When we see the Apple ad that debuts the next – the *best* – new iPhone they ever created…It gets our attention, right? They know just what to do to capture us. We must know what the new features are. Do we like the new design? We contemplate whether or not we need this new “shiny object.” Can we justify spending the money on it now or can we wait until the next release? Does this sound familiar? What makes us take that bite into that new Apple product anyway?
Similar things are taking place in the social media marketing world. How many “shiny objects” are there in the social media marketing world? Uhmm…let’s just say it is overwhelming. No wonder so many businesses wonder where they should direct their focus in this arena. We hear you!
So Many ✨ Shiny ✨Objects
2020 brought us some interesting times, to say the least. TikTok became the first non-Facebook mobile app to reach 3 Billion downloads globally. ByteDance’s TikTok had an eventful 2020 setting new records during a global pandemic and facing threats of more than one government ban. Despite what they were going up against, they not only survived, they thrived.
Another one of the new “shiny objects” this year is YouTube Shorts. YouTube’s version of the popular short-form video, Shorts, was released in India in the fall of 2020. It has since been rolled out to 26 more countries including the US in the spring of 2021.
With TikTok’s success, it is not surprising that others are following suit. These short-form videos are extremely popular, so much so that these short-form videos have Instagram shifting gears from being a photo-sharing app to a “you need to be making Reels in order to stay in the game” kind of platform.
Some see potential in the staying power of the YouTube Shorts. Some YouTube Shorts beta testers say Shorts don’t disappear from YouTube. While Instagram Stories and Reels content expires by default after 24 hours. Does this “shiny object” have you saying “Well that’s interesting?”
Will YouTube Shorts provide more opportunities than their competitors? Well, that is yet to be determined, it is worth paying attention to… …stay tuned.
Let’s take a closer look at these “shiny objects” and see what each of them has to offer. How many people are using these platforms (“shiny objects”)? We will also give some examples of which businesses/brands have success on each of these platforms.
Shiny Object #1: TikTok
TikTok is a mobile platform that allows users to create, edit, and share short-form video clips with filters and accompanied by the latest music trends. As of 27 September 2021, TitTok had 1 Billion Monthly Active users worldwide. TikTok, a video-sharing app, was launched internationally in 2017.
| Ages | |
| 10-19 | 25% |
| 20-29 | 22.4% |
| 30-39 | 21.7% |
| 40-49 | 20.3% |
| 50+ | 11% |
Businesses that are successful with TikTok For Business:
| American Eagle | 1.2 billion video views |
| Kool-Aid | 1.9 billion video views |
| Marc Jacobs | 6.8 billion video views |
| NBA 2K | 2.5 billion video views |
| McDonald’s | 23 million video views |
| Primal Kitchen | 2 million video views |
| BOSS | 2.9 billion video views |
| eBay | 1 billion video views |
| FENDI | 4 million video views |
| finish | 9.7 million video views |
Other brands and businesses that do well on TikTok are HP, Gymshark, San Diego Zoo, and Vineyard Vines.
Shiny Object # 2 – Instagram Reels
Instagram is an American photo and video sharing social networking service created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. In April 2012, Facebook acquired the service for approximately US$1 billion in cash and stock. With 1.074 billion users worldwide in 2021, Instagram continues to be one of the most popular social media platforms.
| Ages | Female | Male |
| 13-17 | 3.7% | 3.8% |
| 18-24 | 14.2% | 15.7% |
| 25-34 | 15.7% | 16.4% |
| 35-44 | 9% | 7.3% |
| 45-54 | 4.7% | 3.4% |
| 55-64 | 2.3% | 1.5% |
| 65+ | 1.3% | 1% |
Businesses that have success with Instagram:
| Lorna Jane | 1 million followers |
| Apartment Therapy | 3.1 million followers |
| Vans | 17.4 million followers |
| Chipotle | 1.1 million followers |
| Flodesk | 36.5k followers |
| Design Essentials | 139k followers |
| HoneyBook | 82.9k followers |
| Clare | 93.1k followers |
| Sephora Collections | 835k followers |
| DESENIO | 1.8 million followers |
Business Insider states that even if your brand is not an active Instagram user people are still posting about you, and tagging your brand name with a hashtag. Take McDonald’s as an example, while the company’s official Instagram account only has 38,000 followers, there are more than 700,000 images on Instagram running with the hashtag #McDonald’s.
