Which social media platform will survive? A trader’s approach to answering this question

Alexander Antic

Alexander Antic

Alexander Antic is the founder of antic.com. He previously held various senior positions in the financial services industry.
Alexander graduated in Law from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Having worked in a securities trading environment, I am very comfortable to state that I have no idea about which social media platform will survive. Trying to predict future winners in the fast-moving, complex social media space is as difficult as trying to predict the markets.

With that out of the way, here a rather elaborate answer as to how I approach social media, and how I suggest you should start thinking about it in a professional context:

For that, I’ll stay with the trader metaphor. Those few really good traders that I met during my career were more often wrong about the direction a security would take than they were right. Yet, through their meticulous and systematic approach they ensured that their principal investment did not get wiped out. And when, say, gold did have a run, they knew how to increase their positions, and when to take profits, before incurring losses as the trend reversed. They also diversified their positions, and took it as completely natural that some did not make money, as long as the bottom line remained positive.

Translated into the social media context: Try several platforms, and observe the results. Tailor and distribute your content across the various platforms. Do more of what works, tweak what doesn’t. Soon, you will notice where you can capture your clients’ attention with the least effort and investment. Carefully increase your activities on those platforms, all the while not neglecting to monitor the others.

Be bold with platforms that have a low user base but grow fast. Experiment with content delivery and capitalize on the fact that generating attention there is still inexpensive. Similar to venture capital investing, your payoff might be a multiple of what you put in!

Always diversify, I.e. never focus on one platform alone. At the time of writing, an algorithm change is putting scores of professional YouTube creators out of business as their content is being demonetized, i.e. not eligible to receive a cut of the income generated by advertising.

Finally, don’t remain on the sidelines. Stop missing opportunities. Let others use the original question as a cocktail conversation starter. How about providing real market color to that conversation, instead of simply joining the speculation?