When social media was born - it was just one simple platform. My Space. Anyone remember that?
And you could go on My Space and have a profile page and talk to other people on My Space. Then Facebook appeared and crushed My Space and everyone went over there.
Somewhere in there Twitter was born. Then Linked In. Then Pinterest. Then Instagram. Then Snapchat…
Overwhelmed yet?
And let’s not forget the regular ole platforms that brands use to reach people. Television ads, billboards, newspaper and radio etc.
As marketing folks looked around they were faced with getting messages out to people using all of these channels - and thanks to our impatient natures - getting those messages out NOW. So what happened? Hootsuite came on the scene and allowed us the ability to post the same message on multiple platforms!
YAY!
But actually nay. Cuz posting the same messages on multiple platforms doesn’t work. Cuz their audiences aren’t the same. Let me back up - remember the regular ole platforms I was talking about? For some reason - we are comfortable understanding that you wouldn’t put the same message on a billboard that you would in a radio ad. Why? Cuz different audiences, different platform. You want to make an impact? Change up the message per the platform.
Social media kind of looks all the same doesn’t it? And Hootsuite let’s us just put a message on there and get it across all social channels. But that’s a mistake that marketing folks keep making.
Cuz the channels are different. Twitter isn’t the same audience as Facebook. Tumblr isn’t the same audience as Pinterest. Do they share some commonalities? Sure. But if you want to be heard in today’s noisy world - you have to differentiate by audience.
That’s the only way to make an impact. It’s not easy, I know. And it takes the kind of work that many companies still just don’t understand.
Think of it this way - if you wanted to sell your trampoline parts - you wouldn’t just walk into a crowd and start yelling to everyone to buy your wares. It wouldn’t work.
Instead of me telling you why it wouldn’t work - take a few minutes and think to yourself why it wouldn’t work. Cuz that’s the crucial lesson you need to learn today to get your brand heard.