With the release of Instagram video, it’s clear that this rollercoaster is still going.
You see, something nice about email is that everybody has it. It doesn’t matter if I use Gmail and , for some reason, you use AOL, the email gets through. It’s universal.
Social Media on the other hand creates pockets of communication, niche networks, vastly different forms of media, and with few exceptions, those networks do not communicate with one another. In some cases you can post from one to another, but with each new network, the flow of content gets more and more complicated.
So where do our bite sized videos go now? Is it Instagram, Vine, Tout, Socialcam, Viddy, etc? What if our audience is on more than one, do we now need to create a 6 and a 15 second version of our bite sized videos? Do we really expect our audiences to follow a nice, neat, straight path?
“Oh god please, not another site to use.”
It feels like just when you get used to something being around, or figuring out how it fits, along comes something new. I’m used to it at this point, and from a technological standpoint, this is why I’m an early adopter…I like playing with new toys. It’s not about the technology, where I get frustrated is following audiences around.
Follow me on ___ and ___ and ___ and…
I like new sites and apps but I grow weary of the imitators that fragment the audience, but this is what comes with the territory in a world with no gatekeepers. The truth is that anyone can make an app, or put up a website. Humans will gravitate towards where their friends and network connections are, or to the application that provides the most value. So now businesses are trying to get followed on all these different sites for FOMO on the next big thing, and customers are trying to figure out where their friends are.
It’s digital marketing whack-a-mole.
Every few weeks or months businesses are challenged to look at yet another application or site to determine if their audience is there, or if THIS is going to be the one that is wildly successful. No one wants to miss the NEXT Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.
Furthermore, the proliferation of mobile devices with varying operating systems and form factors is further complicating the matter. At this point, mobile is the big game changer, and the most challenging factor.
So what’s next? Jump on it, or wait and see?
This is the big question for strategists. It is our job to advise clients on what sites to use, how to use it, and how it fits with the overall objective.
How does a multichannel marketing strategy work when media is moving toward device specific, bite sized, one-time content? And how do we advise clients when the trend cycles are getting shorter and shorter and audiences are rapidly shifting between apps?
For now, I’m inclined to advise a wait-and-see approach with all things. If you have the time and are willing to devote some time to testing the waters, maybe even planning out some content, then go for it. But don’t chase the bright lights, there’s no end in sight.