I have been obsessed with social media since I was in sixth grade. I loved Myspace, and now I love Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Youtube, and yes, even Tik Tok. All of these platforms, although different, are the same: a place online to share your thoughts, opinions, and pictures with friends, family, and millions of strangers. Social media is a phenomenon that waits for no one, including the advertising industry. Everyone is on at least one social media platform these days, spending hours on hours mindlessly scrolling. Companies choosing to opt-out of participating in the social media craze often lose to their competitors who are keeping up to date with all the latest trends.
While people spend so much of their free time staring at their screens, it's incredibly stupid for advertisers not to take advantage of this great opportunity to reach current and potential consumers. When I decided I wanted to go into advertising, I thought I wanted to be a copywriter. Art director, next, I wanted to be a strategist, and now a digital brand manager. In a time where advertisers can be so out of the box with creative, social media only helps. The beauty of social media is that anyone can be anyone or anything online. They are who they present themselves as online; this goes for companies as well. I'm going to use Twitter as an example. Anytime brands want to try something new or connect with their consumers, 9 out of 10 times turning to Twitter is a successful way to do this. Companies are breaking barriers that used to keep their consumers as consumers.
Now, with a social media presence, consumers can interact with their favorite brands as if it was one of their best friends. The ability for consumers to do this creates a new kind of brand loyalty and awareness that wasn't possible without social media. These brands can act like friends to their consumers, 'frenemies' to their competitors, and have a unique online personality. I don't eat at Wendy's, but I follow Wendy's Twitter account only because of how funny their online persona is. Their online personality made me a fan of their fast-food chain without me even trying a product. I love how advertising has adapted to social media so far and can wait to see how much it grows over the next few years.
