Social Media Management

Navigator Consulting supports the management of social media ecosystems on behalf of our clients. This includes organic and sponsored management, and of course includes content development and digital advertising services.

 

One of the great innovations of the Web 2.0 generation has been the rise of social media platforms. Initially led by LinkedIn, social media really took off with Facebook, and then imitated by a range of others such as Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and others. The enduring popularity of social media sites is perhaps best illustrated by TikTok, which was launched in September 2016 and today has over 1.7 billion users (December 2023).

 

Today, social media has transformed human society in ways that are both benevolent and malign. 

 

On the benevolent side, it is the first time in human history that we have been so extensively networked. Take a look at some recent monthly active user numbers according to Statista (October 2023): 

 

• Facebook: 3.0 billion monthly active users

• Youtube: 2.5 billion 

• Whatsapp: 2.0 billion

• Instagram: 2.0 billion

• WeChat: 1.3 billion

• TikTok: 1.2 billion

• Facebook Messenger: 1.0 billion

• Telegram: 0.8 billion

• Snapchat: 0.75 billion 

 

The advantages of networking are, in theory, vast. Being readily in touch with family members, friends and business partners should lead to better communication and more frequent opportunities for socialisation and business. 

 

Unfortunately, the rise of social media has also had vastly malign effects. These include: 

 

• The increase in political polarization and misinformation online; 

• The rise of addictive behaviour, especially for younger people; 

• The lack of any perceived unifying effects: rather than enhancing communication and truth, much of social media appears to be exacerbating lies and hatred. 

 

Any enterprise today typically needs to be involved on social media, at least to safeguard its own brand, if not to actually promote it. The problems with social media are obvious: 

 

• In the current environment, everyone seems to be selling something; 

• Consumers are bombarded with thousands of advertising messages all day long; 

• Cutting through oversaturation and maintaining meaningful engagement are increasingly difficult. 

 

In fact, the business model of most social media platforms is a freemium model, where individual users (i.e. potential consumers) typically have free access, while enterprises have free access but must pay for advertising to place their message in front of potential customers. 

 

As such, every enterprise needs a carefully-considered social media strategy for both organic engagement as well as sponsored engagement. The alternative will be a lot of time and money wasted, with little tangible result. 

 

In fact, the main business model of social media is advertising so: it is ironic that without tangible objectives, most businesses spend large financial amounts on it with variable or suboptimal results. 

 

Navigator Consulting provides comprehensive services in social media management. This includes management of organic social media activities as well as sponsored activities and digital advertising. 

 

We strongly recommend companies take a strategic approach to social media management: 

 

• Strategic objectives

• Audience definition

• Value promise definition

• Definition of conversion results expected

• Budgeting 

• Content marketing campaigns

• Engagement campaigns

• Digital advertising campaigns

• Continual monitoring and ROI

 

For a confidential discussion of your social media management needs, please contact us.