By 2020, Singaporeans spent 2 hours a day on social media. They will have scrolled past updates from friends and family, the quintessential pet pictures, and brand content. There is something fundamentally addictive about social media to users, and businesses have long since learned to leverage on social media for business strategies. Yet as social media has established itself as a cornerstone of media plans, the negative effects on its users are becoming increasingly evident.
Enter the ‘Digital Detox’.
In a bid to improve personal health, digital detoxes began as individuals took deliberate breaks from using their phones, some even taking ‘Social Media Sabbaticals’
While it seems unlikely that we will move away from social media entirely (at least, not any time soon), an increasingly empowered and educated audience will soon adopt healthier browsing habits. Good for them, but when they start spending less time on social media, then what?
Be prepared.
At its core, social media is a space for the people – and businesses are not always welcome. Corporate accounts will be the first to be banished from their feeds. So, before they tap that little ‘Unfollow’ button, give them a reason to keep interacting with you.
Nodspark, a local brand selling nail polish wraps, lets its audience name some of its designs, handing out a free set to the individual with the winning name. Involving their audience makes them feel valued, so even if they do not win, they come to associate the brand with positive emotions. This compels them to keep interacting with the brand.
The early bird gets the worm.
Or: the latest post stays at the top of the feed. If you can time it so that you land near the top of your audience’s feed, your post will be one of the few they scroll through during that short time they stay on social media. Besides, your audience’s active timings have always been one of the most fundamental metrics you should be tracking. However, be sure to refrain from oversaturating your audience with content; it will only make your brand unwanted.
In conclusion.
These ideas all pull from fundamental principles of social media marketing because I believe that as long as social media remains embedded in our social fabric, the basic rules by which social media marketing play by will remain valid. Do you agree? Or do you think there is a new set of rules for marketers to play by now?
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Hey there Joan! i agree with you that social media is closely tied to our daily lives no, especially when our current generation has such a bad rep for being overly attached to our phones. I believe as technology improves so will the different strategy in terms of social media marketing will aslo evolve as well, to suit the constantly shifting digital climate. What are your thoughts?
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Hi Adrian, I definitely agree! I wrote this post thinking about just that; I believe marketers will need to constantly be at the forefront of the evolution of media, though I definitely took a much shorter-term perspective on it. When the next big thing in media comes, I feel that marketers will have to react faster than they did in the 2010s when social media was we know now was at its advent; everyone will want a slice of that pie, and we’ll have to grab it.
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Hello Joan! Very nice blog. Very insightful content. Just wondering on this: Do you think social media marketing is more effective than traditional marketing when it comes to converting a consumer? Do let me know your thoughts!
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Hi Zack! Glad to see that you enjoyed my post. According to the Hootsuite report I linked at the top of post, advertisements on social media and advertisements on television have similar efficacy to Singaporeans as sources of new brand discovery, which I believe is the first step to converting a customer. Hence I feel that both types of marketing are almost equally effective in converting consumers, and that this can be attributed to our tendency to consume social media and traditional media in similar volumes.
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Hi Joan,
That was a very insightful and interesting perspective take on the topic! I wonder if you think extending an interactive feature to consumers is enough to keep them coming back for more? Thanks!
p.s. Below is the link to my blog post! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
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Hi Eryn! Thank you for reading, will definitely check out your blog post. The idea behind having consumers come back for more is based on one of Kaplan and Haenlein’s 10 pieces of advice for companies deciding to use social media; to be ‘interesting’. I think an interactive feature is definitely interesting, as long as it isn’t overly repetitive! I also feel that it must require an appropriate skill level, such that users are challenged enough to not feel bored, but not so much so that they avoid it entirely.
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Hello Joan!
It was great reading your post! I do agree that everyone who owns a smart device spends a long time scrolling through their social media and keeping themselves updated with recent news. However, do you think that businesses giving out free stuff on social media would improve their businesses even better?
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Hi Fluff! Glad you enjoyed my post. I think that businesses giving out free stuff as part of their marketing strategy definitely helps to attract some people (see: giveaways), but it has to be part of their Integrated Marketing Communications Plan or their business plan for it to have any efficacy. Constantly distributing freebies may cheapen the image of the business as well, and put off customers instead. I don’t think businesses giving out free stuff on social media is more of a tool; whether it improves the business and to what degree depends on how it is wielded.
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Hi Joan, what an insightful read! I agree about what you said about the basic rules of social media marketing remaining valid. However, it may change because social media algorithm may change over time, for example, Instagram’s algorithm is already changing again where it is getting more difficult for artists to get get their artworks noticed. What do you think of thiss?
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Hi Xin Yee, glad you enjoyed my post! I have heard of the change to Instagram’s algorithm. I wrote this blog post with the assumption that social media itself will remain largely the same for now, although its users’ habits may be changing. Hence I believe that so long as the key components of social media remain as they are e.g. algorithm prioritising posts with more likes, the basic rules of how to use social media will remain valid. However, should these fundamentals change drastically, then I do believe marketers will need to be at the forefront of that change, and the rules of how businesses use social media will have to be rewritten.
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Hi Joan,
I really enjoyed this blog ! I especially love that you mention businesses should track on their audience most active timings, to post at the right time!
This will really widen their reach, and could be the one of the most important factor regarding social media marketing.
But do you think a business should focus on QUALITY, or QUANTITY of the postings?
Should business post once a day, at the “best” timing that match their target audience,
OR post multiple throughout the day.
Do let me know your thoughts
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Hi Jairus, glad you enjoyed my post! I believe that businesses should focus on the quality of their posts, as the quality of the posts is the value that the business offers to their audience to continue engaging with them. However, I also feel that businesses should post frequently enough to engage with their audience, without compromising on the quality. This then boils down to the preparedness of the business; before engaging in social media, they should be aware of their abilities and not bite off more than they can chew.
