Social media and the Myth of Everybody
October 28, 2009Editor’s note: I am in a state of what my friend Thea calls “crankass.” Ants are jumping on my head as I write this. I am only exaggerating a little—we are experiencing a small ant invasion, and my desk sits directly below a beam where the little monsters are jumping off to get access to the rest of the house. Mostly I hear a tiny “thwap” as they hit the desk and try to meander off, but occasionally one will land on me. It’s a little disconcerting.
Everybody is on Facebook. Everybody has a website. Everybody loves chocolate.
None of the above statements is true. And aside from the need for food, water and shelter, there is no “everybody.” In fact, latching onto the Myth of Everybody is a great way to put a bullet in your metaphorical foot.
(In case you were wondering, I made that myth up about 10 minutes ago. I’m an aspiring guru. I have a fancy cushion and everything, now I just have to find a mountain to sit on.)
Humans have a tendency to want to follow the herd. When you hear that Facebook has over 300 million users, do you feel like you’re missing something if you’re not a member? With all those people participating, you have to be there, too, right?
Maybe.
Consider your everybody: the core group of people who love what you do, and are willing to give you money for it.
The important thing to consider when making marketing decisions is where your customers are. If they hang out on Facebook, it’s a no-brainer. If they primarily use Facebook for personal contacts, you won’t have an easy time selling to them there, but a presence gives you a way to seep into their consciousness. Marketing is essentially that—not an instant buying connection, but a way to get into someone’s head, or heart, or stomach, if you sell edibles or gourmet cooking lessons.
From where I sit (ants notwithstanding), sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are tools—not a way of life. If you have a website or blog that’s updated frequently, or if you sell from it, social media is a way to get people there. Short updates with thoughtful information, questions, or useful links are a way to establish credibility and make meaningful connections with people.
Like any tool, you have to use social media efficiently. Here are a few quick tips:
- Make up a list of links, tweets, or posts, in advance.
- Keep your target audience in mind—they’ll tell their friends about you.
- Limit the amount of time you spend on social media (you don’t have to participate every day).
- To help streamline your social media updates, check out Tweetdeck.
- Google “schedule tweets in advance” to see how you can free up some time.
- You don’t have to play in all the social sandboxes. Pick what’s right for you.
No single mindset or platform or strategy will work for, um, everybody. Focus on your core business and your core customer first.
Your thoughts: are you a social media junkie, or disinterested in the whole thing? What’s your favourite social media tool? How do you connect with your everybody?
My company had recently jumped onto the bandwagon and started twittering, facebooking and blogging.
sadly, while it may work to a certain extent, it’s pretty much a failure because my company is a web hosting services company. once you bought the service, people rarely ever care what’s gonna happen in that 1-2 years with the company.
of course, keeping in touch with the clients is important. i guess it depends on what kind of industry you are in as well.
great post btw
i guess the marketing people should really look into their audiences before starting anything that takes up time yet yield little returns!
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Stacey Cornelius Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Jumping on a bandwagon without first asking why is pretty common – it explains the large numbers of dormant social media accounts and unread bestsellers.
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Scheduling tweets in advance? Well, doesn’t that take the spontaneity right out of it? I’ve not heard of this nor do I know what Tweetdeck is, though I should look it up now.
[Reply]
Stacey Cornelius Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
You can schedule tweets about upcoming events, and join in on the conversation as it happens. If you don’t have time to engage, you won’t disappear altogether.
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