTENTION. In today’s attention economy, the most precious resource is no longer space, but time. Everybody wants a piece of your time –
Facebook, Instagram, and other social media are trying to build and promote products in order to get our attention, something we can not resist to click on, to watch, to engage or to read.
How can marketers win the attention of their target audience in this attention-constrained environment?
There are only 2 ways to do it:
1. Awesome Content– put out content that is relevant, authentic, useful and informative; explore the multitude of formats that are available.
2. Remember the Dolly Parton Challenge– Each social platform has users on it for a unique purpose. Linkedin is about professional growth and networking – so it is a great place for B2B brands to build their thought leadership, employer branding and so on. Instagram is a young and vibrant community of digital natives – this is a great medium for B2C brands whose target audience are predominantly Gen X, Y and Z. Please don’t put up your Tinder profile on Linkedin!
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At Inception, we have followed these two simple principles to leverage social media and delivered exponential growth for our clients across sectors. If I have still not convinced on the power of social media, then here (https://inception.net.in/inbound) are some success stories that hopefully will do the job!
Author –
Aarthi Srinath, Partner at Inception Business Services
