Celebrating a decade in social media advertising
When Mighty Social was created 10 years ago, we were one of the first social media agencies in Europe. At the time we felt like a business outlier; meeting new prospective clients involved deep diving into the vast opportunities social media marketing could offer. Mapping this new world of potential to an audience who had rarely gone beyond traditional ad campaigns was a challenge in and of itself.
We were up against the likes of search, digital display, email, radio ads, brochures and direct mailing. Whilst the phenomenal speed of social media was yet to reach its current rates, what we were proposing seemed almost too good to be true. We had a vision of where social was going and we wanted to harness this power and take our clients on the journey with us.
The platforms and channels at the time lacked the sophistication we now enjoy and this spurred us to develop our own systems and technologies to fit around our tailored, unique social campaigns.
Our proprietary ATOM was the result of our desire to serve the perfect creative to the most targeted audience at the right time. Even then, we were on a mission to cut through the noise of competitors by being much more targeted. We built smarter segmented audiences at scale, we maximised response rates and we eliminated media waste.
Within a matter of a few years we became Europe’s fastest growing social ad company and we were delivering impressive ROI to world leading brands. We were among the founders of the DMA’s Social Media Council and were gaining recognition as social media ad innovators.
We won Deloitte’s Technology Fast Tech Awards four years in a row along with a list of other prestigious awards. One of the keys to our success is our business culture which centres around innovation. Having this as our mantra meant we attracted, and continue to attract, people who are excited by what digital can deliver in the future and who are constantly looking for new ways to stretch the boundaries.
Whilst with time the market started catching up with us, our superior ad technology and paid social expertise has allowed us to remain at the forefront of this rapidly growing industry.
A decade on, we marvel at how far the industry has come in such a short period of time. The exponential growth of social is showing no signs of slowing down which makes it likely that what is beyond the horizon is even more exciting - and we believe our first decade shaped how we see social advertising, and puts us in an ideal position to forecast what comes next.
Certainly if the rate at which social has evolved since 2012 is anything to go by, a decade on from now is bound to be an exciting, immersive and futuristic space. Whilst ten years ago social was embryonic, now it is woven into the fabric of most of our lives.
So, what will social look like in 2032?
Ten years from now social will be a seamless fusion of on and off-line. The Metaverse, which still seems so futuristic right now, will have become mainstream. Most of its key components that already exist will have been refined and new technologies, responding to our as yet unknown needs, will be woven into the mix.
Super-fast broadband, lightweight VR headsets and always-on virtual worlds are already here. Waiting in the development wings, AR lenses fitted with micro-LED displays that place information right inside the eye of the wearer will offer a raft of applications that extend beyond our current imagination. The potential to enhance sight in low light conditions, or act as a teleprompt for a speaking gig springs to mind.
Expanded UX will be taken for granted, meshing AR and VR to create virtual worlds in which we all interact. Brands, healthcare, entertainment and education will dove-tail in and out of a digital world designed to enhance our lives. Content as we know it will increasingly become richer as we learn to navigate these new environments. Those days of focusing on SEO-friendly websites will be superseded by enhanced AR experiences that call upon information-rich content to enhance brand perception.
By 2032 Non-fungible tokens - NFTs - will have come into their own. The emergence of NFTs has brought proof of authenticity into the digital realm, they have made ownership of digital assets provable, secure, and part of the public record.
As the Metaverse expands so too will the likes of NFTs as they shift beyond adding value to digital artworks, memes and video game avatars to replacing legal documents with smart contracts. As e-commerce continues to dominate we could well see a time when everything we purchase is accompanied by an NFT.
But the potential of NFTs goes way beyond authentication - the world of live entertainment could be transformed beyond our current memorabilia - autographs and T-shirts could become retro relics. We foresee concert attendees experiencing live entertainment and acquiring an exclusive and personal digital asset to keep as a memento.
Imagine the allure of trying to hold on to that experience once it’s over, by either possessing the video of a favourite song, a personal signature from the artist, or a unique artist/tour/city commemorative.
Actually NFT ticketing has the potential to go beyond this, offering opportunities for lifetime value, exclusive access, and extra incentives for buyers.
It may seem that in this projection, the future of social has not been mentioned very much; however the term social is likely to become a redundant term as it becomes an intrinsic part of our everyday lives.
Exponential technologies are changing the fundamentals of society. They are disrupting the way we do just about everything. As computing power and connectivity explode and their costs decrease, it will be possible for anyone to be a change-maker.
Our very human connection to story is poised to overcome the equally human resistance to change. We foresee future scenarios where social defines the way we experience our work and leisure lives - with readily accessible information at our finger tips and a thirst to deep dive further into our potential.