Digital strategy: Is a URL still needed?
Is digital ready for social media only brands?
A vertical under the Clique Media Group’s vast digital umbrella, is Obsessee. A brand whose content destination is only present on their social media channels; the blogging brand focuses on trending topics ranging from fashion to food and music.
Living on their social platforms, their editors create exclusive content for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr. Generating videos, live Q&A’s, images, personal essays, and news. It targets women between the ages of 14 and 22, also known as ‘Generation Z’. Obsessee’s web page only displays the single page below, acting more of a ‘cover page’ for users.
Their underlying strategy is survival in today’s vast contested media landscape. Whilst also being very precise about the type of audience they are wanting to reach. When wanting to focus on a specific audience, using such an accurate form of targeting works well. This also makes it easy to tailor their editorial content and receive maximum engagement.
Last year Obsessee pushed the boundaries of social interaction even further, and an influx of cash wasn’t the goal. They opened a pop-up shop in Los Angeles, where Clique is based. They processed more than 1,700 transactions, but everything in the shop was sold for social currency. To buy an item, consumers had to photograph it, upload it onto their social media and tag Obsessee.
The power of social content
Another brand going forward with a social only presence is NowThis. A media brand who present news in 22 to 90 second videos hosted across all their social media platforms. Launching in 2015 they have since made the decision to leave their URL site behind. A big drive for the brand was in 2016, President Obama did three NowThis videos to reach out to young people. Convincing them to back Hillary Clinton the coverage reached 2 billion views, with eighty percent of its audience being under 35.
The brands overall strategy is to cover issues that millennials care about. So, it makes sense for the brand to appear in all the social sites where this demographic is.
Going forward
Brands need to ensure they know their audience demographic before going ahead with such an ‘out there’ strategy. Putting their target audiences before any brand changes is the most important thing. If brands work towards a loyal subscriber list, this eliminates the need for website visits. Once they have the loyalty of social subscribers and mailing lists they can begin exploring bolder digital activity.
Look out for more daring brands who are ready to disrupt the traditional URL and social relationship.