Why content is now, more than ever, so important.
Before business school, my girlfriend and I ran (and we still do) a social media engagement consultancy business. We worked with small brands and businesses in our home country to design postings and clever solutions for these brands to engage and interact with their consumers digitally. Our main forms of medium were Instagram and Facebook, and our clients are typically in the fashion, jewelry, and beauty services lines. As you can imagine, the current Covid-19 situation has hit businesses hard — especially the small businesses that are our bread and butter. Often, our clients consider us as a “luxury” good — digital customer interaction is a luxury where only businesses with good profits can afford. As sales suffer due to the dampening of consumption, why would our clients incur an additional cost at this time.
I am currently serving a 14-day Stay-At-Home notice mandated by the government. Amidst the crisis, I decided to travel home. As you can imagine — I, along with millions of Americans, now have an abundance of time on their hands. As if we weren’t previously so occupied with Instagram and Netflix, we became even more dependent on these services to kill time. But, while I endlessly scroll and constantly refresh my Instagram feed these days, I realize some brands are reducing their social media engagement — presumably because they’ve let go or cut this cost item from their business. According to this article, The Psychology of Social Media Engagement (https://topdogsocialmedia.com/social-media-engagement/), one of the key attributes to successful social media engagement is commitment and consistency. Consumers recognize the brands who put in effort to engage, and I argue in times of crisis — this is more important than ever.
Content is arguably one of the most important aspects of viral marketing. One of the earliest viral videos the Internet has seen is the Kony2012 video. I vividly remember the video because that was the first and only time, I wrote a lengthy Facebook (I know, Facebook) post about it. At that time, I mentioned that if Kony2012 successfully result in the indictment of the warlord — it will not be an indication of the justice system in the world, or the benevolence of the human population (all of which has always held true since modern civilization), but rather a turning point in how the Internet has become the forefront platform in effecting changes and trends around the world. And while it all seems so obvious retrospectively, it wasn’t that apparent in 2012 when we first laid eyes on the video.
On the other hand, in the middle of this crisis, I have also been impressed with brands and personalities who have stepped up their efforts in their social media engagement efforts. Ryan Serhant (@ryanserhant) is one of my favorite TV and online personalities. He is the star of Bravo TV’s Million Dollar Listing New York and is a real estate broker in New York City. Around 4–5 years ago, he realized how he was selling more NYC real estate to Instagram users based internationally and expanded his usage of that platform. 2 years ago, he started a weekly vlog about his daily life, with the occasional apartment tour videos on that platform. He created and branded a new neighborhood — SoHy (South of Hudson Yards) when he wanted to sell apartments in that area. Recently, he spoke about how his YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOp2yitb4Jo&t=2266s) helped him close several multi-million dollar deals. As the crisis continues to plague our society, he remains faithful to his consumers and constantly posts engaging graphics and snippets of his quarantine life. He created hashtags such as #quaroutine (an amalgamation of quarantine and routine) to share how he was dealing with the crisis. These efforts and ingenuity make a brand like his more endearing and enduring in consumers. Who do you think his target audience will think of when they want to rent/buy apartments when this inevitably passes?
Social media engagement was all along about the long game. Commitment and consistency of engaging and interactive content has proven to be effective in client retainment. Curated content is now, more than ever, important in helping brands and businesses grow. People all over the world now all have ample time to pursue whichever content and medium they can choose. Give them a reason to choose yours — it’ll definitely pay off in the long run.
