A Marketing Lesson You Can Learn from Ello

Looking at the title of the article, you are either thinking:

What’s Ello?

or

What did happen to Ello?

I remember seeing all the invites to join Facebook friends over on Ello, which was nicknamed “Facebook Killer” because so many thought this new social media platform would be the end of Facebook. Just like Google+ before it, this prediction has not come to fruition. Instead, people are scratching their head, wondering what ever became of the site that was supposed to create a giant shift in social media. The site is still in existence, and if you want to reach 100,000 or so people, this might be the platform for you (I say sarcastically).

What I see as more important than the story of the 15 minutes of fame Ello enjoyed is the lesson to be learned from it. While people were gleefully calling it the end of Zuckerberg’s rein over social media, spent time learning the site and trying to build a following, many of us were continuing to build our community reach on the top platforms, positioning ourselves for an even greater audience in which to engage. The Ello of 2015 was Periscope. While it might become one of the big players in the future, history shows us that more of the new social media platforms fizzle and die–sometimes a quick and other times a slow death. I always encourage clients to proceed with caution, throwing time and money at the shiny, new thing until it’s fully vetted.