Raise your hand if you remember the “80/20 rule” of social media. In the 2010s era of social media management, that guideline felt more like an ironclad pact.
The idea was that your editorial calendar should consist of 80 percent vendor-neutral, industry-relevant content, and limit brand promotional content to just 20 percent.
At its core, the 80/20 rule was a guide for brands to avoid using social media as a sales tool or website traffic driver. In that sense, the intention of that rule holds true today.
But today’s guideline is much simpler: social media is entertainment.
And it has to be—attention is strained. Nearly half of millennials get all of their news from social media. They open their phone, and are bombarded with messages: Climate crisis and geopolitical environment heat up in tandem—Here’s the best way to fold a fitted sheet—Kendrick’s diss track won five Grammys—My college buddy is having a baby!—Did you know you can turn your life around by using the Mel Robbins science-backed morning routine?!
[Cue: Bo Burnham’s Welcome to the Internet]
Those same millennials wading through the depths of the internet are the ones we’re all trying to reach as they make business purchasing decisions. Forrester Research predicted that the generation would make up three-quarters of business buying teams in 2024.
So even as a B2B brand, content has to entertain to earn attention. It’s easy for that phrase to conjure up images of Duolingo’s TikTok and Steak-Umms on X, riling protests of “Yeah, our brand can’t do that” and “Our audience isn’t 17-year-olds” and “How on earth did they get leadership approval to post that??” (Looking at you, Nutter Butter).
Entertaining means so much more than unhinged TikTok content and taking risks with the latest unlicensed audio trends. It means getting to know your buyer, providing content and information that puts them first, and delivering it in a format that takes their attention spans into account.
Yes, the social media landscape is more crowded and more siloed than ever. But it’s also more intuitive and more human than ever.
So the next time you’re planning out your editorial calendar, consider entertainment. Consider what your buyer cares most about right now, and help them with it—without trying to sell anything. Maybe even make a joke or say something relatable.
In the sage words of a client: “We’re not competing against our competitors. We’re competing against Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.”