{"id":4371415,"date":"2024-02-07T17:31:24","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/insight\/social-media-is-evolving-heres-what-brands-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:36:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:36:53","slug":"social-media-is-evolving-heres-what-brands-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/en-in\/insight\/social-media-is-evolving-heres-what-brands-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Social media is evolving. Here\u2019s what brands need to know."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/mask><\/g><\/svg>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tInsights\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\tSocial media is evolving. Here\u2019s what brands need to know.<\/h1>
\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\tJessica White\t\t
\n\t\tVP Creative & Media\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tDate\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 7, 2024\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<\/div>\n\n\n\tThe past decade has reversed the nature of social media. <\/h2>\n\tWhere your feeds used to consist of posts, comments, and public back-and-forth between people you knew, they\u2019re now packed with ads, influencers, and professionally made creator content.

“Social media has become less social and more media,\u201d as Business Insider<\/a> noted, \u201ca constellation of entertainment platforms where users consume content but rarely, if ever, create their own.\u201d\u00a0

As a result, many experts now argue that social media is just like any other form of media, \u201cpay to play,\u201d but the reality is much more nuanced than that.\u00a0

The trend towards the \u201cmedia\u201d in \u201csocial media\u201d hasn\u2019t eliminated the \u201csocial.\u201d Instead, it\u2019s created a new environment in which audiences have invited brands and creators to take center stage. Whether or not they can perform, though, hinges on more than just their ability to pay.\u00a0

Ultimately, it all comes down to whether brands are paying to play with<\/em> audiences\u2026 or just playing along.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tCommunities are king for consumers<\/h2>\n\tThe \u201csocial\u201d in social media may now be playing second fiddle to the media, but it hasn\u2019t left the building. It\u2019s just moved to new, more private areas like stories, DMs, and closed communities.

In July, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, noted that<\/a> the platform\u2019s users spend most of their time in DMs.\u00a0

\u201cAll the friends-sharing is moving in that direction,\u201d Mosseri said, \u201cThere are more photos and videos shared in DMs than there are shared in Stories, and there\u2019s way more shared in Stories than there is in Feed.\u201d

Why are these private spaces so attractive to users? There are a few reasons.\u00a0
<\/p>\n\n\t
  • They offer more specific and personalized content, enabling users to engage with like-minded individuals and participate in niche discussions between friends.<\/li>
  • The content and conversations in these spaces fulfill an increased desire for authenticity and transparency outside of the one-way, promotional messaging from brands on users\u2019 feeds.<\/li>
  • Today\u2019s user base now includes Gen Z, a generation that may have grown up with social media, but a form of social media where personal posts have become more infrequent.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n
    However, all this isn\u2019t to say that people aren\u2019t<\/em> using social media. In fact, according to GWI,     time spent on social media has reached its ceiling<\/a>, with the average global consumer spending approximately 2.5 hours on social platforms per day.\u00a0

    With all those hours spent on socials, the activity in the more private, behind-the-scenes areas has led to the rise of niche-based communities. Each of these has its own unique cultural interests and preferred flavor of content, with users commentating on and exchanging posts from the brands and creators who best represent it.\u00a0

    As these communities continue to flourish, they\u2019ve formed networks that have become media outlets for brands. To continue to drive customer loyalty and expand their audience to new consumers within these networks, brands must adapt their social strategies based on which ones they fit into.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tFor brands, there\u2019s opportunity in interaction<\/h2>\n\tIn today\u2019s world, a brand is no longer what it projects to its customers, a brand is what its customers tell one another it is.\u00a0

    While the top channel for product research remains search, with     50% of ad spend<\/a>, social is a close second, trailing just two percentage points behind. Moreover, a recent survey showed that a majority of Gen Z consumers<\/a>, 48%, preferred using social networks over search engines for brand or product research.\u00a0

    As social media continues to play an increasingly important role in product and brand discovery, the opportunity for brands lies in how they tap into their social audiences.

    Take KFC. The fast food giant is known for their entertaining and humorous social presence, which helps drive engagement and boost customer loyalty for their brand.\u00a0

    When our team was pulled in to help with their biggest brand campaign of 2022, our primary goal was simple: Get people talking about KFC.\u00a0

    To accomplish this, we started with an intense ideation process backed by audience insights to figure out how to play up the lighthearted, irreverent voice KFC\u2019s audience expected in a new, entertaining way.\u00a0

    Ultimately, we landed on the     Kentucky Fried Buckquet<\/a>. A DIY arrangement that combines the two things moms really want, flowers\u2026 and fried chicken.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\tAlthough the Buckquet campaign wasn\u2019t executed in<\/em> socials, its goal of getting people buzzing about KFC made it a social-first<\/em> idea\u2014and that\u2019s what made it work.

