Everyone is doing the same

Everyone is running paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Google, and whatever the next new social network is. Why?

Justo Guerin
UX Collective

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Dear clients,

Everyone is running paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Google, and whatever the next new social network is.

Everyone is looking for an influencer to be their brand ambassador. But who are they influencing? Are they really influencing? (Is a mannequin in a store window or a model in a print campaign telling a story just because it’s wearing a brand?)

Everyone is paying an ‘agency’ to run their SEO so they can be at the top of the results.

Everyone is running manifestos and creating 3-minutes long ads that nobody watches.

Everyone is buying likes and followers. Everyone has a bot that answers fake responses to real people.

Everyone is following the new trends, copying new styles, looking for the next big thing — because the last one wasn’t as big as they thought.

Everyone is looking for a brand purpose. Only a few have a real purpose.

Everyone is reading the newspapers to find a new social issue they can sponsor. They want to be the next #BlackLivesMatter, #ColinKaepernick, or #MeToo. They want to impose a truth, it doesn’t really matter if they believe in it. Do you believe in those corporations? #MeNeither.

Everyone wants to be everywhere, be present in every medium, every channel, every day. Nobody cares about content anymore. It’s all about more posts, more noise.

Everyone is doing the same stuff just a little bit different. It’s like in school, everyone is copying each other homework and changing just a little here and a little there. The only difference is that the world is watching now.

Everyone is running. Only a few are stopping to think. And, in the middle of the chaos, they find a pause.

An opportunity to meet with their audience. To say something different. To do something (really) new. To truly connect.

How long until your brand understands that it’s not about the likes, the comments, the impressions, or the reach. At the end of the day, it’s about positioning.

If you try to be everywhere, you end up everywhere but not necessarily in the mind of your client. The mind of your potential customer. The mind of, and don’t you ever forget, real people. No bots, no influencers, no fake accounts. Real people.

Advertising is busy, noisy, loud, and annoying. Find a pause. Give the audience a break of the same sameness. Be the pause. And you’ll be remembered.

Everyone is doing the same. Do something that makes you different.

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