Picture this: a world in which your entire marketing team and your entire customer service team never come into the office. A world in which you met all of them on social media platforms, where you handpicked them because of their social media presence. Or, you read something of theirs on a website and outreached them via social media. This, essentially, is the so-called 'gig economy' and its best friend: the social media network.
The gig economy, "A rising tide of freelancers and 1099 independent contractors drawn to growing opportunities anchored in developing technology," stands at about 3.2 million workers. By 2020 that number should double to around 7.6 million. There's no doubt the "developing technology" anchoring this trend revolves entirely around the internet. Uber drivers, smartphones, and the Uber app. AirBnB and the website platform. Time tracking apps that allow contractors to effortlessly get paid. But how exactly do social media platforms fit into the picture?
Content creation
In terms of the way businesses get themselves out there, marketing themselves in order to generate leads and to drive sales, according to a survey by 2Ascend, content marketing is the third most effective method to get your foot in the door. At the same time, it is one of the most difficult ways to generate leads. It can't be ignored in any marketing strategy, but takes dedication and specialists.
Disseminating information in such a way as to draw others toward you is incredibly hard because you've got to be subtle and you have to be current. You have be on point. The people who are most successful at using information to promote themselves-politicians-have speech writers do it for them. Or, in the case of blogs and businesses with websites, they have content creators do it for them. Either way, these creatives have to come from somewhere. They have to have a place to promote their wares-which just so happen to be the wares of whoever they're writing for.
Gig gathering-place
Here, I have to admit something. I have personal experience with this. Not long ago, a guy from a marketing firm (based out of San Francisco) I won't name contacted me via Twitter. I'm not sure which article of mine he saw, but chances are it wasn't surfing websites that attracted his attention. I didn't ask, but am sure he used an app, such as Buzzsumo, or something like it. This allowed him to check Twitter for who the influencers are in a specific niche. All he had to do was enter a keyword for a topic. From there, he reached out to me and asked if I wanted a gig writing for his clients.
I said no, but not because I don't want extra gigs; because his terms were unrealistic. He wanted to pay me much less than good content is worth. What this did alert me to, however, is how social media can be both a place to market content-to market a brand-and to find a content creator. It can be the gig economy gathering-place for those of us whose gigs don't involve an Uber app or an AirBnB website.
New terms, new times
Yes, saying that social media is a great place to pick up new gigs, find new contractors, and then market your brand is akin to saying 'social networking is a great way to do business.' What's different here is the platforms, the means by which you can network. For James Harvey, the "Philly Van-Man" from South Philadelphia, this means he can run a moving business, and an odd-jobs business, out of his van with the help of Instagram. He receives more inquiries from Instagram than anywhere else. The key to his marketing is, "Find creative ways to take pictures, and tag the heck out of them."
He's running an old-school business, he's being a factotum, but he's using a new platform to accomplish it: Instagram.
In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram. By the end of 2014, Instagram had become more popular than Twitter, with over 300 million active users vs Twitter's 284. The photo-sharing site increased its user-base by 100 million in 9 months.
It's easy to see why gig workers such as James Harvey would market their services on Instagram. It caters to a visual world, and allows you to share photos of your gig work for free. You can also diversify with sponsored video and photo content. The emphasis on visual allows people to see just how authentic you and your work are, and they can verify you're a real person. Instagram's quick rise directly parallels that of the gig economy.
It's not about the controversy
According to B2C, analysts predict the gig economy could generate $10 billion in 2015. But there's a great deal of controversy marring companies like Uber, whose gig workers have protested and gone on strike over unfair treatment. Both Uber and Lyft face charges they're misclassifying workers.
But if you decide to become a gig worker, or you are in the position to higher one, the point is that social media can greatly aid you in finding your match. Freedom, in this economy, is outweighing the risks. Every company is free to contract these workers, pay them what they're worth, and classify them correctly. No one is forcing gig workers to do anything-they're free to go elsewhere if they feel mistreated. It's clear that now, more than ever, the future of work is options. For better or worse, social media is helping the options thrive.