The Death of Facebook…Again?

If you’ve followed the rise of Facebook over the last decade you’ll probably have heard about “the death of Facebook” on more than one occasion.

As the world’s biggest social media platform Facebook is an easy target for everyone from advertisers to governments to regular users in the general public. As a result, we’ve seen this type of headline time and time again.

Is this really the end for Facebook? What does the future hold for the channel synonymous with social media?

Pivot, Pivot…PIVOT!*

You don’t need an MBA or years of experience in the business world to recognise that Mark Zuckerberg has been a pretty impressive founder and CEO up to this point.

With this in mind, and a history of acquisitions including Instagram and aggressively attacking competitors like Snapchat, it’s fair to assume that Facebook will pivot and react, as and when younger audience attention shifts.

However, even with this in mind it’s unlikely Facebook will ever again become the “go-to” place for younger audiences. This is primarily because it now has such a large adult and senior audience that the numbers will almost certainly always skew upwards.

Also, when you combine the fact that Zuckerberg is unlikely to turn his back on the highly lucrative mature audiences anytime soon with the age-old understanding that kids, teens and younger groups always want their “own” space, on and offline, it’s safe to say Facebook will most likely never return to its younger, cooler image of approximately 2008-2012.

*Who got the Friends reference?

Segmented Digital Messaging

Marketers and advertisers are no strangers to segmented audiences and messaging and this may develop further in the coming years, more so than even at present.

To a certain extent businesses, marketers and advertisers already understand that different social media channels mean different audiences (think Snapchat for under 25s etc.).

As a result, and if younger users continually drop-off, or never join, Facebook the social media channel could simply become a platform to reach audiences in the over thirties market.

This would essentially represent a 180 degrees flip, as for years the channel was seen as a platform to reach teenagers, university students and those in their early twenties, but wouldn’t kill the channel by a long shot.

In the near future you could see marketers use Snapchat and Instagram to reach anyone under thirty, Facebook for over thirties and one or two other experimental channels for teenagers or seniors.

Part of the Mainstream

With all of the above in mind one of the most likely developments (it’s happening already) is that Facebook simply becomes part of the mainstream media machine we’ve all known, in some shape or form, throughout our lives.

For many the Brexit and US Presidential political results of 2016 represented a watershed moment as Facebook had reached the mainstream as a key media channel. It could even be this increased awareness, of the channel and its powers over society, that is leading to younger audiences moving away.

Whatever the reasons, becoming part of the mainstream media offering in no way means Facebook is nearing grim death. It might simply no-longer be where the cool kids hang out…although some would say that happened years ago!

What to Do?

As always it’s best to let these things play out and simply maintain an awareness of any major changes.

If you’re in the business of marketing or selling to anyone over the age of 25 then this is probably a non-issue. If you target teenage or young adult markets it’s time to get experimental…if you haven’t already.

Any other questions on social media for business, or digital marketing in general, contact me here.

Northern Ireland Tourism Workshops

Tourism is projected to become a billion pound industry in Northern Ireland by 2020.

Whilst that might be the case, there is still plenty of work yet to be done and recently myself and my colleague Jason Powell, of Powell Destination Marketing, had the pleasure of teaming up to host a tourism marketing workshop in Portrush on the north coast.

We set-up shop in the Magherabuoy House Hotel, just off the incredible Causeway Coastal Route, and started our workshop designed specifically for local bed & breakfast and self-catering traders.

Focus on Tourism

Jason started the day with a focus set firmly on the principles of tourism marketing.

With so much support now readily available via Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland it’s important to utilise what’s already out there including the regular opportunities e-zines and in-depth market research.

These two massive organisations have undertaken all of the research needed so we don’t have to. 

Instead, we have to focus on creating engaging products and messages for our target customer profiles like the Culturally Curious or Great Escapers.

A Great Escaper wants a holiday linked back to nature in someway so why not package your bed and breakfast rooms with a local walking or hiking trail?

The research tells us this is exactly what they want so now we have to get the message out there!

Focus on Digital

The next step is all about getting these specific messages and products in front of potential travellers.

Nowadays it is essential to do this is via digital channels online and the second half of the workshop allowed me to focus on all things digital whilst also relating back to Jason’s talk earlier in the day.

We focused on using digital signposts to drive people back to your website where direct bookings or enquiries are most likely to happen.

These digital signposts include, but aren’t limited to, popular social media channels, search engines and email marketing.

Puzzle Pieces

It was a great day and the feedback has been very positive.

At Counter Digital and Powell Destination Marketing we try to keep things simple when it comes to tourism marketing.

Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland hand us the puzzle pieces; it’s just about us putting them together in the right order and getting out there online!

For more information on tourism workshops click here.

Effective Digital Marketing at Ballymena Chamber

Recently I was asked to speak on Effective Digital Marketing at the Ballymena Chamber of Commerce.

It was a fun morning hosted by Jackie Logan of Naked PR and also featured brief talks by Diamond Recruitment Group and Q Radio Network.

It was great to get a chance to actually discuss digital marketing with local businesses and hear what they really thought about the challenges of 2016 and beyond.

Signposts to Success

The key theme of my talk was how to proactively direct people or customers to your website.

The reality is that the digital market place is saturated. Reports vary but it’s estimated that there are around 1 billion websites online now.

This is an unfathomable number and competition is everywhere so how do you direct people to your site specifically?

With Counter Digital I focus on providing digital signposts back to client websites.

These signposts come in all shapes and sizes but I focus primarily on social media, email marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO).

As discussed with the chamber, everything is designed to direct people back to a website where the real magic happens.

Your website is where you have complete control over your brand but building it is just the first step.

Think about your signposts and ask yourself – how will people get to my site?

Speak to Me

With the digital landscape constantly shifting and evolving sometimes it’s worthwhile thinking about a talk or workshop to recap and refocus.

If you’re interested in hosting a workshop or talk focused on digital marketing and would like me to speak, get in touch.