‘Small and social’ vs ‘big and broadcast’

Small and social vs big and broadcast: these are not just different sizes. They are different models.

Big and broadcast is the dominant model of most organisations. Reach as many people as possible with a consistent message. Scale. Efficiency. Volume.

Small and social is a different logic entirely. Depth over breadth. Connection over reach. The goal is not to touch as many people as possible – it’s to genuinely engage the right people and create the conditions for them to engage each other.

The interesting thing is that small and social tends to produce better word of mouth, better retention, better advocacy, and better long-term results – even though it’s harder to measure in the short term.

This is the core tension in most marketing and community work: the metrics that are easy to measure (reach, views, followers) favour broadcast. The outcomes that actually matter (trust, advocacy, loyalty) favour social.

Most organisations optimise for what they can measure. The brave ones optimise for what matters.