Some 20,000 media jobs were lost last year, and current estimates suggest that number could be even higher this year.
For most, website traffic dropped and advertising revenue followed, eventually cutting jobs and shuttering whole news outlets—The Messenger and Vice among them.
What’s this got to do with content creation and influencer marketing?
Has AI already taken over? Is content still king? Video still valuable? Should you engage with influencers?
Here’s what you need to know and how to capitalize on recent trends.
1. Social Media is More Important & Influential Than Ever.
While mainstream media isn’t exactly dying, its recent layoffs and losses signal at least something: More people than ever are spending more time than ever on social media.
Are you?
This is either a great time or the best time to build your presence there. Original video content has once again proven incredibly important to your rankings on Google and other search engines.
Keep it classy if your brand calls for that, but in 2024, every company should have a presence across all of the major social media apps—Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok, and Pinterest.
Hey, even the President of the United States has a TikTok account now.
In other verticals, the earliest adopters are among the “most popular,” and social media now serves as their main source of leads and referrals.
2. Build or Befriend an Influencer Network: They're More Relevant Than Ever.
If you’ve yet to hear of this, you will shortly. Call it the Fisker Fiasco.
Two weeks ago, one of the world’s most influential tech YouTubers—Mr. Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD—reviewed the Fisker Ocean—an honestly stunning electric car.
Owing to a series of mishaps, however, the viral video said otherwise. Titled “This is the Worst Car I’ve Ever Reviewed,” and captioned with a simple, “Do not buy this version of the Fisker Ocean,” the video, like most of MKBHD's tend to do, went viral and has since been seen 4.2M times.
Some suggest it’s the beginning of the end of the EV company.
There’s a lesson here. Several, really.
Know your network, and actively cultivate your influencers and authentic ambassadors. You can pay to partner with them; just be sure disclosures say so.
Turn your happiest clients into your most active ambassadors. At a minimum, ask them to leave you a positive Google review or to participate in a short video endorsement.
Better yet, build out a network of authentic influencers and content creators.
And at the very least, don’t be the now-viral Fisker rep who didn’t know MKBHD—the virtual equivalent of a plastic surgeon unaware of the Kardashians.
“Influencers” get a bad rap often, but some are now among the most important players in many verticals.
3. A Sharp Pivot to AI Would be Painful and Profitless.
AI has infinite potential; it just hasn’t realized it yet.
SMBs should neither outsource their content creation to an AI platform nor depend on it to rank their websites or create ads.
AI writing is still riddled with errors and invented facts, and its image and video outputs are extremely limited. Hold off on a hard pivot to AI, but definitely keep abreast of it.
AI-generated content and copy are brilliant in small batches (almost exclusively). Still, they will always lack the human element craved by so many post-COVID—at least for the foreseeable future.
4. It's Time to Publish More Within Your Wheelhouse.
Media layoffs make this sound counter-intuitive, but Google is rewarding helpful human content written by people with expertise and experience.
The world’s largest search engine is increasingly routing 8.5 billion daily searches to the doers and deliverers of products and services. If you own a business, that’s you.
You’re already at an advantage if you:
- Provide a service to people.
- Sell and deliver a product.
- Have a physical presence in the real world (office, clinic, building).
- Have an up-to-date Google Business Profile.
No, your marketing isn’t totally taken care of just because you have these things.
But yes, Google is increasingly sending more and more searches to proven providers—and less and less to “bloggers,” industry aggregators, and directories.
If you provide services or sell products, now is a great time to produce and publish helpful video or written content about your products.
Keep it short, sweet, and simple, and target the keywords you want to rank for.
Sold, but unsure where to start or how to succeed?
Our Social Media and Search Engine Optimization specialists can help.
