Social media is growing up and this is what it’s becoming.
In the pursuit of understanding how brands communicate and engage audiences across social media platforms, we had the privilege of speaking with 3 brilliant minds.
Julia Agger, Leigha Baugham, and Courtney Richardson navigate digital and social channels studying cultural shifts, collecting human insights, and analyzing data and trends with the goal of developing content that helps brands thrive in online communities.
Collectively they create successful and award-winning communication strategies, disruptive thinking, and original ideas for their clients at Droga5, one of the most successful and creative brand-building agencies of this century.
Julia Agger. Communication strategy director at Droga5.
I’m passionate about social because it allows us, as users and brands, to connect with one another on a universal basis in ways we never could before.
Leigha Baugham. Group communication strategy director at Droga5.
I actually didn’t start off in advertising. I started off and worked in broadcast news and newsrooms for almost 10 years before I got into advertising 10 years ago. And that was really the first time brands like Coca-Cola were doing social media, and it was going from social networking to actually becoming part of a brand’s marketing mix because it was a really valuable way to connect with consumers.
Digital and social allow for the democratization of voice and content and give communities that wouldn’t ordinarily get the opportunity to have their voices heard. It’s been beautiful to watch, especially in the last couple of years, how the microphone has been passed to marginalized communities, and people of all ages on TikTok or the Metaverse. It’s been a really cool thing to watch. It’s going to be exciting to see where we go next.
Courtney Richardson. Creative director at Droga5.
It’s 2022 and social media is no longer a nicety. It’s now imperative! It has to be at the heart of what we do if we want to be part of the conversation and current events.
Q: Can you reflect on the evolution of Social Media, where we started, and where we are today?
Leigha: When we started having social capabilities and practices, it was really important to go deep and have subject matter experts because clients had many doubts and questions about social media as a marketing tool, so they wanted to know for example how do we prove ROI? Etc… So, you had a lot of creatives and strategists that could think of big ideas but they didn’t really want to spend time on Facebook and Twitter and understand the nuances of the platform. So you really had to have a passion for it. I’ve always said that it would be easier to take a social strategist and make them a generalist than to go the opposite way, because if you’re not on the platforms every day, if you’re not up on the fenders if you’re not on with the technology, it’s constantly changing, and you’ll get left behind.
Today we have to think about digital, we have to see where influencers touch social or social touches ECRM*, or ECRM connects with the site, and all of those things will make up a digital ecosystem. You have to have that macro understanding of the whole system that I don’t think we needed before.
*ECRM stands for electronic customer relationship management
Julia: I completely agree, social’s now at the core of everything you do from a business standpoint. And because it’s so complex and nuanced,
if you plan for and execute social right, it’s easier to do the rest of it right.
There are so many facets to consider — influencer, social commerce, gaming, organic, paid media, and beyond. As social thinkers, we’re constantly considering all of the ways in which we can reach our audience in contextual spaces and how we can integrate it into various aspects of broader business efforts.
Courtney: Yeah. And just to take it home, I think social media has become a part of our everyday lives, from professional to personal. So those worlds have definitely done a nice job of merging together. Look at it more as everyday culture, I love how social media has evolved to the point where now the tables have turned. You have HR and recruiting, for example, no longer just scouting LinkedIn and indeed but looking on TikTok, looking on Instagram for talent because they understand the value that social media and people who are a part of the community, bring to the table.
Q: What attracts people to social platforms like Twitter?
Julia: People want to connect with other people like themselves and social gives us platforms and spaces to do so.
Leigha: I think the connection actually has grown into macro communities. When you look at Black Twitter, and you look at the rise of the Popeye’s chicken sandwich; that was created because of conversations happening in one small section of Twitter, and the brand was smart, they were able to leverage that energy, which sparked the whole chicken sandwich wars.
Big news drives the large conversations, but it’s really one-to-one conversations that fuel what’s coming next. And today information moves really quickly, so fast that social communities like Reddit, TikTok, and Twitter have come to reflect the speed of culture.
