How do brands communicate with the “selfie generation"?

Today's young men and women are the first generation to come of age after the heyday of social media and the spread of mobile. Therefore, in their ways of interacting with the media, they already by definition differ from representatives of other age categories.

Companies that lead an active “life” in social media need to consider the needs of all groups of the target community and adapt to the needs of each consumer. What should be considered when communicating with the “generation of selfies”? We understand today's material.

Access to the virtual profiles of billions of people anywhere in the world and an almost unlimited amount of information resources are the realities of the “natives” of the digital era. Representatives of this generation lead an active “virtual” life on social networks and, accordingly, expect a greater degree of involvement and interactivity from publishers.

First of all, the content is “absorbed” through communication devices, mobile phones. Accordingly, publishers for such a target audience need to submit information in a more “lively” way, being with the youth “on the same wavelength”. You should exclude boring and uniform presentation and focus on the interactive.

Why the “selfie generation”?

The term “selfie” can be used to describe the entire modern generation of digital. And this is not only a self-portrait on the camera of a mobile device - it is, first of all, a model of social exchange between people. The smartphones that we use to take selfies and enjoy interactive content are the culmination of digital communication. We do not part with mobile 24 hours, 7 days a week. They are always with us - in your hands, pocket, bag - anywhere, most importantly - close by. We buy covers and accessories on them, improve the interface, customizing it to our requirements.

Now no one is asking a passerby to photograph him on a smartphone. And this is not only due to the presence of a front camera on a mobile device. When you post selfies on social networks, you don't just capture the moment. In essence, you are inviting the environment from your social media to share the significance of the moment with you.

Any person who is not in the information vacuum and even knows a little about social trends does not have doubts about the relevance of selfies. But the interactive content that brands place on their social media is not inferior in terms of meaning to this kind of interaction between the audience. And in order to succeed in social media, one must proceed from the principles of “selfie communication”. What is included here?

Involvement and Response

By sharing interesting content with others, users show their position on various topics - whether they are preferences in hobbies, politics, sports and any other areas. They form their social image. If the company places an informative and interesting “post” in its corporate profile, it has every chance that the audience of the socially active person will gradually move to the loyal audience section of the brand. In other words, organic traffic will increase.

The main positive feature of interactive information for companies is their sharing.

In the light of this state of affairs, social media should pay special attention to such content as polls, polls, videos, that is, to those formats that will not be left unattended and will certainly get a public outcry.The greater the reaction received from the public, the greater the likelihood that your company will be noticed and further interested in your products or services.

Brevity

For example, now, to express emotions when communicating on social networks, words are used extremely rarely. Emoticons, gif-pictures, abbreviations, hashtags that allow you to express thoughts with fewer words - this is what is in special demand.

Of course, when using this kind of content, you should be careful - absolutely not all brands have the right to afford it, especially if the specifics of the company’s activities are strictly regulated. But if you work in the field of culture, art, advertising or any other creative field, then there is no reason to limit yourself to such “luxury”.

The main thing is not to overdo it and not completely exclude ordinary text messages from social communication. The most ideal option is the alternation of informative and entertaining content . The user will know that you can turn to your resource for useful information, and just for a pleasant leisure reading the entertainment material. So you can reach the maximum audience.

Preferences

“Selfie user” does not publish everything in his accounts, but only that in one way or another will have a positive impact on his social reputation. To effectively interact with the generation of “selfie”, companies need to post content that will be in tune with the interests of users. In order to get to know them better, it’s enough to keep track of what information prevails in the “news feed” of users, what publics they are subscribed to, in which communities they are and what personal information is indicated in their profiles. From this picture in social networks, you can form a full-fledged image that will set the fundamental criteria for the brand’s content strategy with respect to the potential customer base.

Analyze your audience on social media, explore their profiles and the quality of social communication - be aware of what your customers love.

To summarize:

In the era of the development of modern technologies, when smartphones have become constant companions of people of almost all ages, the usual presence of brands on the Internet is not enough. An online active society requires the same from companies, so brands need to adapt to the social needs of users and adjust their online image to get more loyal audiences.

Corporate social media should not remain the same. The adoption of interactive formats is the key to their ability to remain relevant in an era of reduced concentration and an overflowing information field and allows for increased organic traffic. BYYD • Mobile Advertising Platform