About a decade ago, we saw social media as the first adaptation of the Internet that can be properly used by the entire world. We were able to meet people from all around the world and discuss similar topics. We were able to crowd-source efforts from all over and build something that previously could not be done.
Instead, it revealed the worst humans can be when hidden behind the veil of anonymity and avatars. It also showed us how much worse it is when people of similar opinions band together, creating an echochamber of information and opinions.
Today platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have become a cesspool of disinformation, superficial materialism, Internet trolls, and keyboard warriors. It seems the idea of an open and free social media was a utopia that could never be achieved in reality.
While social media giants trip over themselves trying to fix the mess they created, users have been moving back into the safety of private chatrooms. Chatrooms are nice because users can control who enters, and content gets moderated[1].
But this wall-garden environment creates some difficulties for brands. Because nobody in the right mind would want marketers disrupting their otherwise peaceful private chat world. Lacking a public area or newsfeed, brands will find it incredibly difficult to reach their audience.
Perhaps social media companies will be able to gain our trust again, and we can return to using them. But in case that doesn’t happen, marketers will have to accept a new massive change in how we communicate with our audience. If you’re one of the worried brands, perhaps these few little tips can help set you in the right direction.
Influencers. Like REAL ones.
Every social media user can agree that they hate how invasive ads can be. Although it was attributed by the way the social media companies use private information in unethical ways, the ones who get the bad rep are the ads themselves.
So it is fair to assume that chatrooms of the future will allow very few, if at all, marketers. This is where Social Influencers come to act as our proxies.
It is important to note that an Influencer in the chatroom era will take a more active role than just farming for Follows and Likes. They will be required to form real and deep conversations with their peers, and affect influencer in consumptions and purchases.
Setup Communities and Forums
This is only reserved for businesses that are interested in playing the long game, because ROI realization may take more than a year. Create a chatroom community using platforms like Slack or Discord, and keep inviting customers into the group via other means.
From there, start and participate in meaningful conversations with your audience about relevant topics. This includes giving out tips and tricks, and other educational content. The key is to share all your knowledge without selling a single thing. Ever.
Over time, you will be regarded and trusted as a knowledgeable person in the industry or subject matter. Once that is achieved, you will be able to affect influencer over what they can buy or use, which can come from your store.
Advertisement
As long as chatroom operators do not find alternative ways to make money, there will always be advertisement slots available for purchase. This is important if your brand is interested in quick sales turnarounds.
But because chatrooms will most likely be fragmented and closed, advertisements will be more expensive than they are now. The accuracy of advertisements will most likely be worse than they are now due to end-to-end encryption system that prevents services from reading texts.
Stories Will Still Be Available
The thing that keeps people away from social media is the spread of hate and disinformation. Stories are somehow resistant to that because they don’t last long enough to go viral.
This will be the only platform where all brands can still create content for your audience to consume on a daily basis. So if your brand isn’t on Stories yet, it’s time to start learning the game.
Stories isn’t like the Facebook and Instagram posts brands are creating now. Because they only last 24 hours, they could be created in higher volume and with less quality standards. But the key is to tell a story, rather than sell products or services.
Other non-chatroom Related Things Brands Should Focus On
While most changes will happen from within chatroom environments, users’ departure from social media will also create opportunities in some external platforms.
Strengthen SEO, especially audio.
With reduced attention on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, users will turn back to search engines for suggestions and recommendations. But this time, they will use voice search instead of written words.
Google has been making headway with SEO on voice by transcribing all video and audio content into written words. This is because the search giant accepts the fact that the general public are watching and listening to content more than reading.
Get into Podcasting
Most brands are still writing blogs, but they are not for humans to read. Search Engines are still having trouble extracting keywords and content from audio content. But once Google perfects the automatic transcription of audio content, there will be no longer any need for written blogs[2].
Couple that with the rising number of Smart Speakers and wireless headsets in the market, podcast is quickly becoming the new blog[3].
If your brand is doing a lot of writing today, it is a good time to start experimenting on converting those content into audio formats. Once you had it recorded in your mobile device, simply upload it to Anchor.fm where it will be automatically distributed across multiple podcast apps.
Conclusion
Building the coffin for social media could be far-fetched at this point, especially since its active user count is the highest is has ever been. But if companies like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter do not fix the problems plaguing their platforms, we may hit the tipping point of no return.
And if that happens, we will remember the points above and take all necessary steps to move our brands into the chatroom age.
[1] “Chat Apps and Social Media: What All the Fuss … – Social Media Today.” 18 Feb. 2015, https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/2015-02-18/chat-apps-and-social-media-what-all-fuss-about. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
[2] “Google brings search to podcasts through automatic transcription ….” 29 Mar. 2019, https://searchengineland.com/google-brings-search-to-podcasts-through-automatic-transcription-314798. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
[3] “Could Smart Speakers Give Us Podcasting’s Next Big Moment?.” 4 Dec. 2018, https://medium.com/@CanadianPodcastListener/could-smart-speakers-give-us-podcastings-next-big-moment-4032e54745a2. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
