Are We Really Facing Digital Fatigue?
May 16, 2016
With all the advancements in technology, social media has revolutionised the way your business is able to operate and communicate with consumers. However, some people believe we are facing digital fatigue, so we’re going to look at whether they’re right or not.
What is digital fatigue?
If you want to define digital fatigue, just think about any time you’ve gotten a headache looking through your news feed - most likely brought on by reading too many status updates about people’s breakfasts! Constant mundane information like this can be inundating.
How is social media sustaining itself?
Despite the suspected fatigue, social media still manages to sustain itself and that’s because we want to remain engaged. As oversaturated social media feels, not being online is like being socially distant. Some users don’t want to lose that feeling of engagement with their friends or current events. Your organisation can tap into the users’ need to feel involved and part of the majority.
Did you know users spend an average of 50 minutes a day on Facebook? That’s over 1/16 of the waking day. There’s plenty of information that can be taken in during that time. You definitely want to take advantage of that time to capture your followers’ interest.
Counteracting the fatigue
Now you understand digital fatigue better, you know it’s important to create content that’s engaging. When you’re trying to maintain your business’ internet presence, put yourself in your followers’ shoes. If someone only spoke about themselves you’d lose interest pretty quickly, logically the same applies to your organisation. You need to provide varied content, not just self-involved content. It’s an age old saying but it’s about providing quality over quantity; a few great tweets a week are way more beneficial than an over surplus of average information.
So, how do you create quality output?
You need to operate under the social media rule of thirds to provide variation in your content. The rule of thirds is mutually beneficial; it’s far more engaging for your followers and offers you a lot more material to share.
1) self-promotion – discuss your company (but not too much)
2) industry news – share articles about your industry/ target audience
3) brand building – share blog posts/ ask questions/ give out tips
For now, there’s no need to jump the social media ship. However, you need to remain conscious of the fact social media is heavily populated with content. So you don’t contribute to the social-media-headache, you should work in line with the media rule of thirds. Remember, it’s all about giving your consumers/ target audience information that’s worth their time.
Feeling baffled? Look no further, The Creation Lab are here to help so why not get in touch!