Courtney: I think that it’s imperative for brands to authentically be a part of those communities because there’s a lot that they can gain. It’s 2022 and people are super savvy now, they’re able to read between the lines and see the difference when something is advertising and when it’s actually authentic, and people actually prefer organic and authentic versus something that it’s forced onto them.
Leigha: About authenticity, I think that just because you can does not mean you should, and I think that is the challenge for a lot of brands. I don’t think everybody should be playing in certain spaces because if it’s not aligned with the brand mission, it’s not aligned with the brand objectives. Audiences are super savvy and I think marketers and advertisers have to be very thoughtful and smart about where they show up. We saw this a lot in 2020 when every brand wanted to post a black square, but it is so much more than that.
We are brand stewards, we have to think about brand responsibilities. We have to really think about what is right for the brand. Is this the right call? Are we doing this for the right reason?
Courtney: There have been some genius campaigns being very authentic and organic to the medium, like Doja Cat and Taco Bell on TikTok, where she actually shared in a video that she was under contract to sing a silly jingle for Taco Bell. I actually appreciate her being honest and transparent like that. It works for her, it works great in TikTok and it worked for Taco Bell.
And that’s the thing, advertising is so visually based, that creatively speaking it’s hard to break through the noise. But the power of sound and the power of sonic as we see with TikTok, podcasts, or clubhouse, really forces us to transition or pivot to keep up with the evolution of social media.
Q: Speaking of evolution, what qualifies for social media today?
Julia: Everything’s almost becoming social because there’s so much value in connecting with one another and with the masses. Think gaming, for example, I certainly consider it social, it’s a social activity. Spotify’s another great example, they now offer Group Sessions where you can listen with your friends. You can do the same with Netflix and YouTube. Social is getting folded into business models and offerings because there’s so much value and importance in human connection.
Leigha: I love DJ culture and during the pandemic so many DJs and artists, we’re actually having live performances on Twitch where you’re having conversations in real-time. It is about a community and one that arose out of gaming culture so I would consider Twitch a social platform.
Courtney: Yeah, I’m like smiling ear to ear because I’m reminiscing on years ago, when I got my master’s in mass communication and media and you could count with one hand the number of social platforms available, and now everything is social lead.
One could even argue that Zoom is becoming a social platform. Fortnite is definitely a form of social media and Twitch is a form of social media. I cannot stress that enough. Whenever we get a brief or we’re working with brands, I’m thinking, how can we fit Twitch in here? Because I feel like a lot of times brands forget, and they focus on the Twitters, the Instagrams, sometimes Snapchat, and the TiKToks of the world, but there are other platforms that you can’t forget and they have to be part of the brand’s conversation.
Q: When we spoke of social media 15 years ago we felt media was something that we had to use because we had to buy our way into those communities. But now we have learned that we can earn our way into those communities instead of having to pay for it.
Leigha: Yes, there is paid media and there are paid social ads, but the capital doesn’t have to be just about how many dollars we’re paying to get impressions. It is also about the earned engagement, the time that we take to build those communities in those one-to-one relationships and I think social is unique because it covers all of that.
I think that’s where the unique art of social is, where it lives because there are so many different ways to monetize it.
Courtney: Sometimes brands might be hesitant to approach social media, especially if it’s a platform that they’re not well versed in or they’re not really a part of, it’s important to mention that, that goalpost can be pivoted and moved because we’re not just looking at just impressions, the KPIs are much, much wider than that. It’s no longer just about the quantitative but also the qualitative things that you can get from being a part of social media.
Julia: That’s where social specialists can add that value because as you’re hearing there’s such a wide range of ways in which brands could get involved in social. It’s crucial to prioritize where and how you’re showing up, which needs to be rooted in the campaign or brand goal. For example, maintaining a presence across all organic channels might not be best for every brand. There are numerous ways in which brands could get involved in digital communities, but it doesn’t always mean they should.
Q: Imagine each social platform is a train and you could choose to ride that train into the future, which one would you pick?
