[ Use of social media in 2020, some insights – Digital Marketing – Part 6]
Global lockdowns saw a rise in the use of social media platforms for information sharing, access, entertainment and so on. If you haven’t spotted it already, Facebook has already made some layout changes when viewing in desktop mode.
With Coronavirus pandemic around, post promotion which also involves human-intervention to ensure ad quality is reduced. As such, again, if you haven’t noticed already, you are watching more organic posts on the feed, and ads have been neatly tucked on the side.
This is what I like about Facebook – quick to sense, quicker to react.
Having said that, the core design of social media rarely changes overnight. The primary intent of the core communication design remains the same for long.
In my earlier posts, I covered on blogs, and mostly on the exercise of content creation. Topics like factors to keep in mind before starting one to search engine optimization to running ads on the blog were covered.
This post and the next few will focus on the use of social media for content dissemination. I have categorized the platforms based on their core communication design with a blend of known knowledge and insights.
Here they go:
Platforms that benefit all types of social media post
Pros:
- Ideal for all types of content format.
- Quick adaptation to global changes
- More personalized feed
- Group sharing aid heavily in organic reach
- Easy sharing options to Facebook-owned apps like Instagram and WhatsApp
Cons:
- Super dynamic homepage for users,
- Demands frequent social media post
- Low organic reach in general [In 2020]
- In competition with about 1500 stories for an average user [In 2020]
- Increase in false news and click baits over time
Pros:
- Preference for sharing respectable content
- Social media post here can stay relevant for weeks
- Quick industry insights available via independent posts, groups and hashtags
- Post reaction by 1st-degree contacts can reach to 2nd or 3rd degree
- Focus on quality networking
Cons:
- Increase in content not related to the platform, e.g. political content
Use of social media platforms with image-centric content
Pros:
- One-stop platform for visual communications
- Works equally good with short phrases and poems within images
- Easy and free switch to a business account
- Promotes new accounts organically
- Hashtag performance, reach analysis and more with business accounts
Cons:
- Reduced organic reach with a non-business account with algorithm changes [As per 2020]
- Reduced organic reach on updating to a business/professional account
Pros:
- A pin stays relevant for long
- Useful in driving traffic to blog or website
- Option to create business account separately under personal account
- Free analytics for a business account
- Feasibility to add separate non-business account in the existing one
Cons:
- Follower count gets easily stagnant
Use of social media platforms with text-centric content
Pros:
- An extension of brand personality or personal identity
- Frequent posting is encouraged and it’s useful for engagement
- Demands quick action
- Thrives on fact, sarcasm, and topics in trend
- Direct reach to political figures, brands, celebrities
Cons:
- Microblogging comes with the character limit
- Language may get overly emotional and vulgar
Medium
Pros:
- Supreme quality content regularly delivered based on reading history
- Low membership fee
- Medium Partner Program to help writers earn based on post reads
- Curated publications
- Ad-free platform
Cons:
- Medium Partner Program is not available in countries where Stripe payment integration is still in Beta or Preview
- Building followers may take longer if not posted frequently
Ghost.org
Pros:
- Ultra easy to set up a blog site
- Public vs Members-only vs Paid features can be implemented on a post to post basis
- In-built SEO
- Pre-built integrations for analytics and content distribution
- Secure and easy setup of Stripe to receive payments on paid posts including countries in Beta or Preview mode
Cons:
- High membership fee
- Short trail time (14 days)
- Works well only with writers with high follower counts
Quora
Pros:
- Trust-building through answering questions
- Analytics available on a per-answer basis
- Passive source of traffic generation
- A secondary source of topic generation
- Strong in regional content creation
Cons:
- Similar questions merge
- Tricky content moderation
Platforms that benefit video-only social media post
YouTube
Pros:
- Works great for niches with frequent uploads
- Monetization possible with 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours
- Integrated Youtube Studio for video editing
- Per video analytics
- Complete guide on growing on YouTube
Cons:
- Video production is time-consuming
TikTok
Pros:
- Instagram for videos, similar in terms of layout and hashtags
- Great potential for brand awareness
- High engagement rate
- Account linking available for Instagram and YouTube
- Ad-posts blend with usual postings
Cons:
- Hashtags can reach billions easily. Noisy.
- Difficult to retain an audience for new accounts.
That’s all about the use of social media. I hope it helps you prioritize your content dissemination strategies. Do let me know if there’s any other platform you would like me to cover or if there’s anything else you would like me to add in the above list!
Cheers to all your social media posts!
Older posts in Digital Marketing series
Digital Marketing – Part 1 – Digital Marketing for Artists
Digital Marketing – Part 2.1 – Blog – Everything to know before starting one
Digital Marketing – Part 2.2 – How to make money from blogging
Digital Marketing – Part 3 – 3 Basic SEO tips for beginners
Digital Marketing – Part 4 – Blog post action plan
Digital Marketing – Part 5 – AdSense approval for your blog in the first attempt