Offering strategic social media services requires an ongoing investment in understanding the various social media channels available and their expected effectiveness.If I were just participating in social media for my own benefit this need for education would not be a critical.
However, small businesses know that one size does not fit all. Thus a recent Forbes.com article, “Women Are From Pinterest, Men Are From Google+?” hits home with a powerful message. To offer competent, strategic social media services, one must be aware of the demographics and the use of social networks.
A recent sales meeting identified the target demographic for the customer as 30-50 year old males in engineering and technical fields. My recommendation? Google + and LinkedIn. Seems like I was right on target.
Google+: Google+ is dominated by men (71%), mainly comprised of early adopters, engineers and developers. Furthermore, about 50% of Google+ users are 24 or younger.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn reports an even ratio of men and women — 49% — who use the site to connect with other business professionals. However, men are more active users on LinkedIn (63%) because they see it as the most efficient way to network.
The article goes on to point out that this new type of information overload has caused some serious problems in terms of sharing and privacy boundaries.
We’re over-exposed when it comes to social media, as sharing has become a habit for us. As a result, the worth of a share has been diluted incredibly, despite the popularity amongst brands.
That is not to say that social networks can not be useful for marketing purposes. It reiterates the fact that the investment in these spaces needs to be strategic for high impact.
Constance Ard, August 21, 2012