Shiny Object #3 – Youtube Shorts
YouTube, a website for sharing videos, was registered on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of the American e-commerce company PayPal. Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock back in November 2006. YouTube has 1.86 billion YouTube users worldwide. In 2020, 72% of male users and 72% of women users logged in to YouTube.
| Ages | |
| 15-25 | Make up 77% of all YouTube users |
| 26-35 | Tied with the 15-25 age group with a 77% user share |
| 36-45 | Have a 73% share of YouTube users |
| 46-55 | Have a 70% share of YouTube users |
Businesses that have found success in YouTube:
| Biggest Advertiser on YouTube in 2020 | |
| Apple | 2.23 billion impressions |
| Turbotax | 1.99 billion impressions |
Fashion and beauty-related content such as makeup and skincare tutorials, clothing hauls, and product recommendations are the most popular content on YouTube. The most popular beauty and style channels on YouTube as of January 2021 include Yuya (24.5 million subscribers), Jeffree Star (16.7 million subscribers), and Musas (15 million subscribers). As far as the most popular brand channels on YouTube, LEGO is ranked first with an average of ten billion video views.
Shiny Object # 4: Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service that was created by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. Initially designed as a networking tool for Harvard students, it quickly spread to other schools and was finally opened to the public in 2006. Facebook is now, by a very wide margin, the biggest social network worldwide. As of the fourth quarter of 2020.
With roughly 2.8 billion global monthly active users along with a cumulative total of 3.3 billion users accessing any of the company’s core products Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger on a monthly basis. Making Facebook the biggest social network worldwide.
As of July 2021, the distribution of Facebook users worldwide by age and gender looks like this:
| Ages | Female | Male |
| 13-17 | 2.5% | 3.3% |
| 18-24 | 9.4% | 13.8% |
| 25-34 | 12.5% | 18.8% |
| 35-44 | 7.6% | 9.8% |
| 45-54 | 4.9% | 5.8% |
| 55-64 | 3.4% | 3.2% |
| 65+ | 2.7% | 2.4% |
The most liked Facebook pages:
| Unicef | 12 million page likes |
| Pure Barre | 334k page likes |
| Canva | 1.6 million page likes |
| Adobe | 1.3 million page likes |
| Starbucks | 36.5 million page likes |
| BET | 7.5 million page likes |
| Zappos | 2.4 million page likes |
| Essence | 2.9 million page likes |
| Shopify | 3.8 million page likes |
| L.L. Bean | 1.17 million page likes |
Facebook is one of the oldest social media platforms. It is still a thriving platform for businesses that would like to increase their brand awareness. Two of the brands that were able to do just that are the jewelry company Pandora and the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
Where Should You Focus Your Social Marketing Efforts?
Does this have you wondering where your business fits in, in regards to the current social media landscape? You will want to identify where you are currently. If you have a Facebook page for your business, you should take a deeper look at who has liked your page, who are the people that engage with you on your page, what the demographics are, and what times during the day are your followers on Facebook. Check out what your top competitors are doing, what platforms are they on? How much success are they having on each of those platforms?
It is so important to stay on top of your social media analytics. This will really help you determine where you should be. It is easy to get distracted. As a business owner you want to stay ahead of the game, be where the action is, right? It doesn’t help that everybody is trying to become “TikTok famous.” You will also want to consider the timing – timing is key when developing any marketing strategy.
As a business, you may want to know where to invest your time and your money. Here is the thing: there are no guarantees on which social media platform is going to perform the best for your business – until you are actually there. Some businesses have amazing results on Facebook while others may perform better on Instagram. It is best not to get distracted by the new “shiny object.” It comes down to the fact that you need to be where your customers are – at Alyssa Gay Consulting we can help you identify where you fit in.
