Since the beginning, social media has been a phenomenon that has taken the world by storm. Having relevance on social media is the key to attracting and maintaining an audience. The world of AIM and Myspace seems like one we lived in so long ago. These platforms have procured a more powerful influence than many of us could have ever imagined.
Trends are made and then declared “untrendy” seemingly as soon as they begin on social media apps. If caught outside the facet of what’s popular, you can easily be seen as “irrelevant”. This may seem brutal, yet it shows us that our modern society is constantly changing, especially online. The positive of this is the ability to message a company without ever having to speak to them on the phone. This is heaven for many anxious young people, yet foreign to many of those who once relied on phone calls for so many interactions.
Maintaining Relevance on Social Media
How do businesses maintain successful social media accounts, grow, and yet still stay relevant? Of course, a successful business always takes priority, but these two concepts are intertwined.
As a business owner, social media needs to become an instrumental part of your success. An outdated social profile could cause people to think your business is closed. Plus, those who do not feel comfortable calling your business, will not be able to message or email you.
The struggle for relevance on social media seems like an uphill battle when it comes to committing large amounts of time to the research needed to maintain a successful social media campaign. A large problem with this commitment is that there isn’t enough time to monitor and research trends and consistently post on social media while running a productive business.
The Necessary Trend Research
Is trend research necessary? Why can’t I simply post business updates on my existing social media when needed? The short answer to both of these questions is yes. The long answer is more involved. Posting on social media is simple, but making it an effective use of a business owner’s time is another issue altogether. This is where research and forethought become essential.
Social media trends are a large part of relevancy. The average person spends 144 minutes on social media per day, and they’re looking for what’s trending. The struggle is to become involved in a trend while it’s still relevant. If the news is reporting on a trend, then it is likely it is already dying out. By the time a news company commits to verifying the information within the trend, the social media app as a whole may have already moved on. One example of this is the ALS ice bucket challenge. While obviously one of the most important and beneficial trends to come from social media, if you participated in it today, you wouldn’t be participating in something that is actively trending, and people likely wouldn’t find your post.
Social media, for better or for worse, has seemingly lessened the attention span of millions. From 2000 to 2015, the average person’s attention span has decreased from 15 seconds to eight seconds. Among multiple devices and millions of sources for consumption, you must first attract a user, and then manage to grab their eight seconds of attention. If you come into a trend late, the attention held for it will already be exhausted. This is why research has become monumental within the social media space.
The Agency Approach
The job of a social media department in an agency partially rides on the concept of ensuring their clients stay relevant. Constantly monitoring trends and staying up-to-date on industry news are the catalyst for this. Often, this is achieved within a much more affordable price point than developing an internal social media team in your company.
Technology is frequently changing, and for many, once they’re finally comfortable with an app or feature, it is already becoming out-of-date. How do you as a business owner conquer this?
- Use and understand multiple social medias
- Monitor publicly reported changes
- Interact daily with your followers and post multiple types of content
- Create graphics and posts that will engage people from multiple perspectives
- Analyze your results over time and make changes to your actions based on results
- Create and monitor advertisements
- Repeat
Unfortunately, many business owners simply do not have the time for this.
How an Agency Can Keep You Relevant on Social Media
How do ad agencies conquer this effectively? All of these steps are part of their daily routine. Social media is constantly consumed in both a professional and personal aspect by most specialists. Consider an agency as simply hiring an expert. Just as you may hire a professional to paint your house versus buying all of the supplies and learning through trial and error.
Hiring an agency is almost a no-brainer when considering if you should sacrifice the time to dedicate yourself to continuous research into the social media world while simultaneously running and innovating your business. Agencies are an effective use of your money and your tremendously important time. The battle of staying relevant in the essential world of social media is best won by someone constantly engulfed by the ongoing research, leaving business owners to continue to do what they do best — be successful.
The AD Leaf Marketing Firm is made of experts well-versed in social media research and content creation. We would love to conquer the world of ever-changing social media and research for your company, and help sky-rocket your business’s online presence and social engagement. Contact us for more information.