    At the root of every KFC campaign is a deep understanding of the difference between participation<\/em><\/strong> and interaction<\/em><\/strong> on social media.\u00a0

    The majority of brands rely on a social strategy that focuses on participating<\/em> in the latest trends. Although this strategy embraces some cultural awareness, more than 75% of TikTok and Instagram posts are made up of brand or creator content. As a result, when a majority of brands participate in a trend, those posts flood feeds and quickly begin to feel hokey and performative.

    By contrast, when a brand makes the bold choice to interact<\/em> with a social community, they become part of the cultural conversation and co-creators\u2014as opposed to consumers\u2014of the new trends that result.

    This is where brands that follow KFC\u2019s example can excel. The Kentucky Fried Buckquet campaign wasn\u2019t created to participate in an existing trend, instead, it created something new and invited people within the brand\u2019s zany, chicken-loving cultural niche to respond.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tInvesting in something worth playing with<\/h2>\n\tFor brands to take full advantage of the commercial opportunity within this newly evolved landscape, they need to entertain and engage users by playing with<\/em> them\u2014not just playing along.\u00a0

    The bottom line is that interaction, underpinned by niche-based communities, defines success on socials.\u00a0

    To appeal to these communities and generate interaction, brands first need to have a deep understanding of where they fit into the cultural niche and then invest in new content that adds value to the conversation.

    When we helped     launch Twitch on TikTok<\/a>, for example, we made the deliberate choice to interact with the gaming community, a key audience for the streaming platform\u2014and also one with a knack for spotting outsiders and razzing marketing campaigns that didn\u2019t fit their vibe.\u00a0

    To succeed with this community, we pulled inspiration from a longstanding inside joke amongst gamers\u2014the “chair stream”\u2014and didn\u2019t skimp on production, packing in easter eggs galore and a surprise creator cameo.

    It paid off, racking up a slew of engagement for Twitch, including 364 thousand likes, 9 thousand comments, and over 60 thousand new followers.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\n\tThis project was a perfect representation of the interruption model to experience and engagement<\/strong>, in which interaction helps brands uncover the sweet spot between what they want to say and what their customers want to hear.\u00a0

    By successfully identifying a key audience for Twitch and taking the time to learn their passion points, we were able to contribute social content that added meaningful value to their community\u2014enough that we elicited powerful engagement.\u00a0

    Of course, production value isn\u2019t the only thing brands can invest in to create engagement. Increasingly, brands are leveraging technology like VR, AR, and Generative AI to contribute something of value to social communities.\u00a0

    On platforms like Snapchat, where brands routinely create filters and AR lenses to interact with users, ads elicit a     1.6 times greater level of engagement<\/a> and are viewed as 1.2 times more positive and 1.3 times more playful compared to other social platforms.\u00a0

    It\u2019s also worth noting\u2014    as we\u2019ve previously discussed<\/a>\u2014that as more brands debut immersive experiences on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite, community-based gaming platforms have become increasingly part of the social media landscape. As a result, fostering interaction on one of these platforms also translates into engagement on socials.

    Across the board, whether by investing in quality production, a creator collab, or new technology, the key to creating social content that adds value to online communities is in thinking \u201cidea-out.\u201d\u00a0

    Unlike traditional \u201ctop-down\u201d ideation, \u201cidea-out\u201d doesn\u2019t start with a goal or a target in mind. Instead, it requires brands to abandon any specific expectations and allow the project to remain open to interpretation by users.\u00a0

    Not only does this process make interaction a fundamental part of a brand\u2019s social strategy, it helps brands keep their social media, well, social.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\tStaying ahead in \u201cpost-social\u201d social media<\/h2>\n\tBrands have a huge opportunity within the current landscape of social media. As more and more consumers start to use discovery-based social as a new form of search, social media stands to become a powerful tool for driving growth.

    However, as its evolution continues, brands will need to continue to re-adapt, re-invest, and     re-imagine how they can interact with their audiences<\/a> on social media to stay ahead.

    Now\u2019s the time to not just invest in new technology\u2014but to have fun with it.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n
    \n\tOn our mind<\/h2>\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t
    \n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tInsight\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
      \n\t\t\t\t\n\t