6 Tips For Marketing In The ‘Brainrot’ Era
According to the NY Times, ‘brainrot’ is the new online affliction. And it’s not an exaggeration to say marketing and PR feel tougher than ever right now.
What is brainrot?
brainrot (uncountable) (slang, derogatory) The degradation of mental faculties, intelligence, common sense, or moral character. (slang, derogatory) Media deemed to hold little artistic value and/or negatively impact those who consume it.
I’m not here to moralise whether our brains are actually deteriorating thanks to short-form content culture and an ever-changing, global lexicon - I’m here to help you, fellow marketer.
What we know
Attention spans are shorter.
Brands are having to get ever-more savvy to cut through.
Younger generations are ad-phobic.
But you still have KPIs to hit.
So how do we get through it? Here are six tips - I’ll try to keep them short and sweet because, you know, brainrot?
1. Commit to not gathering dust
Recently I came across a few TiKToks I completely didn’t understand. I think it scared me. I immediately thought ‘We’re definitely doomed’ - but I think deep down, I felt a bit insecure. Am I…irrelevant?
Culture ruling marketing and the media is all fun and games when you get it through and through - but when you’re confronted with a ten-year-old rizzly bear telling someone they have Ohio rizz, and you don’t know what they’re on about, it can be more than alarming.
I had to make a choice to get involved. Not because I want to use them - but because I feel I shouldn’t let culture pass me by.
Marketing is an exciting world, but it’s fast and ever-changing. If you want a career where you can learn a few new things every decade until you hang up your boots, this is probably not the industry for you.
I cringe when I hear people in the industry say, “Oh TikTok’s not for me - I’m too old”.
Currently, 63% of TikTok’s audience share is over 25. And there’s something for everyone. Trust me.
Just as we’ve got our head around how Gen Z’s show up online, Gen Alpha has entered the chat with their own slang.
As marketers, it’s our job to understand how people think, what motivates them and what their challenges are. That’s how you come up with ideas that genuinely resonate with your target audience (and not just other marketers on LinkedIn).
The first step to marketing in our ever-changing era is to vow not to get left behind.
2. Keep an open mind
You are not your audience. That’s something we try to live by in our office.
We’re as guilty as the next bunch of mostly-millennials-and-a-few-gen-X-er teams at living within our own echo chamber, but repeating that mantra helps us break out when we need it most.
Keep an open mind to new ideas, trends and phenomena as they happen - they might just come in handy.
3. Quantity over quality?
Kind of, but not really. Trying to get any brand message across right now is like expecting a consumer to fill a cup in a hail storm. That’s a lot of spillage.
Your meticulously planned, high-quality piece of content is probably being scrolled past in between a cat in a babygrow and an infographic about a much more serious topic.
We have to focus on both quantity and quality to make an impact. Did you know that Wimbledon produced over 1,000 pieces of high-quality content during their 14-day tournament? 🤯 And they all performed well? 🤯🤯
4. But strategy is more important than ever
But posting for posting’s sake will never get you anywhere. It’s more important than ever to have a tight strategy that everyone is aligned on.
You’ve got agencies, freelancers, creators and journalists - who could all be creating content for, or writing about, your brand. The brief, more than ever, has to be succinct.
Know what every piece of content is assigned to do at its core, measure its impact, learn from it and then replicate it until you succeed.
5. Vibes over storytelling
With the concept of storytelling being at the forefront of the marketing playbook for the last decade - we’ve all come to know that a brand should represent more for the consumer than just the product or service.
But in reality, you don’t have the luxury of time to tell stories and paint vivid pictures for consumers. You get a second or two if you’re lucky.
To combat this, your content strategies should focus on tone and vibe.
With a quick scroll or Google, your customer should be able to pick up a vibe. That’s the reputation you’re carrying into the future - so craft it carefully.
6. Up the pace
Lastly, and perhaps the most scary. We need to let go.
We need to be brave - but think carefully of course - and be prepared to take the leap and put out more content, more often, with less sign-off.
Pace is everything - and the traditional chain of sign-off is not built for today’s media. So long as your strategy is sound and everyone is aligned - getting something good live, with a few important yesses, is your key to being in front of eyeballs when you otherwise wouldn’t have been.
Good luck out there, fellow marketers.
