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The Local Business and Government Digital Marketing Dilemma — Top Eight Strategies in Virginia Emerging Into the Post-COVID era 2021

As we’ve known but which became crystal clear this past year, social platforms online are in fact publishers — as they curate, craft, select, unselect, create, delete, promote media to target audiences, as a multi-billion dollar business model. Some “participate” more than others, supporting or suppressing content, paid or not. Yes, you may freely use the platform for your own communications purposes — but it’s not a garden walled from publisher-owner influence or governance, at all. Mobile phones and devices also are publisher tools — curating and presenting content informed by your physical activities — though this is becoming more difficult with crackdowns on mobile identification for personal privacy purposes.

What difference does this make to your business? Particularly the B2B, B2G, online B2C and nonprofit communities? (Setting aside brick-and-mortar retail for a while more).
In short, this year, your own publishing power needs attention, to your own audience for attention to you. The publishing terms, pricing and business audience access are entirely out of your control, or simply not cost-effective as for smaller and more local businesses, when using 3rd-party publishers. What’s also dangerously out of control, is the “social media liability risk” that’s emerged in this recent era of online partisan advocacy and tribal dialog — tinder that’s easily lit and can’t easily be extinguished. Particularly within the legacy, giant social and broadcast media channels including Twitter, Facebook/Instagram, YouTube (Google), most cable news. It’s even intruding into LinkedIn (Microsoft) and Pinterest — but these may survive as the more objective publishers on digital social media and data platforms. Reddit simply can’t be messed with, proceed there always with due caution and transparent business interests (but it is time to seriously give it a look if you haven’t — including ad subject alignment in groups or “subreddits”).
To get the attention of your target audience, you must produce attention-maintaining content, and put it in the hands of your attention-consuming audience. Without them feeling like a “product”, but as a member, partner, friend, contributor, or stakeholder. A true customer. 

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