Social media, what is it good for?

Social media marketing has been the hottest marketing concept for the past decade. And why not?

With just a little effort, the marketing machine complex has amazingly shifted the production and creativity to a workforce that does all the heavy-lifting for free.

Free.

Consumer generated content, for free.

Direct to consumer engagement, for free.

Friends and family telling what to buy, where to eat, what to watch, all for free.

But is social media marketing losing steam or are we at the pioneer stage of these tools?

This week Pew Research is out with their annual report on Social Media Use in the United States.

And to no one's surprise, a majority of Americans use Facebook and YouTube, and young adults are unusually heavy users of Snapchat and Instagram. The survey of US adults finds that the social media landscape in early 2018 is defined by a mix of long-standing trends and newly emerging narratives. 

As has been the case since the Pew began surveying about the use of different social media in 2012, Facebook remains the primary platform for most Americans. But the social media story extends well beyond Facebook. The video-sharing site YouTube is now used by nearly three-quarters of US adults and 94% of 18- to 24-year-olds.

But there are pronounced differences in the use of various social media platforms within the young adult population as well. Americans ages 18 to 24 are substantially more likely to use platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter even when compared with those in their mid- to late-20s. 

As was true in previous surveys of social media use, there is a substantial amount of overlap between users of the various sites measured in this survey. Most notably, a significant majority of users of each of these social platforms also indicate that they use Facebook and YouTube. But this “reciprocity” extends to other sites as well. For instance, roughly three-quarters of both Twitter (73%) and Snapchat (77%) users also indicate that they use Instagram. 

This overlap is broadly indicative of the fact that many Americans use multiple social platforms. Roughly three-quarters of the public (73%) uses more than one of the eight platforms measured in this survey, and the typical (median) American uses three of these sites. 

As might be expected, younger adults tend to use a greater variety of social media platforms. The median 18- to 29-year-old uses four of these platforms, but that figure drops to three among 30- to 49-year-olds, to two among 50- to 64-year-olds and one among those 65 and older.

So is social media marketing still a thing?

Yes.

But what does this social media thing mean for marketers, communicators, and advocates?

A few ideas.

Americans might say in polite company they don't love social media, but their activity says otherwise as they use these tools and use them a lot. Second, social media users take advantage of multiple platforms and embrace their unique tweaks. Finally, it may be early days of social media, but there is a lot of content and distraction out there - and frankly, most of it is junk food for the brain.

For marketers, communicators, and advocates to take advantage of these tools they must think reinforce, reward, recognize, refresh, and research.

Also, your content must be outstanding because the consumer has multiple channels for distraction, others want your audience, and if the user doesn't feel special, someone else will give them a home.

And most importantly, more and more content is being produced daily. Just like this Ross Rant, content will be easily created and then placed on a minimum of six social media and digital platforms.

So keep on using social media marketing but make sure your content and engagement reinforces, rewards, recognizes, refreshes, and is well researched.

If you want more, you can access the full report here: https://goo.gl/rWdo9g

Marc A.Ross is the founder of Brigadoon and specializes in global communications and thought leader management at the intersection of politics, policy, and profits. Working with boardrooms and C-Suite executives from multinational corporations, trade associations, and disruptive startups, Marc helps leaders create compelling communications, focused content, and winning commerce.

The horse race reporting that is American technology vs. Chinese technology

The media love these stories as the easily play into the horse race narrative of US vs. China - especially in the tech sector. You can see a whole new batch below:

Economist: How does Chinese tech stack up against American tech?

McClatchy: China sets goal of rapidly surpassing US as artificial intelligence race heats up

NYT: The US-China rivalry is, more than ever, a fight over tech

WSJ: Why Washington is so obsessed with China’s Huawei

In the recent past American media only saw Chinese tech firms at best as copycat producers and at worst as industrial spies. However, the narrative is now shifting to a new dynamic as America's technology sector fears that China is reaching tech parity. 

In reporting recently, McClatchy added this spicey sentence to its article comparing the AI efforts of China and the United States: "It set up a broader race between China and the United States over artificial intelligence, a competition that could mold the future of humankind just as the widespread arrival of electricity did in the last century.

The conventional wisdom for editors and headline writers is that such language drives clicks, makes globalization a simple win-loss transaction, and ensures there can only be one winner when it comes to global technology. 

Let's remember competition is good - it is good consumers, it is good for companies, it is good for countries. 

Marc A. Ross is the founder of Brigadoon and specializes in global communications and thought leader management at the intersection of politics, policy, and profits. Working with boardrooms and C-Suite executives from multinational corporations, trade associations, and disruptive startups, Marc helps leaders create compelling communications, focused content, and engaging presentations.

American Politics: Trump’s economic policy toward China receives mixed support from Americans

A poll shows US adults split on whether closer economic ties between Washington and Beijing is a good thing. A 37 percent plurality of US consumers believes Trump is taking the right approach to Washington's financial relationship with China, while 35 percent disagree, according to a recent poll. Thirty-six percent of independents said the president is taking the wrong approach, compared to 12 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats who share that view.

Of course, what Americans think nationally doesn't matter as much when you have an election process for President that based on securing electoral college votes from states - and not securing a popular national vote. States like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are filled with voters demanding stricter trade and economic actions forcing a reset of America’s commercial relationship with China.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio believes the administration has “fallen far short” of his expectations on the trade front. “The problem in the White House is whispering in one ear are some people who are right on trade like (US Trade Representative Robert) Lighthizer and (US Commerce Secretary Wilbur) Ross,” Brown said in a Feb. 6 interview. “And in the other ear, you’ve got all of the Wall Street executives, in his other ear, whispering.”

You can read the full poll from Morning Consult here: https://goo.gl/DFYMYE 

Marc A. Ross is the founder of Brigadoon and specializes in global communications and thought leader management at the intersection of politics, policy, and profits. Working with boardrooms and C-Suite executives from multinational corporations, trade associations, and disruptive startups, Marc helps leaders create compelling communications, focused content, and engaging presentations.

Trump's French Cuff Off the Cuff Trade Policy

I have so many problems with Trump - from policy design to panache departure. But what really puts me over the edge - his total lack of professional political management. 

From a communications management perspective, what DJT did yesterday was a complete professional political management epic fail.

No heads up.

No warning.

No message points.

No surrogate talking heads.

No OpEds.

No coordination with Capitol Hill.

Epic fail.

Trump shocked many of his top advisers by announcing plans for 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum off the cuff. Even metals industry executives attending a White House industry sector meeting yesterday were shocked.

Senior advisers including Gary Cohn thought they had at least delayed the announcement. Republicans on Capitol Hill had no warning about what Trump was about to do. 

The announcement quickly sent the Dow down 500 points.

The stocks of 16 steelmakers gained $1 billion in market value as a result of the move while the rest of the market lost $400 billion.

Trump is easily the most unqualified professional political manager in my lifetime.

Well done sir.

Marc A. Ross is the founder of Brigadoon and specializes in global communications and thought leader management at the intersection of politics, policy, and profits.