Should You Play To Your Strengths or Adapt To Trends?
Social Media Examiner JUST posted the following on Facebook (and by “JUST” I mean today August 31st, 2023 as I’m writing this):
Good grief…. to which I (and many others similarly) commented:
But right as I hit the return button I started thinking…
My regular readers know but if you’re new here my wife Ally and I run a brick and mortar photography studio in the Orchard Mall in West Bloomfield, MI called Frameable Faces Photography (M10 Social grew out of the success of the studio). We’ve hit a milestone this year with it being 15 years since we opened the studio together. So we’ve been around longer than Instagram. Hehe…
And while Instagram is a monster they do have their share of missteps from time to time which I’ve written about at length. For example with this new tidbit from Social Media Examiner it’s clear to me that along with following the pattern of wanting to be Snapchat (stories), TikTok (Reels) and now Twitter (Threads), IG STILL wants to also be YouTube - they thought they could be YouTube with IGTV, a total fail, but it seems they just can't let it go... They are really putting the "insta" in instagram with 10 MINUTE VIDEOS eh? Sheesh.
Should You Play To Your Strengths or Adapt To Trends?
But maybe Instagram is struggling with the same dilemma we all are dealing with on some level. As I said in my comment there’s a constant risk as a business owner of resting on your laurels if you’re only playing to your strengths, or being reckless in the pursuit of staying ahead. Both can be bad. You should NOT abandon your strengths, but that fear of falling behind by ONLY playing to your current strengths can drive you to take risks - some necessary, some unnecessary.
So what to do?
I don’t think there’s a one size fits all answer. You just have to strike the right balance. Hopefully - and listen up new business owners - you laid the foundation at the start of your business of what your values would be as a brand. If you were/are intentional about those values and believe in them they’ll guide you with confidence in your decisions on where to lead your business. Don’t chase every trend to the point where you’ve run so far you can’t see where you started from. As for Instagram, I think they push the envelope too far and try to be what they aren’t at the core. They waste a lot of time and resources chasing trends and they fail more than they should. People don’t want to watch long videos on INSTAgram. Why do they think they need this? Why didn’t they learn this from the last time? It’s INSTAgram - not SLOWgram. Now I don’t think Instagram is failing. I don’t think this move is desperation. I think it’s greed. And that’s another motivation that isn’t a good look for a brand in my book….
Anyway those are my thoughts - good lessons to ponder. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com. You can also connect with Doug on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, and/or M10 Social on Twitter or Facebook, and check out his other biz www.VirtualPetcations.com while you’re at it!
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