Why we’re at peak social media saturation

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A data visualization detailing the number of posts brands portugal b2b leads published per day across networks in 2023 (10).
“We’re moving toward peak inundation,” says Nathan Allebach, Creative Director at Allebach Communications and former “Steak-umm Twitter guy.” “It’s hard to say how much of it is the saturation versus the lack of content novelty. A lot of the issues marketers face these days might have more to do with the fact that social media has been around for so long and has gone through different iterations. Every kind of disruptive marketing has been so deeply explored across categories, across industries, that it’s getting tough to find new ways to break through.”

Let’s look deeper at what’s contributing to the challenge:

Content production pressures
It’s impossible for consumers to actively engage with all of the social content they see. Literally: One research team found humans’ screen attention spans dropped from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds in 2023.

The irony is, as trends move faster and audiences flock to short-form content formats, the pressure to churn out a higher volume of posts intensifies. The sheer number of accounts competing for users’ fleeting attention exacerbates this dynamic.

“While certainly more convenient to consider that a brand is only competing with its competitors, the reality is, a brand’s content is being pitted up against the latest viral post, an influencer’s giveaway, other brands, and family and friends,” said Carolyn Cohen, Content & Social Lead at H&R Block.

Allebach adds, “It’s everybody versus everybody. So if you’re a brand on the other side of the screen and you’re trying to pull me out of my personal feed, that takes a lot of effort to get right.”