No two people use social media the exact same way, which is a primary reason why online platforms continue to be increasingly popular channels of communication. Let’s face it, there’s no such thing in life as a one-size-fits-all approach to communication. We all have unique desires and interests that need to be met in different ways.
Social media allows users to gather information and communicate on their own terms. In essence, users customize their experience in a manner that suits them best. This is a key point that too many businesses ignore in their social media strategies. The online realm is large in scope, but that does not mean it is a forum to conduct mass blasts of information. A shared online experience revolves around a personal connection that forms a bond between two users. The real opportunity social media provides for businesses is that it allows organizations to converse with people in a direct manner in which those people feel comfortable communicating.
That said, organizations need to be wise about building these connections and should take time to understand specific users before reaching out to them.
Chances are good that the demographic your organization wants to connect with uses certain social networking channels more than others. Additionally, they probably use those channels in specific ways that other users may not. Let’s take Twitter for instance. Some users on Twitter don’t post any tweets. In fact, I remember reading a study that suggested about one fourth of people on Twitter don’t tweet at all. Granted, many of these people formed accounts and no longer use them, but there are some users that simply like to follow other users to listen to what those users are saying. I know a few people who use Twitter for this exact purpose. These types of users may not converse with you directly, but if your organization is communicating with the people they follow, they’ll become aware of your messages through that communication.
There are other people that use Twitter almost exclusively as a discussion tool. These users rarely post a tweet that doesn’t have an @reply at the beginning of it. They want to be engaged through direct discussion.
Also, the frequency with which people post tweets varies greatly. The more followers a Twitter user has, the more tweets that user tends to post. A recent study reported that users that have 100 followers generate 2.4 tweets per day on average, while those with 1,800 followers post an average of 10.2 tweets a day.
These examples don’t apply exclusively to Twitter. Other social media platforms have distinct usage trends as well. For example, many companies still believe the myth that only young people use Facebook. Yet, according to Facebook’s own statistics, the fastest growing demographic on the site are users 35 years old and older.
I could go on with more examples, but the point is that you need to understand which social media platforms the people you want to connect with use and how they use each platform. It’s not enough to say, “I want to be on Twitter” or “I need a Facebook page.” Ask yourself what your organization wants to accomplish through your social media activities. If you want to build relationships, social media platforms are an ideal forum to accomplish that. As with any other marketing or public relations campaign, you need to understand your audience before you can form your strategy.
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