Can You Make Big Money On An Advertising Platform That Doesn't Work?

...or listen to this post in the author's own voice.

DID YOU TRY SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING AND IT DIDN'T WORK?
 
Imagine that.
 
Just a different twist on the old chestnut, "I tried radio advertising and it didn't work!"
 
Well, did you know what you were doing?
 
Or did you ram your own uninformed agenda down the throat of whoever was trying to help you?
 
That is meant in the nicest possible way, of course.
 
And it's a rhetorical question not meant to implicate you, personally. You, of course, would never do that.
 
It's meant as a cautionary note to people we all know who have all the answers despite having none the training, experience, or insight to have an actual, informed opinion.
 
 
SO, WHY ARE WE HERE?
 
Why am I beating on the "I tried it and it didn't work" drum?
 
Because I'm tired of hearing things like, "Social media advertising doesn't work!"
 
I was just reading an interesting story from AdWeek.
 
The headline: "What National Geographic Did to Earn 3 Million Snapchat Discover Subscribers in Just 3 Months."
 
Subhead: "A new streamlined design plays up more photos and less text."     
 
OK. National Geographic. Talk about a chestnut.
 
Why on earth is one of the oldest, stodgiest, great-grandpa brands in the world mentioned in the same sentence as a frivolous, six-year-old social media nitwit platform that lost half a billion dollars last year?
 
 
BECAUSE MAYBE IT ISN'T AS MUCH FRIVOLOUS AS IT IS EFFECTIVE
 
The National Geographic Society is one of the world's oldest and largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions. (Thank you for that tidbit, Wikipedia, one of youngest and largest sources of potentially flawed information on the internet.)
 
The National Geographic Magazine, launched in 1888, has a global circulation of 6.5 million per month.
 
The National Geographic Channel is available to almost 90 million pay TV households in the US.
 
What the heck is National Geographic doing on Snapchat, a platform infamous for its use by disgraced US congressman Anthony Weiner as Weinervision?
 
Simple guess: National Geographic is looking for eyeballs and wants to be relevant to a younger generation.
 
And instead of being stodgy and poo-pooing social media, they are embracing Snapchat.
 
 
AND IT IS PROFITABLE
 
The article's subhead makes total sense in the age of the short attention span: "A new streamlined design plays up more photos and less text."
 
You're trying to reach people with no attention span who are watching a tiny screen in the palm of their hands.
 
More photos and less text just makes sense.
 
And it has to be pithy and intriguing.
 
Like the image of a purple microbe with the headline, "What are flesh-eating bacteria and how do you fight them?"
 
Yikes. Tell me more! Click.
 
But let's go back to the headline: "What National Geographic Did to Earn 3 Million Snapchat Discover Subscribers in Just 3 Months."
 
Are those 3 million Snapchat Discover subscribers actually doing them any good? It's Snapchat! A platform that loses more money than the territory of Guam has in its annual operating budget! More money than GEICO spends on their annual media buy!
 
 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PEOPLE AREN'T STUPID
 
They hired an expert digital media executive away from digital giant Vox Media and did what needed to be done.
 
In a nutshell, Nat Geo's revenue from Snapchat is up by 58 percent.
 
Stephanie Atlas, who leads the Nat Geo digital team, says, "When you're competing against Cosmo and Kim Kardashian, you really have to think about a way to get people interested in what our value proposition is, which is strong visuals and piquing people's curiosity."
 
OK. My curiosity is piqued.
 
And I did something that, just 12 hours earlier, I swore to the Fabulous Honey Parker I would never do.
 
I downloaded Snapchat.
 
I created an account.
 
And I went in there.
 
 
AND I WAS COMPLETELY BAFFLED!
 
How do you use this thing?!
 
I fumbled around for a while. Then, lacking immediate access to a kid, I searched Google.
 
I found a blog post by one Emily Steck, who was a salve for my digitally frustrated self when she said, "For all the buzz and chatter around Snapchat, it's not a very intuitive platform. It's difficult to discover easily content or simply know where to find everything. Snapchat is a lot more complicated than it lets on."
 
Phew.
 
Anyway, I stumbled through for a bit, and finally found National Geographic.
 
"Could The Remains Of Santa Claus Be In This Turkish Church?" Intriguing music. Video inside a grand cathedral.
 
"Is This The world's Most Venomous Fish?" Underwater footage and eerie, dark music.
 
"Why Are Some Dogs More Aggressive?" A dog bares his teeth as a busy techno track burbles away.
 
They are being pithy making money.
 
 
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SMALL-BUSINESS BRAND
?
 
Can Snapchat work for a local business with a brick & mortar location?
 
I did some digging.
 
Found some evidence that yes, it's possible--despite the fact that the typical monthly ad spend on Snapchat is $40,000.
 
Take a nitroglycerine pill. Using local geofilters, a small business like a coffee shop can get away with an ad spend as low as 5 bucks.
 
But how do you do this?
 
I have no idea.
 
Because I do two things really well.
 
 
I HELP SMALL BUSINESSES CREATE EVOCATIVE BRANDS THAT CAN ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
 
And I can help market those evocative brands in ways that are often considered "Traditional."  
 
For anything else, I go to a specialist.
 
That's because I'm smart enough to know what I don't know.
 
I can dabble in digital.
 
But that's not my expertise.
 
And I don't want to become that fool who makes sweeping, uninformed judgments about new media platforms and sounds like the guy that used to make us crazy when I worked in a building full of radio experts: "I tried it and it didn't work!"
 
It didn't work because you are know-it-all whose fear- and ego-driven agenda is standing between you and advertising success.
 
 
NOT THAT I HAVE AN OPINION ON THIS
 
This is just fair warning to anyone who scoffs at social media advertising.
 
Since good radio advertising seems effortless, many people come at it and say, "How hard can it be?"
 
It's easy to just slap some random thing on the air. It's very hard to do well.
 
Social media advertising takes simplicity to a whole new level.
 
Never at any time in history has it been easier to place an advertisement.
 
And just because you can log on, open an account, and give them your credit card number and target your demographics to certain death doesn't mean you're doing it right.
 
In blog post entitled, "Snapchat marketing campaigns: 5 great case studies that produced results," Paul Roberts at Our Social Times says, "Success as a brand on Snapchat depends on knowing your audience, knowing the platform and knowing your product. Find the sweet-spot between all three and you could be onto a winner."
 
Want to be like a stodgy old heritage brand dating from the 19th century?
 
Find an expert and embrace social media. 

As always,
Blaine Parker
Your Lean, Mean Creative Director in
Park City

---