The Conquest of Social Media

Sally Moussa
Nov 2 · 3 min read

Understanding the untamed rules of Social Media Marketing.

Social Media is the “Media of Choice” for the billions of people using it worldwide; It gave users more control on how, when and to who they want to be connected and informed by. Many would argue that SM changed the world, and along the rules for many industries connected to it. Remarkably, SM is challenging marketeers all around the world to re-think their tactics and uplift their approach to the digital marketing field; The advertised content that was once accepted by the general public in traditional media, has now turned into a very sophisticated game of strategies.

Our personalities, our sets of values and likings, our attitudes and geolocations among many other criteria, define our go to platform(s) of choice; Whereas we want to connect with family and friends, share our opinions with the world, or build interests based content, social media provides a platform for everyone’s taste. The interesting part is that approaching the different typologies of SM, requires different sets of understandings and marketing technics, and in order to remain below the users radars, marketeers definitely need to have a broader consideration to what is it that each of these platforms goers are looking for on the different levels (privacy, content, connection, entertainment, information, etc.)

Social Media took the world by storm, it bursted out fast and without any pre-given sets of rules or regulations, and this left everyone without any clear compass to navigate by. Therefore, the different trials and errors that marketeers have been going thru since the rise of SM, have led them to conclude some theories and assumptions, all of which were based primarily on the users behaviors. Since then, the picture started to get a little bit clearer, and a need for alignment between the marketing content, goals and process with the users needs on the different platforms became a necessity.

Understanding first the nature of the platforms and thus the needs of its subscribers led to a better implementation of the marketing strategies. By now, brands became more aware if direct marketing approaches or more subtle ones worked best on the different platforms, therefore avoiding negative feelings towards their ads. For instance, Twitter enthusiasts were now more accepting of their favorite celebrities endorsing a brand as part of their lifestyle, Facebook subscribers were more lenient towards marketed products that prove to be in favor to their self-presentation and community cultures, Instagramers approved ads that were line with their set of interests.

At this point in time, SM subscribers are no longer in the dark of all the marketing plans put forward on the different platforms, and all parties engaged understand the importance of marketing campaigns towards the viability of the platforms, the brands and the public figures/content creators alike. Nowadays, it is all about fine tuning the rules of the game and the pace and style of the marketing campaigns, hence the successful come back of strategies such as native marketing and the rise of other techniques such as the user generated content.

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