Born Social discusses overcoming apathy on social media

Social media content agency Born Social says social-first approach requires ideas to have come from social platforms either directly or through a cultural trend and that they have to be made for social, meaning they take full advantage of platform functionality and consider the audience, channel context and culture.

Born Social’s ‘Apathy Antidote’ event discussed how adopting a social-first approach can make brands become relevant again and counter social media apathy.

Essi Nurminen, senior strategist at Born Social, says a brand must know its target audience inside and out for a social-first approach to be successful.

“We really need to ask ourselves ‘Who are they?’ How do they behave and what do we know about their purchasing behaviour,” says Nurminen.

Brands must also understand the channel context, what is happening on the platform, the people using a particular channel and major cultural trends.

“Often we are so focused on what we want to say about our brand or what our competitors are saying that we forget to look at the environment in which we unleash all this content.” says Nurminen. “Internet cultures are very different all around, so your TitkTok influencers are so different from your picture-perfect Instagram influencers. This really requires a deep understanding of the culture that surrounds each platform.”

Other important aspects to consider are the functionalities of the platform, which allows brands to take full advantage of them. For example, by understanding all the different functions on Instagram, corporate content like long-form videos could be launched on IGTV, because it doesn’t have a time limit. Similarly, how the post is executed also says a lot about the reaction and engagement it will receive. Instagram videos that are framed vertically and have subtitles grab more attention because they are full screen and designed for a silent environment.

According to Paddy Smith, creative director at Born Social, a social first approach that considers all these factors can “create the same type of emotional connection than long form storytelling.”

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