2024 Social Media Reads: Social Media is now a commodity

We have now hit a plateau where each of these platforms is offering similar features with a heavy emphasis on videos and increasing engagement.

These platforms are realizing that in order to survive, they can’t be everything for everyone. What this means is that each platform is like a water bottle brand that attracts a specific vibe of person.

Creators and brands are testing out the waters to see where their audience is. Rather than building content in 20 different ways, they’re focusing on quality over quantity to stand out because the end goal is to get people to buy into their brand.

No matter what platform you choose to invest in. Always remember they’re business first. What they care about is making sure their users are staying on the app which means increased watch time and engagement in content.

Which Platform should you invest in?

It’s based on the personality type that you are attracting

If you haven’t watched my 2024 Marketing Trends here are the big takeaways

• SEO is in and Hashtags are out. As Tiktok becomes the main search engine for Gen Z and younger. These platforms are getting smarter on how to push the content in front it’s ideal audience.  
• How to get past the 200-view jail is making content that is appealing and that can show up as
  • Be human: Face time chats and vulnerable conversations
  • Talk to the human being you are serving that is beyond psychographics but the vibe that they are
  • Spill the tea to catch their attention and then start from the beginning

So what are the personality types of each platform?

Youtube: Original Source of High Quality Content Creation

• Youtube is still the supreme entertainment source for younger generations.
• The level of quality content expected on Youtube is higher than other platforms as story telling is the only way to get someone’s attention.
• Youtube has provided a space to rabbit hole and learn more about the world from 10 min consistent commitment content to full episodic deep dive shows including documentaries, true crime and more.
• Plugged right into the biggest search engine the world. Means for brands, they’re able to hyper localize their advertising efforts to their ideal audience that is cheaper than traditional advertising.
• Youtube shorts are here to stay as they try to compete against Tiktok for being the #1 preferred search engine for Gen Z and younger.  As a content creator, it’s all about can you catch someone’s attention in the first 3-6 seconds before they swipe pass so there are interesting ways. 

Tiktok – Identity Crisis but still Gen Z #1 Search Engine 

• Many creators are getting frustrated as Tiktok attempts to figure out how it will monetize telling that they want to increase the overall for the long form content and incorporating Tiktok Shop.
  • Longform content has been heavily emphasized aiming for 1+ min videos always to the 10 min mark so that Tiktok can add more mid-video ads like Youtube
  • Tiktok shop livestreaming is looking more and more like it’s Chinese sister app, Duoyin, as predicted where the tiktok roll out is about 5 years behind the technology that already exists in China.
  • Tiktok Live are still going strong as a way to deepen the conversation and engage with your cmmunity.
• Quality over Quantity is the new standard as Tiktok has reached peak saturation of content and the algorithm is becoming more cut throat as views plummet if creators fail to keep the attention span of their audience.
• You still have to catch someone’s attention in less than 6 seconds. So avoid linear story telling.
  • Opting for more casual story telling with subtle cues that catches the audience attention to tune in as you spill the tea with your bestie because have a “facetime” chat with creator is the best way of getting to know them and building your community
• Faceless brands are out and people facing content is in. More than ever people are wanting to have a conversation in Tiktok to discuss the pulse point of humanity from worktok to Sephora Kids.

Instagram – Aesthetic Older sister to Tiktok

• It’s all about the reels and they’re doubling down with investing in good editing tools in the app to get more creators to start creating content. However, it is still said to see how many creators will show up on Instagram as it’s been voiced by many Tiktok creators that it’s less intimidating to be on Tiktok than on Instagram
• Instagram Live is the next level of community interaction after Instagram has seen Tiktok Live be very useful in building community and attracting streamers away from platforms like Twitch
• I said last year that SEO is taking center stage and it’s 1000% the focus with the add topics function now a feature similar to Youtube tags.
• If you’re still in the photo mindset – then it’s all about photo dumps over the perfectly curated feed and carousel posts are here to tell a story
• Threads: we’re still unsure if it’s a thing as despite it’s record breaking launch it’s now down 70% in active users
• Community over following as there are more exclusive content as instagram follows Youtube methodsin building subscriptions for their creators

Linkedin – Professionals turning into Creators

• Linkedin is ground zero for the recruiting and business world as the lay offs continue to increase the growing audience of people who want to work AND those who have decided to leave to work for themselves in the format of creators/thought leaders/business owners.
• Linkedin had a heavy emphasis on creating a space for thought leaders in business that have historically been pushed down on other platforms
  • Those that don’t like X or Threads have decided to move over to Linkedin to continue building their thought leader/creator personas
  • Virtual events and video streams as more thought leaders are realizing that this is their ideal audience to show business building and Linkedin may open it’s door and be the replacement to meta facebook communities
  • Ai contribution by creating more collaborative articles and focus on creating a better user experience for
• B2B brands finally have a space to work with influencers that will directly effect their bottom line as brands like Intel are working with consumer representative to talk about their brand

Facebook – The oldest gorilla in the room

• Facebook is still the biggest gorilla in the room if you will. But it’s the oldest and it’s still mainly where people go for connecting with friends, family and neighbors.
• Facebook as always is testing out new features to see if they can finally land on something that will seperate themselves
  • They are investing more in Ai as they focus more on entertainment. Specifically in how their algorithm is showing you content as they focus on how to show you more FYP content rather than just the pages and people that you follow AND in how they show ads
  • They’re understanding that social media has turned into a media app landscape. They have focused on being more entertainment instead of news.
• Facebook is fully embracing the reel world and being more part of the feed as less people are spending time posting and more scrolling through for entertainment. However most of the reels are not Facebook original but rather a extremely delayed publication from Tiktok to Instagram and eventually ending up on Facebook.

X – What is the point?

• The drive to monetize this platform is ongoing as it’s still bleeding a lot of money so we’re curious to see if they’re going to be.
• While Elon musk has the goal for it to be the everything app we’re still unsure if it makes the most sense as many people are geting confused on why X/Twitter still exists.
• However it is still the main place for government organization to give real time updates of everything that is happening and timely news.

If you are curious about how to navigate what platform has your audience on, let’s schedule a time to chat:  https://rxuconsulting.com/contact/