Slowly but surely, a kind of 'countermovement' is emerging when it comes to social media. In times of crisis like these, boredom reigns supreme and we sometimes - we feel - ask the utmost of our creative ability to keep ourselves busy in a fun and healthy way. However, this crisis charts that people are no longer so quick to get lost in scrolling through endless stories on Instagram from people we don't know. Of course, we still entertain ourselves with funny videos on YouTube and the younger generation (including us) is still on Dumpert. But slowly but surely, people are discovering that social media might also bring them some down-sides. One after another even deleting Facebook and Instagram after documentaries like The Social Dilemma, because they realise that these media outlets are out to grab you and keep you online for as long as possible.
Our opinion: it's a good thing. We're not saying you should always be productive, but it's good not to lose yourself in social media and be aware that constantly looking at your favourite celebrity's wonderful life only tells you: you don't have it so good, do you?
And of course, this doesn't apply to everyone and... so many people, so many opinions. But, if you ask us, 2021 on social media is all about purpose.
People want to grow
We think the reason people seek purpose in what they read is because it moves people forward. We're all a bit done with the nonsense and want to see content that makes us grow, that is useful to us. And we want to see reality, be inspired and not live in some dream world that is elusive and unattainable. Because that just doesn't make us better nor happier. And quality over quantity: we know those lame gifs by now, rather tell us something that is useful.
How do you deal with this in business terms?
For entrepreneurs, we really just give one golden tip: be real. Where it used to work so well to polish everything, to share the best pictures, the success stories, integrity now wins out. And no, you really don't have to tell people that you dropped that jug of coffee on your desk the other day. But you could, for instance, tell how that reorganisation felt to you or how you made a mistake in the past and learned from it. Vulnerable, but true. Think of your company as a human being: everyone has as many good days as possible, but certainly also bad ones. Sail with that wave and let your audience feel a little bit what you feel, what your business feels. Keep everything close and tangible to your customers, your fans, your crew.
Storytelling and content creation
Writing from our perspective then: we create content from a story. An intake with a new client often takes at least an hour with us. This is not about the resources he or she wants to put in, on the contrary, we will look at that later. We want to hear the story, we want to know the person. We can write a nice sales pitch in ten minutes, but a real story that makes an impact takes a bit more time. And that doesn't matter - indeed, we believe it is necessary. Of course, there will always be someone who believes your stripped-down sales pitch, but we believe that quality and authenticity will only become more and more important. The moment the story is there and your goals are clear, only then do we start looking at means such as a website, business card or new corporate identity.