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Hi Joan, what cute comics! Also, this digital detox idea is pretty interesting, have you tried it yourself?
Personally, I do admit myself for spending a little too much time on social media daily. What was intended to keep me more connected to all my friends might have a negative effect on those who are physically there with me in some instances. Would you agree that social media might also cause us to be anti-social? Looking forward to your thoughts!
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Hi Kevin, glad you liked the comics! No, I haven’t tried a digital detox myself, as I’m always working on something or other, though I have come to spend less time on social media. I do think that social media has an interesting effect; while it keeps us connected to friends we see less frequently, I do agree that sometimes social media can be distracting from the present. Whether it causes us to be anti-social I feel is dependent on whether we allow it to distract us.
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This is a really interesting perspective for me, no-fluff good read and very relatable (social detox part). For the last part, I believe that social media marketing practices are ever changing.
Yes, I do agree there is definitely a set fundamental thinking/rules that marketers should “abide” by, like tracking the basic metrics like user active periods, understanding that by “over-saturating your audience with content; it will only make your brand unwanted” and even engagement, reach and click-through rates etc.
However, I believe that as the world’s technology advances, the uses of the internet will also evolve (e.g. Web 2.0 or 3.0), which may also lead to an evolution of how social media would be used (user habits, business communication with users). This will then lead to new practices or “a new set of rules” for marketers to play by.
What are your thoughts about this?
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Hi Kia Yang! You are not the only one who thinks like that; others have commented the same on this post.
I wrote this blog post with the assumption that social media itself will remain largely the same for now, although its users’ habits may be changing. I feel that the key components of social media are rooted in the design of Web 2.0 and consumer attitudes towards business (and hence business communications with users), and hence proposed that social marketing rules would remain as they are even as users’ habits evolve as it does not effect as fundamental a change.
However, should the Internet evolve to say, Web 3.0 or beyond, then I do believe marketers will need to be at the forefront of that change, and the rules of how businesses use social media will have to be rewritten. For example, this Forbes article (https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/06/what-is-web-3-0/?sh=7689bc7a58df) describes data ownership as one of the most significant implications of Web 3.0. As users’ data becomes entirely unavailable, businesses will lose many of the metrics by which we make decisions regarding consumer engagement; this will definitely give rise to a new social media marketing practices for businesses.
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As social media marketing becomes more susceptible and relevant to businesses online, there will always be the question of ethics in the mix. Intimate data of consumers are now easily accessible to companies so specific products can be shown to you, with the hopes of an impulse buy. Platforms also exploit user’s addictive and emotional behaviours, to further prompt advertisements and relevant topics to induce more engagement and more sales.
Do you think such examples are morally acceptable? Who is responsible? The user or marketer? Looking forward to your reply!
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Hi Yong Min! Yes, businesses do this because it works (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/ultra-fast-fashion-is-eating-the-world/617794/), but I definitely do not feel that it is morally acceptable. (Not that the companies that own these platforms have been the most ethical either: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/06/is-big-tech-now-just-too-big-to-stomach) This, at least, is obvious; encouraging unhealthy behaviours when the negative effects social media has on one’s health, exploiting data that consumers have not fully consented to sharing and are often uncomfortable with knowing that it is in the hands of large companies – all of this is evidently unethical.
As the second article mentions, the businesses are the ones with immense power – if not all – when it comes to the relationship between platform and user. Similarly, the businesses leveraging the power of social media for revenue are the ones with the power in that they are choosing this unethical if effective method to induce sales. I therefore feel that the marketers are the ones who are responsible and should look to other ways to engage with their consumers, though it seems unlikely that they will move away from social media marketing and risk decreased revenue that may not only reduce profit margins but cost the business its ability to break even.
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Hello Joan 🙂 That was a quick and interactive read right there! I definitely agree with you that social media has been deeply integrated into our lives today. I myself am guilty of spending waaay too much time on social media such as Instagram. Ironically, I actually get tired of the social media from time to time due to the negative news online and for it being the root cause of my procrastination haha. Because of this, I actually go on social media detox once every 2 weeks for a day just to give my physical and mental health a rest.
How about you, do you go on social media detox as well? Looking forward to your reply! 🙂
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Hi Wan Teng! I don’t really go on social media detoxes myself as I run my CCA’s social media accounts. I try to be available 24/7 to catch our audience when they are active, which is a surprisingly large range of timings. However on days where I can’t afford to be distracted by social media I have another exco member take over; rule of thumb being not to leave any interaction unresponded to within 24 hours. I do feel those effects that you do too, so I try not to use social media for non-work purposes. I also do that to avoid all the advertisements – phew!
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Hi Joan, what an awesome and interesting take on your part! While I do agree that with the recent uprising trend of social media detoxing, social media platforms and technology have become so intertwined with our daily lives that we as millennials, could not just break away from it. Playing by user insights to get more audience reach and engagement certainly does the trick, but do you think businesses could keep their audience and customers for long this way? How else do you think businesses should interact with their audience?
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Hi Jasmine, sorry for the late reply; your comment got shifted to spam! I do agree that the role of social media has become increasingly intertwined with how we lead our lives; simply that we are starting to recognise that it is unhealthy and minimising our time on it as users leaves marketers with fewer and/or shorter opportunities to engage with us. Regarding audience engagement, I feel that the crux of audience interaction is still the value that businessess can offer to their audience. Businesses should determine what consumer experiences their audience perceive to be of greatest value to themselves and create them. Forbes’s article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2015/09/14/8-ways-to-engage-better-with-your-customers/amp/ gives plenty of examples how.
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