Bad for Business: Romanticism & Nostalgia

We live in a pretty confusing time where paradoxes run rampant. Chief among these paradoxes is that we yearn for technological advancement but fear it when it arrives. Why is that? Perhaps it's romanticism and nostalgia.

I never thought I'd see the day when I viewed nostalgia and romanticism as a stumbling block to anything, let alone the success of content. Truth is, it might very well have stayed that way had I not stumbled upon one of those hard-hitting, slap-in-the-face, nothing-but-the-harsh-truth keynote speeches delivered by none other than Gary Vaynerchuk. Nostalgia and romanticism are powerful emotional vehicles but where the choice of how we communicate and connect with our audience is concerned, they should be a little lower down on your list of considerations. Take a few moments to read on before you blow a fortune on your next budget.

A Lesson from History

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history."

- Aldous Huxley

Every layout comes with the latest social features built in. Readers will be able to easily share posts on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, view how many people have liked a post, made comments and more. With the Wix, building your online community has never been easier.

I've realised there's a reason why history repeats itself: it's because we are often too close to observe our own behaviour and so we end up repeating it because ultimately, human nature is, for intents and purposes, unchanging.

History is littered with examples of our skepticism to move with the times. There is also an abundance of examples of fighting change even if that change is positive. We've graduated from newspaper to radio to television, to the internet and now social media. However, while we acknowledge that social media is a force to be reckoned with, not many of us dedicate the same level of effort and resources it deserves. What's more, our efforts and resources are being diverted away from the indisputably fertile ground of social media in favour of dated platforms that used to be significantly more effective.

"Genius is never understood in its own time."

- Bill Watterson

Your Dilemma

Take a breath. Your dilemma also happens to be the dilemma of the majority of most other businesses in the world where communications are concerned. What's the goal of any advertising or communications initiative? I'd like to gamble and say it's to effectively reach its target market in order to encourage one form of engagement or another. Ideally, we'd like to reach as many people within our target market for as little as possible. Right? Right. Social media has the incredible ability to target a very well defined segment using demographics and behavioural preferences that ensure, at the very least, if you want someone to hear you, you can make it happen. The only variable in the equation that will influence how effective your communications are will be the creative (design, copy, audio and/or video).

If that's the case why is your budget skewed towards platforms like TV and even print in this day and age where you can just as, in fact, more easily achieve your goals using social media?

It's a valid question for many. If it's not a valid question for you allow me to offer your congratulations because you are stepper closer to your goals but if it is a valid question, I suggest you read on.

Blogging gives your site a voice, so let your business’ personality shine through. Are you a creative agency? Go wild with original blog posts about recent projects, cool inspirational ideas, or what your company culture is like. Add images, and videos to really spice it up, and pepper it with slang to keep readers interested. Are you a programmer? Stay on the more technical side by offering weekly tips, tricks, and hacks that show off your knowledge of the industry. No matter what type of business you have, one thing is for sure - blogging gives your business the opportunity to be heard in a way in a different and unconventional way.

A Few Facts

This might be a great time to add some perspective to this post - perspective based on fact and hard evidence. After all, numbers don't lie. At the time of my first attempt of publishing of this article, the worldwide population stood at 7, 655, 429, 420 to be exact. A few technical difficulties later and let's just round that figure to 7.65 billion. Taking that into consideration, take a look at these statistics:

There are 4.2 billion users on the internet

There are 3.03 billion active social media users

On average, people spend 116 minutes a day on social media

Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp handle 60 billion messages a day

Mature users aged 55-64 are more than twice as likely to interact with branded content than their younger counterparts.

The big 3 content marketing tactics are social media content (83%), blogs (80%), and email newsletters (77%). Did I mention I'm a copywriter? ;)

Perhaps the most important fact of all which I'll let you ponder for a moment:

What device did you last use and what device gets most of your attention from day to day?

The Obvious Thing to Do - Join the Party

I'll be the first to admit that there's no guarantee that you will get it right straight away. However, I can guarantee that sooner or later you will have no choice but to improve how well you do engage on social media platforms.

Now is the time to really assess whether you're maximising the potential of a platform that is the undisputed holder of your target market's attention. It may require A/B testing, trial and error, training and the hiring of social media savvy millennials but one thing is certain: you need to up your game on social because that is where the party is. And like all great parties, it won't last forever.

You're invited but to be memorable, you will need to dress the part (design, video edit, record), say all the right things (writing copy) and remember to provide value (the value proposition).

I'm just a messenger

Nobody wants to hear that they're making a mistake but the truth of the matter is everybody needs to, myself included. This is just one of the many articles I intend to share along my journey as a crafter of copy and lover of content. I would love any feedback, especially if it promotes dialogue because content, mine included, improves when there is two-way communication.