the limits of social platforms

September 30, 2014 Aggregate Conference 45 Main St #220 BKLN / 718 625 4843 / hugeinc.com

The Limits of Social Platforms.

September 30, 2014

Huge

Robertson EngelsmanCommunity Manager, Huge !

!

@rcengelsman !

rengelsman@hugeinc.com !

rcengelsman.com

1. The state of social

2. The limitations

3. The opportunities

Agenda

The state of social.

200+Social networking sites.

Source: NodeXL, 5/2014, eMarketer 6/2013.

We’ve hit critical mass.

There are too many conversations. On too many platforms.

We’ve heavily fragmented our experiences.

“The new inequality will be an

information absorption inequality.”

We’re at information overload:

Source: Izabella Kaminska, “Information Overload”, Tumblr, 3/16/13

It’s a lot of shouting.

And it’s leaving many users discouraged.

Source: Andrew Simone, Today in Tabs, 1/16/14

The limitations.

Knowns. Unknowns.

Paid support is no longer a nice-to-have - it’s a necessity.

Facebook’s organic reach has declined.

Source: Social@Ogilvy, Facebook Zero, 2/14.

Character limits are a constant source of headaches.

Instagram is bland and barely customizable. How do you show off the brand?

New platforms are even scarier when they don’t

come with easy ways to prove success.

Measuring our work:

If the goal is 1-to-1, how big can we truly go?

How thin do we spread ourselves?

Scalability:

Snapchat.Limitations:

40% of 18-year-olds in the United States use Snapchat multiple times a day.

The platform is exploding:

Source: Business Insider, “Snapchat's Explosive Growth Among Teens And Millennials Means It's Emerging As A Powerful Brand Platform”, 8/15/14

Snapchat’s users are the perfect demo for some brands, but the platform hasn’t matured

enough to support their efforts.

1. Only one account can be logged in.2. Uploads are low resolution.3. Story Snaps require one take. 4. The app crashes under high volume. 5. A Story will likely only be viewed once.

A few of the current Snapchat limitations:

The opportunity.

Social media is exciting for the same reason it’s scary:

There isn’t one right answer.

There isn’t one right answer.

There are hundreds of right answers.

“In terms of the internet, nothing has

happened yet. The internet is still at the

beginning of its beginning.”

Think of the possibilities:

Source: Kevin Kelly, “You Are Not Late”, Medium, 7/26/14

Snapchat.Opportunity:

With no way to measure, we invented

our own formulas.

Our team developed engagement rates, average views per Story, and drop-off percentages to set benchmarks and calculate value.

Maybe scaleability isn’t possible, but exclusivity can drive reach in unexpected ways.

These are all tactics brands & people are using to break out of perceived platform limitations.

AT&T went directly to its audience by choosing Snapchat to push millennial-themed content. They ended up with over 44,000 followers.

Source: AdWeek, “AT&T's YouTube and Snapchat Summer Reaps Big Stats”, 8/12/14

They also pushed the limitations of Instagram.

Source: The Verge, “Ikea built a website inside Instagram”, 6/27/14

Age Gender

Location Language

Interested In Educational Status Relationship Status

Organic.Interests

Behaviors Connections

Custom Audiences Lookalike Audiences

Paid.

Facebook targeting offers a wealth of options to help find your audience.

Twitter “storms” have become a common way to make a point (and dominate feeds).

Author David Mitchell used Twitter “collections” to tell a short story in 180 tweets.

Source: Mashable, “1 Book Told in 280 Tweets: 'Cloud Atlas' Author Writes a Twitter Story”, 7/14/14

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┻┳| •.•) Ron Bronson

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Creative Twitter illustrations help convey more than just words.

“Of course, Snapchat could reinvent itself entirely tomorrow; such is the ruthlessly

fickle world of social media.”

Remember:

Source: Andrew Cunningham, “What Your Brand Should Know About Snapchat”, Huge Ideas, 8/28/14

There is no right answer.

Questions?

September 30th, 2014 Aggregate Conference 45 Main St #220 BKLN / 718 625 4843 / hugeinc.com