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Claire Hennessey

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Fox School of Business

The Adaptation of Social Media Expectations

September 19, 2021 By Claire Hennessey Leave a Comment

As mobile marketing and social media become more inserted into our lives, expectations for the content consumers receive are adapting. Consumer demands have changed, and marketers have transitioned to rely on mobile marketing more than ever.

The uprising of social media at the time of its introduction to society was abrupt and acted as an opportunity to share more of our personal lives with the world than ever before. From its introduction in the early 2000s to 2019, usership grew from zero to 2.38 billion on Facebook alone. Navigating what this meant and how it was used took lots of different forms and directions. Over time, pressure and competitive expectation were set amongst users to share the best versions of themselves and their lives. I think in recent years this expectation has lessened. The cause of this I am not sure but I would guess it has something to do with an oversaturation of social channels. In short, consumers reached their breaking point of sharing ‘perfection’ and are now more comfortable with sharing their ‘truth’. Granted, take that for what it is, knowing that the pressures of social media today are still evident and impactful on users across the globe. Yet with that being said, the value of consumer insights has become more evident than ever. Individuals are using social networks to share their beliefs and drive change in their communities. Setting demands and creating digitally born communities based on these common beliefs.

How does this impact marketers?

As expectation changes for what users see on social media, combined with the change of how consumers themselves are using these channels. Brands are expected to take a stand against social issues, share their values, and in short contribute to being more authentic. As I said, users are tired of seeing perfection and are not only ready to be authentic themselves, they are ready to see their brand’s authenticity as well. More than that, they are demanding it. This has been proven through consumer expectations time after time again. According to Social Media Today, consumers hold brand transparency, distinct personalities, and memorable content in the top 5 reasons that make brands best in class on social channels. In line with this, brands that stand out with their mobile marketing strategy do just this. Nike is known for taking stands on social dilemmas and being first in hand to make a reaction. Likewise, Dove is often praised for its Real Beauty campaign, this campaign was at the forefront of authentic marketing and shows success in relating to Dove’s consumers. 

I am happy to see this directional change in our social and mobile marketing are impacting our lives. Although, we have a long way to go. It’s exciting to see brands and users moving toward authentically portraying themselves. We are seeing the vast impact social media has and I think this will only continue to grow, especially with activism and authenticity at the forefront of mobile usage.

 

Work Cited

Banner, Matt. “How Social Media Has Evolved over the Past 12 Years.” Content Marketing Consulting and Social Media Strategy, 30 Dec. 2019, www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-social-media-has-evolved/. 

Hutchinson, Andrew. “New Report Looks at Evolving Consumer Expectations from Brands on Social Media [Infographic].” Social Media Today, 17 June 2021, www.socialmediatoday.com/news/new-report-looks-at-evolving-consumer-expectations-from-brands-on-social-me/602032/. 

Kemp, Simon. “Half a Billion Users Joined Social in the Last Year (and Other Facts).” Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard, 22 July 2021, blog.hootsuite.com/simon-kemp-social-media/. 

Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban. “The Rise of Social Media.” Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org/rise-of-social-media. 

Parihar, Sunaina. “Content as a Window: Dove.” Social Media Innovation MIS 5603 Fall 2021, Temple University, Wordress, 1 Sept. 2021, digitalmarketing.temple.edu/2021fallmis5603/2021/09/01/content-as-a-window-dove/?crid=13177#comment-135. 

Ricchiardi, Alessandro. “Council Post: The next Era of Social Media Marketing Is Here.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 9 Nov. 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/11/10/the-next-era-of-social-media-marketing-is-here/?sh=2141b8bb1b9a. 

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