The Current State of Social Media & What Needs to Change

Social media is a mania in pretty much all corners of the planet, but everyone already knows that. What they don’t know is that Brazilians have a special passion for it and are among the most active and participative users in the world. In other words, social media needs to be taken seriously in Brazil; the sector has gained increased expertise and maturity – and this hasn’t gone unnoticed. 

The time has come to change – we must look at the market from a different perspective and truly invest in specialized workforce. We need to bring the very best professionals – actual specialists – into agency structures. People who are truly capable of thinking about social media as a conversational platform that creates unique creative concepts, which in addition to becoming viral, can make their way into consumers’ lives and become part of popular culture.

This is the only way to work in the digital universe today. The increasingly frequent changes in the organic influence algorithms of online publications and content on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube foster deep reflections in the market. After all, what apparently worked just a few months ago couldn’t possibly work again today. A good digital communication and PR strategy is no longer enough – we need to be innovative and introduce different solutions.

The issue goes way beyond mobile segmentation and a media plan, which for a long time have become indispensable for any type of social media planning. But the real question is: how to obtain surprising results by creating an innovative and creative content strategy allied to a PR platform based on concepts that belong to the brand’s culture?

YouTube certainly presents viewing rates similar to the largest cable networks in the world. Instagram has a much greater impact than several print media publications, but more often than not, the quality of the advertising material produced for the digital universe is quite different, presenting lower quality standards and cheap production. Advertising production is lacking funds, highlighting the need to match the investments made in the traditional channels for the production and creation of digital content. That is our greatest task.

We need to create social media actions with excellence at all points of the spectrum. Any brand will find that their social network channels are indispensable; all brands have understood that there needs to be greater investments in media and that this investment grows exponentially. Now is the time for us to deliver truly relevant content. Now is the time for us to think about creating campaigns directed toward social media that explore the different characteristics of this universe and that are aligned to the brand’s entire communication platform.

Making a certain type of content go viral in the digital universe is becoming harder by the day, but it is far from impossible. It is based on four factors – the market has already grasped the first one, which is investment in paid media. A relevant fraction of the market has begun to assimilate the second factor, which is precisely well-produced content. The third and perhaps most important factor is a social activation plan aligned to an augmentation plan with a great PR strategy. And the last factor – but not least – is having a well-qualified social media team that includes highly qualified professionals.

The advertising industry has broken free from the outdated notion of relying on metrics based on sales results and has learned how to better work with digital rating measurements, such as views. The consumer’s experience is a very broad term and companies that create several activations in order to make that experience even more engaging will achieve better results.

Now is the time for us to think about social media with a different outlook and a more professional stance. Today, we are talking about a brand’s main touchpoint with its consumers – whether they are on mobile devices or not. A brand can and should be present in the consumer’s day to day, but above all, investing in competent professionals and multidisciplinary teams with different views and the goal to always aim for innovation has become more important than ever.

Tito Ribeiro is a Publisher at Revista.st & Founder of @Agencybrazil