How to Stand Out Online and Rise Above the Digital Noise Care about the content and not just pageviews.
By Carlos Gil
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Ranting and raving about the latest social media trends has become a pastime of sorts for your average marketing professional or entrepreneur these days. However, if you aspire to be above-average with your digital marketing efforts, then being aware of the trends is critical to your success.
The social networks are ad networks disguised as social media platforms, which is why you have more-than-likely noticed a decline over the last year in overall likes, retweets and video views. Even the most prominent businesses and most influential content creators -- move over Kylie Jenner, hello World Record Egg -- are affected by constant algorithm changes and oversaturation.
So, how does an up-and-coming micro-influencer or small business break through the noise? The answers are within the platforms themselves.
On the latest episode of Real Talk, which you can see above or on Facebook Watch, I sat down with Digiday reporter Kerry Flynn, as well as Mario Armstrong, the host and producer of the Emmy Award-winning talk show Never Settle Show, to discuss the topic of standing out online.
According to Flynn, despite Facebook "cannibalizes" its audience by taking features from Instagram and adding them to Facebook. However, creators should be tapping into these new features such as Instagram TV (IGTV) to take advantage of the initial "boost" Facebook gives to creators as an incentive for creating on their platform versus rival YouTube. Flynn also recommends creating content that appeals to different audiences based on the channel. For example, Instagram's core demographic is younger than Facebook's.
On the same episode of Real Talk at the Nasdaq MarketSite, Mario Armstrong spoke about his journe from radio host to Emmy winner. Armstrong spent years bootstrapping and self-funding. Mario suggests that what matters is engagement. "Too many people are relying on the platforms. When you do that you're only as good as the platforms."
He added, "If your goal is to get it out there and make an impact, you have to find other ways to gain visibility and go outside of the constraints".
So, what key takeaways can you learn from an Emmy Award-winning creator that will help you rise above the noise and monetize?
- Bring content to partners (such as Entrepreneur).
- Be yourself.
- Build up the bio with experience and collaborations.
- Focus on engagement, not views.
- Stop relying on the platforms. Instead, focus on the content and building an audience.
For more insights, see the complete interview above or head over to Facebook Watch to follow and be notified when new episodes go live.
Watch more videos from Carlos Gil on his YouTube channel here. Follow Carlos Gil on Instagram @CarlosGil83.