Courtney: So I’ll go and I will purchase a first-class ticket on the TikTok train for sure because it is creating culture. I think TikTok actually creates culture organically from the ground up, from soup to nuts. The fact is that you don’t necessarily have to be a celebrity, a tastemaker, or an influencer in order to go viral. You even see a lot of other social media platforms mimicking some of their functionalities, I think TikTok is definitely the wave, but I definitely feel like Twitch is also riding us into the future. People should not sleep on Twitch. Gaming. Yes, it is a gaming platform but there have been tremendous beauty influencers such as beauty and fashion brands doing a lot of really great things on Twitch.
Leigha: I have to go for Twitter. When there are protests, when there is an uprising, when there are cultural shifts, I feel like Twitter’s on the frontlines of that. I still see Twitter as being that platform for that rapid-fire information that is really connecting people behind movements. And I think at its core, that’s where it is. I wish I could say that we were going to enter into a peaceful time but right now, I think with the way the world is I feel like Twitter is going to serve a valuable purpose.
Julia: I will say that it depends on where the train is going. If we’re going to the visual connection stop, 100% TikTok. The way that TikTok has developed its algorithm is so unique. It connects us with content and niche communities like no other and is doing a great job making universal personal and the personal universal.
I love the recent trend of how people are using it to share the mundane, but beautiful, moments in their lives. Those are the moments we can all relate to. It’s moving us away from the Instagram aesthetic, where everything has to be shiny and perfect, which can come off as inaccessible and can leave you feeling icky. And the TikTok algorithm is unlike any of the other platforms and ensures this hyper-relevant content gets in front of the right audiences at the right time. So contextually and visually, definitely TikTok.
But if we’re talking about conversation and communities, I would look to Reddit. Reddit is where the internet begins and ends. You could go down the deepest of darkest of tunnels. If you want to get a glimpse into the sheer volume of communities there are and the conversations that are being had across the globe, Reddit is a magical slash sometimes a terrible place.
Q: What do you think is going to surprise us the most about how social media is going to change?
Leigha: To be honest, I think we might start craving real life. I think there has been this sense of isolation, there’s been a sense of longing for hand-to-hand human connection again.
Courtney: And that’s such a great point. yeah, I think that craving for real human connection is definitely something that people want and are going to continue to want.
Julia: I also love this. As we think about the future, while it may sound like taking a step backward, it’s crucial we ground ourselves in what social is at its core — connecting with one another on a personal level, having one to one conversations, and, if you’re a brand, inserting yourself into relevant moments during relevant times where you have something to say and both you and your audience can benefit from it.
Courtney: Inviting the audience into the pitch process and into briefs… I saw something that Congress actually did, which was genius. They actually sent their Tiktok influencer a set of shoes but they didn’t fit him. So his brief was to create a TikTok ad, and he went out on the street and found someone who could wear the shoes. It was a skateboarder and he actually put the ad together produced it added music and everything. And people were like, Oh my gosh, we love the fact that Congress is reaching out to the TikTok community to be a part of their advertising, not just as a pretty face, but as someone who’s actually getting their hands dirty and showing off their talents, but then of course, most importantly, paying the creative for being a part of the process. People love seeing that.
Leigha: One more thing that will be super important is the idea of security. People are starting to reevaluate how much they’re signing away with their terms of service. And I think security, privacy, and data are going to be really important issues for brands to think about, as they’re starting to be into new platforms and into new communities.
Julia: Yeah, I would add something to keep an eye on is social commerce and where it’s headed. It’s grown so rapidly over the last few years for all the right reasons.
In addition, as new features and formats are added brands should use their organic channels to test and learn, and have fun with it.
Social’s an ideal place for trying and failing or succeeding, and of course, learning from it. You have to be intentional about your purpose and the value that you can add, but organic channels give brands a great sandbox to play in and you’re not going to know what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t unless you get in there and give it a shot.
Courtney: Yeah, I feel like TikTok has definitely given people the confidence to be who they are in all of their glory. You’re going to embrace me for my makeup, no makeup, plus size purse… whoever I am, this is me. Take it or leave it and that’s the beauty of TikTok.
For brands and agencies as well, you just have to go for it. Because if you don’t go for it, you’ll never know.
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