Now Is The Time For Community Created Content ~via @Katadhin
Wow, it has been “a minute” for the marketing industry. Everything we thought we knew was just balled up into a wad and tossed at the corner trash can, and we missed the bucket… over and over again. 2020 marketing plans, done. Third-party data and cookies are done. Spammy ads, uh, still here but also... done. Like many things, marketing has suddenly catapulted forward at least five years and there will be no going back to the status quo. Even worse for the craft is the fact that some of the practices that were still working, such as live sports, simply disappeared and exposed the futility of many advertising and sponsorship schemes. Consider that the COVID downturn in ad spending is already much more severe than the housing crisis, and it is easy to understand that the industry won’t be the same again.
The time to rethink advertising is NOW. Well, it was actually “a decade ago” but this will not end well for most brands and marketers. Part of the challenge comes from the fact that marketers are very locked-in to their current tactics… frighteningly so. Remember the great Facebook boycott of 2020. How did that go? Facebook reported record revenue and profits in its second quarter as marketers piled in because they simply have few other options that are effective. They know it and Facebook knows it too. Two decades into the digital advertising ‘revolution’ and over 80% of spending is among 3 players, Facebook, Google and Amazon. All other forms of digital advertising combined, including all publishing, account for a tiny fraction of spending thanks to one simple fact, they aren’t relevant, at least not in terms of shopper’s attention (not much more important than that).
One of the challenges for marketing today is that despite all the trends of personalization and localization, marketing is still, for the most part,” one to many.” I have been a big believer in many to many models since getting involved with influencer marketing in 2008. The idea that people closer to the shopper have a better understanding of what content appeals to their audience than does a marketer who is far removed just made sense to me. Combined, influencer marketing integrated with corporate branding and communication has become a standard part of most media mixes. We used this model at Walmart to significantly expand the reach and relevance of our digital marketing. Influencers helped to bring their own POV to the seasonal marketing push model that we were using, which integrated in-store and traditional media such as Game Time and Bake Center. By incorporating these methods, our ability to organically affect search and discovery across platforms of all types was greatly enhanced. Today, thanks to platforms like TikTok, Canva, and Photofy, the “many to many” model is primed for a breakout.
“A whole new generation of ‘shopper’ is defined by the content they themselves create, not just what they re-share or like.”
Initially, digital was simply digitizing brand content. We went from printed materials to digital flyers (websites). Then we had social media, which enabled people to create content, but most people viewed and liked it and sometimes shared. Even making comments, which is an awesome form of content, was sparse. Real and widespread content creation began to emerge with Snapchat and Instagram, and a new generation that grew up with these formats took them and made them their own. Content creation became a form of expressive communication — and participation and engagement exploded. Finally, “local and personal’ content was a reality. As much as smart marketing platforms seek to create individualized content based on user data and behavior, they cannot compete with... the Creative Power of Real Humans.
Snapchat averages a Snap a day per user with active users posting 20 snaps daily. This equates to over 200 million pieces of unique content every month. The real power comes in the form of engagement of that content by a personalized, self-selecting audience. Branded content doesn’t come close because it’s simply a different medium, even when distributed through the same channel. Snap is the model of the new media company that actively encourages foundational content creation through its filters. This Community Created Content (#CCC) can see engagement in the billions as members reuse the filters for their audiences. According to online retail platform Oberlo, user-created Snapchat filters now account for a full third of Snaps created. It’s a Self Recursive Content Platform.
At Photofy, we are working every day to create the easiest to use platform for Community Content Creation for enterprise users that incorporates a Self Recursive mindset. Our goal is to make it insanely easy to use branded templates, overlays and designs. Using the Photofy platform, one of our partners with around 21,000 users created and shared over 360,000 pieces of content. The overall impact on localized SEO for its brand has been immense — and since over 50% of the content is shared via private networks, the brand is able to reach audiences its corporate content cannot. As media budgets are being reallocated, this new layer of marketing deserves much more attention and increased investment.
A New View Into Marketing Analytics
One of the most exciting aspects of Community Created Content is the insight into the types of content the community finds valuable and also the channels to which the community shares content. As content creators know their audiences more intimately, they learn what content is most engaging and what channels they prefer. This data becomes invaluable to marketers to understand in real-time what content is most effective, providing insights into future content creation activities. Most media data looks at how media is consumed. Forward-thinking retailers have community-created content on their minds. Look no further than recent speculation about Walmart teaming up with Microsoft to make a bid for TikTok. Walmart employees have been using the platform for a couple of years now to highlight local stores. What a bold move this would be as media, commerce and payments continue to combine for a richer, more effortless shopper experience.
Content creation data adds a new dimension to what content is valuable to the creators’ mindset at scale. This additional viewpoint is critical for a creator-based marketing approach.
