Facebook 2.3 billion

YouTube 1.9 billion

Instagram 1.0 billion

Qzone 531 million

TikTok 500 million

Where is social now?

What is the current state of social media, and what should you be looking out for?

From myspace to TikTok, social media has exploded over the last 15 years. A digital space with almost no rules, or a true definition of what it is and where it’s going. It was the unknown, and still is.

Fast forward to 2019, and social media is mammoth, with huge personalities presenting to an even bigger audience, insane data and gurus. With all this change, structure, and specialised careers coming out of the past 15 years, there is one thing you should always know – social media will always change, and you’ve got to move with it.

Right now, as a brand or person of interest entering into social media for the first time, it may be daunting. How are you meant to compete with those giants who seem to have it sussed? Social media works in mystical ways – ok, not so mystical, but more on the algorithmic ‘understanding your audience and finding your voice’ side of things.

Although these giants may have teams of creative, copywriters and strategist, you will always have your personality. No large team can recreate that. Being authentically you has never been more desirable, and enables your audience to create a more meaningful connection to your brand. you don’t need to bring them into your personal life, but let them see you, hear you, and find out what you stand for through your content and tome of voice. Don’t be scared to push those boundaries. How far you push is up to you.

Not every piece of content or story will be a home run, and that’s ok. It will take time to build up a network of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. So don’t be discouraged – it may also be that you are just not telling it in the right place or to the right people. Keep looking for your audience. They may be in places you don’t expect.

The question that comes up all the time is ‘how do you measure success?’ this has had people up in arms figuring out what’s important. What do you want to achieve form your content? Was it to grow your audience or create engagement? Let the intention be engagement rate or like for like. Social media is powerful, but it can be incredibly fickle. Don’t let your stats entirely define what to create. If something doesn’t work, go back and look at why. Review, Rework. Re-publish and review again. Once you are able to determine what your audience enjoys, where they are and how you would like to show your personality, build on that. Social media is all about escalation.

Youtube

“It will take time to build up a network of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say.”

Video Length

YouTube has moved from 2-3 minute videos up to 20/30 minutes with continuous retention. Although there is a want for longer format videos, it doesn’t always mean that’s the answer. Start short, and test the length by reviewing your audience retention stats.

Quality

Users are expecting quality, and they often applaud YouTubers for their filming and editing skills. This is now the norm. invest in a decent camera, lights and editing software if you want to complete in the creator space.

Optimisation

Tagging is important to help your audience find your content and to be discoverable through search. Use tags that reflect your video, as well as keywords from the title and description along with brand words.

Thumbnails

Choose the best thumbnail that will represent the video in single glance. If there isn’t one available, consider creating your own designed thumbnail using stills from the video. Thumbnails are the first thing a user will be drawn too.

Formats and Themes

Be consistent with what you make. It’s better for your channel’s identity and unique hook that you stick to a theme and produce videos in a series or shows around developed formats to build an audience.