Here’s the big picture on social media use in Europe: Video sharing platform TikTok has over 150 million users across the continent, while Meta (Facebook and Instagram) tops 408 million monthly users. An average of 59% of EU citizens take part in social media, a number that is considerably higher in Cyprus. An estimated 83% of Cypriots can be found on social media platforms, making for a huge – and near-constantly captive – audience. Thus, having a strong social media presence (in terms of numbers, messaging, and overall strategy) can provide a considerable competitive advantage to any company – a game-changing weapon in the business wars. If used properly. Like any weapon, wielding it blindly or not using it properly, makes it ineffective. It needs to be well-maintained and used as intended, or else it becomes useless. It needs expertise, and a user that knows how to harness its power. This is what Fidias Panayiotou was able to understand, and that is why this 24-year-old YouTuber managed one of the biggest upsets in the history of Cyprus: with zero support from political parties or anyone in the establishment, he managed to get elected to the European Parliament with a whopping 19.3% of the vote.

With a campaign that was based solely on social media and with near-zero budget. There’s no arguing with the results of the effectiveness of Fidias’ methods: he went up against parties and candidates that had a campaign war chest filled with campaign money, intended to buy publicity. For more than 3 months, candidates’ faces were plastered on highway billboards and posters all over the island. Scores of candidate flyers littered mailboxes on a regular basis, and political ads jumped at us from every available Google ad-related space in the internet. Seasoned political operatives met with high-powered communication strategists in high-rise boardrooms, in an attempt to craft the perfect message, the perfect ad, that proverbial silver bullet. Millions spent on advertising and promotion. And they were bested by a newcomer 24-year-old with a free TikTok account.

As with everything new, most people took the wrong lesson from Fidias’ success: “he was elected because people are dumb and he exploited their ignorance”, wrote a social media user. “That’s what the kids want these days, the problem is with social media”, said another. “Now anyone with a YouTube channel can be an MEP,” a third offered, clearly unaware of the fact that only 0.25% of YouTube channels generate any income. An in-depth analysis of the socio-economic confluence that favoured Fidias’ electoral success is best left to experts, but people are already trying to mimic his success by blindly going full- steam ahead with social media campaigns.

Those of us who live online were bombarded with candidate ads but it was painfully obvious that a lot of those campaigns were just the candidates throwing money at the problem, a blind attempt to reach as many people as possible. But if campaigns were just a spending contest, Fidias would not be where he is now. Properly identifying audiences and smartly targeting them is the way to go. In the age of mass information, micro-targeting is a far more effective way of communicating one’s message.

Instinctively, Fidias followed every principle of a successful marketing campaign: he correctly identified his audience, moulded a persona tailored to their liking, crafted a message that catered to them, and – crucially – never strayed from it.  He gave his audience what they wanted, and they rewarded him in kind, by liking and sharing his content – the hardest of currencies in the social-media world. He didn’t try to reach the undecideds, or those skeptical of him. He didn’t need to. As long as he was true to his fans, he had nothing to fear. And as far as spending on ads? No need. His fans would do that for him.

For free.

However, trying to replicate that success is a mistake. Breaking it down, identifying what works and incorporating it into future campaigns, is the lesson to be taken from this case study. Take the case of a mayoral candidate, who posted and sponsored a video, one week before the elections. A whole week later, the video elicited one response from a single account. In the online world, the tools and techniques and amount of personal data available differ substantially from traditional advertising methods, and therefore have a greater potential impact. Failing to understand that, failing to adapt to the digital landscape, and abandoning long-held practices in favour of what works now, is a recipe for disaster. Fidias’ victory illustrates the immense power of social media and how it is a weapon that can be utilized to propel a campaign to meteoric success. But it also offers valuable insights into how easy it is to get it wrong. As is always the case, when dealing with immense power, caution is needed. In attempting to harness the power of social media, seeking help from professionals, who are experts in the field, is invariably the way to go.

As the age-old disclaimer goes: ‘Do not try this at home’.