What Has Life in Isolation Left Us Craving Most Online?
Small is the new big. With most of our time now being spent online, consumers are craving more intimate, personalized experiences. Considering brands organically reach less than 5% of their total fan base on social, they need to pivot and connect with their customers in more intimate, conversational and entertaining ways.
Digital Campfires
When Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg said, "I believe that private social platforms will be even more important to our lives than our digital town squares" he was referencing what has become known as "digital campfires." Harvard Business Review defines these as "closed, and often more private interactive online spaces." Gen Z and millennials are particularly attracted to these smaller spaces like private Instagram accounts (Finstas), messaging apps, groups, and immersive gaming environments.
Social Goes Dark
Since January, private messaging has increased significantly. Messenger and WhatsApp usage is up 50%, Reddit chat is up 80% and Viber rose 134% in March alone. Private chats are no place for ads and links shared here can't be tracked, earning messaging apps the ominous moniker of "dark social." Services like GIPHY (recently acquired by Facebook) give brands a culturally contextual way to be a part of the conversation through providing a platform for uploading branded GIFS, memes and stickers made available across all the major messaging apps and social platforms. With 84% of social sharing taking place on “dark social" mastering messaging here is critical.
Group Dynamics
Private or semi-private forums like Facebook groups, Reddit and Instagram's Close Friends feature are opportunities for brands to connect with consumers around shared passions. Considering that half of consumers join groups to engage directly with brands, these communities are an organic way to deepen relationships that's no longer possible in-feed. Peloton's Facebook group of almost 300k members is a hub for passionate customers to connect around fitness and motivate each other to reach their goals. A strategy that's helped power the brand to cult-like status and a $5B valuation in eight years. Hilariously, just after quarantines began in March, a Facebook called "group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony" launched and grew from 100,000 members to more than 1.9 million today.
Welcome to the Metaverse
Shared immersive social platforms like Twitch, Animal Crossing, Fortnite, and Minecraft represent the "Metaverse." Here users can meet, compete, socialize and build new worlds together. Brands like Wendy's, Louis Vuitton, and Nike have experimented to great effect building brand love and generating earned media in the process. Virtual reality is also on the rise through platforms like Oculus Venues that allows users to virtually attend live concerts together. Real time audio conversations and 360 degree navigation bring users into the actual experience with front row views. Once live events return, brands can virtually send customers to concerts, fashion shows and sporting events anywhere in the world – no travel expenses required.
Key Takeaways
Consumers prefer sharing in smaller intimate online spaces where they can be themselves and connect with people who share their interests.
With most sharing happening across private messaging apps, brands need to identify ways to break through in dark social and stay relevant.
Groups provide a strong sense of community where customers can connect, co-create and serve as an always-on feedback loop for the brand.
The Metaverse is the future of the Internet and offers brands a way to build deep bonds that resonate with younger audiences.
This article originally appeared in the June 3rd, 2020 issue of Moving Image & Content’s agency newsletter. Register here to subscribe.