What is Media? Is Social Media, Media?

By Ty Sawyer

I began life agonizing over every word that was published in the print titles I oversaw. We yearned to win awards. A great deal of effort, and expense, went into every piece, large or small. Pieces were edited and sculpted and worked until they were worthy of a consumer’s time and effort to read.

I have been thinking on the value of media in the scope of travel and tourism today. Content still rules, of course, but what does that mean? Content is nothing without an audience. And not just any audience, an audience that wants, needs and trusts the content that is being produced. And, what is this content? I sit through endless meetings where content is proffered, but context, timing and how to meaningfully audience are not.

The idea that there is a targeted audience is part of the discussion, of course, but not whether that audience is the right audience to exert the influence that leads to a decision, which as you will see, has become the new first step in the process. The interaction has almost become more important than the story. Which leads to the idea of the meaningfulness of magazine content in today’s media climate.

I have a staff of several “content-driven” specialists that work in today’s media ecosystem. We so get lots of magazines, often with our products, which we tag dutifully with a yellow sticky. Then we put a PDF of it across our digital media, and then the magazine goes in a drawer. And, of the dozens of magazines that cross our desks each week, not a single one, ever, is read.

The new audience of consumers with a high level of passion for the products and the brands and the world showcased in these magazines; an audience that spends money on the products that appear in the magazine, has become more and more difficult to reach. But, magazines have almost no bearing on a purchase. They exert very little influence. At the end of the content cycle, they’re useless as tools to inspire action for my staff, and have little impact on today’s modern consumer. They’re also usually arch and only relate to a rapidly shrinking and antiquated audience that actually still reads such things.

Though this evolution, I have watched my personal world, as an editor and writer, and then marketer, go from long form, immersive stories to finding people with influence.

An influencer, whether credible or not, can make the needle move. They come in all forms. When I moved over to marketing, suddenly the world narrowed as it related to traditional outreach methods. Ford (as an example) no longer looks for credible places for their products, just influential places.

If I was to put a marketing plan together in today’s world, it would have two main components: content-driven organic SEO (related to E.A.T.: Expertise, Authority and Trust, which are only important because that is the influence-algorithm that Google looks for, at the moment, and puts a product in front of a consumer) and, what is almost its opposite, Influencers.

When a Kardashian can become a billionaire based only and entirely on and ephemeral notion of influence, suddenly the marketing world looks much different. That influencer can take a product and get people to respond and adopt solely because they’re influential, rather than provide any expert value. A travel influencer gets sponsored and tells an audience that they should by a couch, and suddenly sales of the couch go up.

I was once recruited by a company that sold “personalized” perfume. They got great traction from influencers, who were writing about them, and touting their user-personalized product, for FREE. They’d essentially achieved the Holy Grail for marketing today — social proof and acolyte marketing to a bunch of loyal followers across numerous markets with highly sharable content. I told them they didn’t need to hire me. Just keep doing what they do.

They’d stumbled, quite by accident, upon a supercharged way to reach a millennial audience. Which is, as I have found in more than 10-years of targeting traveling millennials encapsulated into one tidy and somewhat daunting phrase: you don’t market to millennials, they market to themselves. If you put up an ad, or try to fool them with an ill-disguised ad, they will run…and never return. It’s a conundrum, for sure. You need to provide expertise, authority and build trust through more fluid, organic methods.

So, this leads us back to what is media? And, is social media, media? The answer is not really simple. The answer for traveling millennials is what provides value? What answers a need? What provides organic influence? And, most importantly, what can be shared?

And, that’s not always what is typically understood as media or a media platform. Or, especially, media of influence. It could be a group of friends, a social circle. It could be an image carousel on Instagram. It could be a programmatically targeted personalized message delivered by a clever AI bot. It could be a simple text. Or a photo that shows something relatable. It certainly relies, to a small degree, on luck and timing.

As I think constantly about this as a marketing strategist in this moving target world, I’ve found that it boils down to one thing — what provides authentic, organic influence. That has become my leading thought. Such as a bunch of influencers touting a personalized perfume or cologne because they simply like the idea and WANT to share it.

Influence usually comes before inspiration, or motivation, or action. And almost always before purchase. Influence equals credibility and validation, and even from afar, and indirectly, such as via a social feed that an intriguing friend, real or digital, may have commented on, that provides a sense of belonging. This sense of belonging is a key way to target.

So, the real answer to Is Social Media, Media? is: yes, sometimes, and no, sometimes. It depends on the intent of the audience and the intent and method of the media to reach an audience. But, the more reliable answer is media is whatever platform provides a benefit, value and influence and is sharable.

If you’re marketing relies simply on a “marketing message” or clever tag, it likely won’t move the needle unless it’s extremely clever or unexpected and surprising enough to be heard through all the white noise. If you’re mirroring what is already out there, then you’re essentially camouflaging yourself no matter what media you utilize.

This is a key for any destination when considering a Travel and Tourism audience, and it’s worth repeating. If you’re products are in the media mix with other competing products, in front of people that see the travel product images and experiences all day, would you stand out? Or, better yet, what would make your destination discoverable in the mix?

No one shares the mundane or commonplace. But, when they find something to share, then the media platform simply doesn’t matter. The action does. And, the creative task facing you or anyone trying to find traction in today’s market is to make the media they use the media that provides the influence. Or, align with influence meaningfully and strategically.

If your destination is on the map, now how can you use social media to influence future travelers to visit?

About Ty Sawyer

• Co-Founder of Social Media Travel App “Jetzy”
• Founder of Travel App “X” (Traveler/Dive Traveler)
• Director of Content Strategy, Innovation & Audience Acquisition – E.W. Scripps Company
• Television Host of Travel Channel’s “Another Shade of Blue”
• Editor-in-Chief – MOD Media
• Editorial Director – Islands Magazine
• Internal & External Media/Communications – Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority