Post Created by: Raheel Nabi<\/p>\n
This sounds like a social media marketeer\u2019s worst nightmare \u2013 a digital marketing world without the stable grounds of Facebook.\u00a0 But, that\u2019s almost what the recent study by PEW Research Center is pointing towards.<\/p>\n
In a study conducted by the organization in April, 2018 \u2013 teens from the US were asked to talk about their social media use.\u00a0 Here are some topline stats from the study:<\/p>\n
Sure, these numbers are not all that bad at first glance.\u00a0 However, when we take a few stats into account to shed light in the world to come \u2013 it starts getting a little dicey.<\/p>\n
I am talking about the fact that 34% of US teens think Facebook is for older people.\u00a0 Facebook, for at least my generation, was a thing for the youth, teens specifically.\u00a0 Parents coming on the channel was annoying to say the least, and felt absolutely invasive to say the worst.\u00a0 That established, since that time one thing has happened which has changed the horizon almost entirely: I, along with my generation, grew up.\u00a0 We grew up to a point where we are now looked at as grown-ups by the current teens.<\/p>\n
And like we helped Facebook become what it is today, the upcoming teen generation will be responsible in setting up the next best thing \u2013 if this one doesn\u2019t suit their needs.\u00a0 And this study shows their needs are being met elsewhere.\u00a0 They are looking at instant content-rich platforms like Instagram and Snap.\u00a0 Sure, the user numbers do not add up to even coming close to that of Facebook\u2019s, but think the next 10 years here.<\/p>\n
Instagram, last year in September, announced over 500 million active users visit them every day.\u00a0 This number is absolutely staggering on its own \u2013 and I believe requires very little comparative information to seem impressive.\u00a0 And you couple that with information from this study \u2013 you realize Instagram is the second most used app by teens in a day.\u00a0 Facebook is far far down that list now.<\/p>\n
This spells trouble in a lot of different places \u2013 but especially for marketeers.\u00a0 The main component we sell, as marketeers, is content in a relevant place, with a thriving and receptive audience.\u00a0 And our confidence in Facebook has not budged in all these years, because it continues to be a channel which has made our jobs the easiest ever.\u00a0 It continues to provide the most advanced ad experience amongst all competition, so far.\u00a0 Because of this it dominates our daily professional lives \u2013 with clients finally trying to catch a seat on the Facebook marketing train after years of convincing, in part due to the legit business impact success stories floating around.\u00a0 It has taken us a long long time to get here, and just as we got here and started taking off our evening jackets \u2013 the train track started getting a little bumpy.<\/p>\n
Groups and forums are still filled with Facebook advertising experts and the organization itself has evolved its own products to help these experts sell more in all sorts of avenues.\u00a0 Lead generation, video ads, pixel tracking \u2013 all that jazz.\u00a0 And while the Earth continues to revolve around the sun, we know for sure that the social media giant will keep innovating on its feet to make our lives even better.\u00a0 But perhaps, they should start focusing on marketeers less and more on their general audience.<\/p>\n
There is a chink in the armor today \u2013 in the 10 year horizon, when these teens grow up to reach where I am sitting now, they might not use facebook in its entirety \u2013 or use it like we held on to our Yahoo or Hotmail email addresses: sparsely.\u00a0 Without this audience on the platform, all our efforts today will be futile.<\/p>\n
Present day in Pakistan, we see our budding content creators crying foul about Facebook\u2019s algorithms, and rightfully so, whilst struggling to find a common alternate platform to group on.\u00a0 Youtube, Instagram and Snapchat are the three obvious choices they are looking towards \u2013 but it does feel like a disjointed effort so far.\u00a0 I see these creators picking and choosing a best of two from these three options and trying to make it work for them.\u00a0 That said, a few timelines later, when they do successfully band together and choose a platform (I am torn in my speculation-based vote for Youtube or Instagram) \u2013 it will be safe to say that the Facebook platform will never be the same as what we knew it to be.<\/p>\n
Content has always been the king of digital since day 1, we have all heard and said it.\u00a0 But now comes the multi-dimensional content world.\u00a0 Different versions of various contents, spread across multiple platforms.\u00a0 The audience at large now only cares about the content they are looking for, everything else is an unwelcome distraction.\u00a0 Reconnecting or connecting has moved into a secondary objective position, ironically, and they do not need a specific platform for that anymore.<\/p>\n
The new-age social media platforms understand that better than Facebook arguably, and we are seeing a crazy innovation spree happening with each.\u00a0 Snapchat with its new UI, Instagram with it\u2019s Insta TV and Youtube Music as a sign of youtube exploring breaking up its giant (and frankly, a little all over the place) structure into smaller focused groups.\u00a0 Not to say Facebook isn\u2019t innovating either, their focus on content creators is definitely primed with their new monetization plans and dedicated tools for them – however, their constant algo changes haven\u2019t done them any favours with the audience recently.\u00a0 This was coupled with a case of horrible timings syndrome with the Cambridge Analytics debacle.\u00a0\u00a0 Safe to say, this year has been off to a very anti-Facebook start, and it isn\u2019t looking to be slowing down anytime soon.<\/p>\n
What would be interesting to witness, however, is a world where Facebook is not the solid bed that all marketeers and audiences throng to.\u00a0 With the study, coupled with other strings of information, it looks like that might just be the case any time in the next 10 years.\u00a0 Who takes the crown? Lord knows, at this time.\u00a0 Maybe the monopoly might break after all to begin with.\u00a0 But one thing’s for sure, digital marketeers have their work cut out for them in finding the next best thing to park their clients dollars in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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