Social media marketing is essentially free, or you can pay a little to gain a lot.
There are plenty of opportunities here, whether you start campaigns on an established platform like Facebook, or a new one like TikTok. Gary Vee, founder of VaynerMedia, gave us a lot of insights during my talk with him and I want to share them with you.
The uptick and monetization of social media platforms
Facebook is on its 15-year run. Veterans in social media marketing have been marketing successfully on Facebook for over a decade. YouTube is over a decade old. Twitter, too. A lot of developments have happened in the way these platforms attract people and help marketers.
Platforms are monetizing — or they soon will — and you’ll need to adapt.
You often see comments about how mean Instagram is now, because it’s killing organic reach in favor of those who pay to run ads. Come on, Instagram is still free to use.
You don’t get mad at the bus for charging you for transportation. You’re not mad at cable, your ISP, or Netflix for billing you each month. You happily pay your hairdresser.
These complaints are bewildering. These same people use Instagram for free. It’s still free for businesses too. You don’t have to pay and you still get visibility for your services or products. You just get less organic reach.
You are more than welcome to be in control of your life and your business. Go and crush TikTok and LinkedIn while it’s still organic, or you can spend money on Instagram. And guess what? Instagram ads are underpriced right now while they’re still going through this transition.
Embrace today’s chances
Social media platforms change, and you can’t control it. But, you can take charge and grab today’s opportunities in social media marketing. People are always resistant to change, especially if they think the change seeks to take advantage of them.
In the case of social media platforms monetizing their use, I don’t understand the complaining, especially with experts yelling at the top of their lungs:, “Hey! This opportunity exists! Take advantage of it!”
But it’s amazing how people don’t. It’s also a big advantage if you do.
Social media platforms evolve
Hundreds of millions of people use TikTok right now. It’s the number one app in the app store right now. There’s an enormous amount of attention.
We’ve all seen TikTok content. It looks like it’s for the younger generation. But social media platforms evolve.
Instagram evolved out of being for photographers posting nice landscaping and sunsets. Facebook grew out of being a glorified white pages for college kids. Twitter moved on from being for nerds and the tech elite in Silicon Valley talking. Tumblr grew out of acting like junior high. YouTube evolved from a place where you found ripped and pirated uploads of copyrighted content, and is now the second largest search engine on the planet.
In the same way, TikTok might evolve too. You don’t have to be an expert to predict that. We already have a pattern to observe from the other platforms.
A marketing framework you shouldn’t miss
Creating content on platforms where the attention is free or affordable is a framework everybody should consider.
Do you write or do audio? Do you make videos? Do you need organic reach like I did with email, or do you have the money to spend on Instagram ads or pre-roll on YouTube and Facebook?
A strategy of creating content where people are is very basic, but it’s incredibly powerful. If you’re not a modern-day content creator who moves where the attention is, you are basically already outdated.
Everybody should have an understanding of podcasting, blogging, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and any other new platform that catches attention.
“Everybody. It’s as required as taking care of your health, as required as balancing your checkbook. It is a requirement to success going forward, creating lots of content where it’s going to get attention.” -Gary Vee