Avoid the Black Hole of Foreverism

Trendwatching‘s latest briefing, Foreverism, is a very astute look at the current state of online engagement — “Consumers and businesses embracing conversations, lifestyles and products that are never done.”

Foreverism gives the impression of being present equally in all times at once and lasting without decay in perpetuity. The former is impossible and the latter is contrary to reasonable expectations. It’s another way of saying, if you’re a marketer, never sleep.

Never-ending conversations and constant re-invention

I see two key parts of Trendwatching’s analysis:

1. The never-ending conversations taking place in social media.
2. The requirement for businesses to constantly re-invent themselves to meet customer feedback and the demands of the marketplace.

The black hole of the forever conversation

One of the suggested approaches to taking part in the Forever Conversation is a bit misleading for marketers. Yes, there are always people out there with questions and concerns. But to think that you can build a scalable strategy based on the notion that you can and should respond to every Tweet is ridiculous.

The Forever Conversation is a potential black hole. Companies should have a presence and a strategy on social media, but the cases Trendwatching is showing — such as Ford and Whole Foods — are not it.

Perpetual production — avoiding the black hole

Our strategy to address this issue is to stay ahead of the conversation. Through the perpetual production of content, we position the brand as the constant catalyst and instigator of the forever conversation.

If your product is good and your content is valuable, your customers and followers can and will pick up the conversation and carry it forward. Therein lies the real value of social media in your marketing. Create quality brand, product, and support content and let your audience make it part of their conversation.

Forever beta: staying fluid

On the other hand, Trendwatching’s discussion of Forever Beta is spot on. Constantly redefining, redesigning, repurposing, telling and retelling stories is what it’s all about.

The flexibility to make necessary adjustments is a core value. Making these adjustments based upon customer feedback is also a vital part of thinking in Beta mode. The value of participation creation is not to be overlooked.

In fact, in the Trendwatching report’s Twitter examples, Malaysia Air and Whole Foods are responding late to issues they already should have solicited feedback about and responded to.

The value of being responsive to feedback

Ultimately, thinking in Beta mode is also the solution to the black hole of the forever conversation as well. Rather than wasting an incalculable amount of time engaging in tiny conversations, allocate some key resources to checking feedback and making adjustments — that responsiveness leads to better practices and happier customers.

While you can’t avoid feeling the effects of the black hole of Foreverism, you should at least be able to navigate around its gravitational pull.

Takeaway

Foreverism is for real. Get ahead of consumers’ forever expectations with proactive content and a forever-beta outlook.

My questions to you

Are you trying to fulfill the black-hole demands of Foreverism with a “social media” strategy? Are you getting ahead of your customers or just keeping up? Is forever-beta part of your approach?

About the author

Brett Virmalo -

As a creative director at Tippingpoint Labs, Brett leads a team deploying ecommerce and content marketing solutions for global B2B and consumer clients.

Brett has worked with clients including PG&E, Kodak, American Express, TomTom, Putnam Investments, and most recently, Breville. He has been with Tippingpoint Labs since 2003 serving as a designer, developer, art director, and now creative director.