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Archive for the ‘social media demographics’ Category

Six Networking Profiles for Effective Word of Mouth Promotions

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Welcome to part two of our social media demographic study. In part one we examined the role gender plays in your online networking efforts. (To Read Part One Click Here:  Social Media Demographics)

Today we’d like to take a look at the various roles your prospects, colleagues, and friends play within an online networking environment. I recently reread “Groundswell - Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies” by Forrester Research. It’s an excellent read and if you’re interested in learning more click here.

The question I want to answer is, “What role do your connections fulfill within your small business network and how can you apply that to business lead generation?”

Groundswell identifies six profiles to consider when interacting with your network.

Creators
Are online consumers who contribute new content at least once a month i.e. blogs, videos, audio, wikis

Critics
Primarily interact with online content i.e. blog comments, forums, reviews

Collectors
Organize and aggregate online information i.e. RSS feeds, photo tagging, ratings

Joiners
Participate or maintain profiles on networking sites i.e. Twitter, MySpace, Facebook

Spectators
Are the consumers of online media. They strictly watch, read and listen to others content.

Inactives
Are people who are online but not participating in any new media

Below is a chart showing how the online world, as a whole, falls into these categories.
*Percentages add up to more than 100% because groups overlap
profile-types

What This Means For Your Small Business

Whether you’re looking to generate sales leads or simply improve your word of mouth promotions, it’s important that you understand how your prospects are engaging the internet.

Here is just one example of putting this information to good use:

Let’s say you are a web designer who helps small businesses develop their websites. There is a good chance that the majority of your prospects do not fall into the “Creator” category. As a web designer you may enjoy technical Wiki’s and making connections on cutting-edge online social tools but you aren’t likely to find many prospects on those mediums.

Your prosepcts are interested in a website so it is likely that, at the very least, they see the value in an online presence. Therefore, the majority of them are probably “Spectators”. Producing content on sites like YouTube, Flikr, or even online trade publications will allow you to better connect with people seeking your services.

What profile do your prospective clients fall into?

Are you using the right mediums to reach them?

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Study Finds Men are More likely to Engage Your Small Business Brand on Social Media Sites

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

You consider yourself a fairly internet savvy small business owner, don’t you?

You know what a Tweet is, you’re swapping sales leads on Referral Key and you think MySpace is “so last year”. But, have you studied your social media demographics lately?

Every marketer knows that it’s important to understand the demographics of your target customers. It’s also important to understand the demographics of the people whom use the medium through which you deliver your message. Ask Proctor and Gamble to tell you about the people who watch the shows in which their commercials air and you’d be surprised just how much they can tell you.

Social media, as a marketing tool, is so new that there aren’t any definitive demographics.

Over the next few days, we’ll be discussing the future of  demographic trends in social media.

Men and Women

According to a study conducted by Cone, a well-respected Strategic Consultant Agency, Men are twice as likely as women to interact frequently (one or more times per week) with companies via social media (33% to 17%, respectively).

“The ease and efficiency of online conversation is likely a draw for men who historically do not seek out the same level of interaction with companies as women.” says Mike Hollywood, Director of New Media at Cone. He goes on to say, “The ease and efficiency of online conversation is likely a draw for men who historically do not seek out the same level of interaction with companies as women.”

You can find the full study here.

What Small Businesses Will Want to Consider

The benefits of marketing through social media is still a hotly debated subject but if you do find social media is worth your time and effort, then you’ll certainly want to consider your demographics just like you would using any other marketing medium.

  1. Are your networks mostly made up of men or women?
  2. Who do you interact with more often, men or women?
  3. Is your product/service gender specific? If not, could your message be tweaked to more intimately appeal to a specific gender?
  4. Is it possible that you could be alienating or even upsetting a particular gender and not even know it?
  5. Are you making sure you’re networking with your target market, not just the kinds of people you personally find easiest to interact with?

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