This week, in my online marketing channels class with the University of New Hampshire we are talking all about the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns. We were asked to analyze our favorite brand so for this discussion, I’ve decided to focus on my favorite ‘personal’ brand. Mainly because I think influencers are much more interesting than retail brands and my favorite influencer is Gary Vaynerchuk. If you are aware of who Gary is it’s most likely no surprise that all of his professional accomplishments are tied to both his families wine business and his marketing agency, in hot pursuit of one goal; to one day own the New York Jets.
In an article he wrote three years ago, Gary offers further clarity on his most anticipated professional bucket list item. In alignment with his laser focused goal, it becomes very clear to see his digital domination tactics span long before a decade ago at the start of his patient persistence that has yet to burn out. One of the first to start a consistent YouTube series, Gary now operates more than 4 consistent shows, conferences and world-wide tours that he uses as content anchors for the barrage of micro content he spins off and pepper sprays the online sphere with.
Gary does not hold his cards tight against his chest, and is so transparent about his marketing tactics that he’s even created a popular piece of content explaining his approach in lengthy detail.
Personally, I believe his video content to be most effective. Not only due to the fact of the sheer volume he produces, but because of the massive amount of trust he is able to gain with his audience in a short period of time. What’s interesting is this natural tactic coincides with the Digital Marketing Institute’s reasoning behind why video marketing is so important. “It’s not too hard to see why video is so popular these days — for one thing, it’s an easy-to-digest format that gives our eyes a rest from the overabundance of textual information online. This would be why the world reportedly watches 1 billion hours of YouTube social video per day.” (Gaskin, 2018) Even beyond that, “97% of marketers claim that videos help customers understand products. (Hubspot)”
We live in a world where an overwhelming amount of content is produced, making it hard for customers to weed through or even discover the best product/service in alignment with the problems they are seeking solutions for. “On WordPress alone, 74.7 million blog posts are published every month.” (Smith, 2018) Now, just think of how many times each blog post is shared across social media? That doesn’t even cover all other content types. So how do you stand out? Video allows brands to rise to the top when there is educational and entertaining personalities on camera. Gary’s content is packed with value, so much so, by the time you watch about 10 videos you start feeling guilty for not paying him. He’s a business coach for the masses, and his insight, predictions and encouragement is so spot on, it’s eerie at times. I’m grateful to have found him, so many years ago!
However, as a lifelong student, I’m always testing, and questioning how we can do things better in this new age of digital marketing. In this assignment we had to find flaws in even the best intended strategies which gave me a chance to study the behavior of one of my favorite marketing icons.
One weakness in Gary’s social strategy is a thing I call “content fatigue.” In doing more research I learned that it is in fact a problem for others when mammoth volumes of content is shared across multiple platforms. The reason we experience this fatigue is due to the fact that “60% of the content that’s out there is “dull and irrelevant” to readers’ needs.” (CorporateVisions, 2012). The secret lies in good content. Not what you call good, but what consumers call good.Due to the fact that I personally follow Gary on every major social platform, I tend to see the same message over and over again. After years of that, I now take long spurts of breaks between consuming his content because I tell myself, “I already know what Gary is going to say about that.” Truth is, I may not. I am most likely missing lots of incredible nuggets, but I end up feeling exhausted by the overwhelming amount of content that I lose the drive to consume the content on the regular. This is a negative to take into consideration during the content creation process and I am starting to believe, the importance of sharing different content on every platform. That way, in the likely scenario where the same customer is perusing different platforms. With “an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes per day is spend on social networks” it’s highly likely that customers are hopping from platform to platform.” (Bagadiya, 2018)
The fact is, as a consumer of Gary’s content and a customer (I’ve purchased all of his books) his daily content quality has lapsed due to the volume and I tend to consume it less. What that hurts is because my organic engagement with his brand has declined and increased organic engagement rates is directly linked to dollars spent with any organization.
I understand his desire to flood the market, but I highly suggest Gary gets more strategic based on each particular platform’s communication style and pare down on the volume of duplicate content. Right now, he’s playing a numbers game in order to build massive traction on his journey to being wealthy enough to one day buy the New York Jets. But, as a marketer, I can’t help but wonder if there is a content bubble in his future that will one day cause massive stagnation towards the accomplishment of his goal.
At the end of the day, I’d rather see his content quality be more consistent so followers can do just what he is hoping we will do, GO DEEPER!
Bagadiya, Jimit. “171 Amazing Social Media Statistics You Should Know in 2018.” SocialPilot, 2018, www.socialpilot.co/blog/social-media-statistics.
Gaskin, D. “The Importance of Video Marketing.” Digital Marketing Institute, Digital Marketing Institute, 20 Dec. 2018, digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-us/blog/2018-04-25-the-importance-of-video-marketing.
Smith, Kit. “121 Amazing Social Media Statistics and Facts.” Brandwatch, Brandwatch, 2018, www.brandwatch.com/blog/amazing-social-media-statistics-and-facts/.
