IMC 642 Week 3, post 3

Determining How Social Media Works for Your Business

A case-based example on the differences between popular social channels

Social media is indispensable for most businesses in this fast-paced digital era.  Companies that have been around since before social media may get by OK if their customer base is late Generation X, Baby Boomers and Matures.  Those generations are digital immigrants and probably became regular customers before social media took a dominant role in human culture.

But if a company is just starting out, getting set up with at least a couple social channels is pretty much a requirement, if only to grow brand awareness and mark a place within your industry’s competition.

Here are some charts from Statista that show data on social media usage in the United States.  The first chart shows which age groups are using social media, and the second shows which platforms those age groups are using:

Now, the four social networks listed are not the only ones out there, but they are four of the most popular and worth considering.  (YouTube is actually more popular than Facebook among some audiences, although it’s not listed here.)  The important thing to take away from this and other social media usage data is to learn where your audience is.  Are they the 30+ group on Facebook?  Or the 30-44-year-olds in Instagram?  There are many websites out there dedicated to social trends and research about who is using social media and for what purpose. SocialMediaToday and Social Media Examiner are excellent guides.

So, your audience is somewhere on social media.  After discovering where they are, it’s time to make a decision on which platform/s to use as a primary social channel/s to promote your brand and connect with your audience.  Because of the dominance of social media, it’s a best practice for businesses to  invest their creative energy into more than one dedicated social channel.

Take Rick Steves, a world-renown, Europe travel expert that is from and based in the Unites States. 

Rick Steves: Rick Steves' Europe YouTube

He has cultivated a massive following of travel enthusiasts mainly by traversing Europe, sharing vast and unique tips to eager American travelers all along the way.  His genuine and laid-back tone allow for a real showcase of the cultures and countries he visits, while imparting his innocent excitement about the joys of meeting new people in new places.  He’s built his brand with a variety of media to spread his travel experiences and expertise: public television, radio shows, books, podcasts, email, blog posts, his extensive website, travel classes and, of course, social media. (He has even established his own tour company that leads groups on guided tours throughout Europe.)

Online, a great deal of Rick’s content is videos, both short- and long-form.  So, which social channels does Rick Steves use primarily?

He has over half a million followers on both Facebook and YouTube.  And did you notice that his Facebook page is instead a Watch page?  That means it’s built for video episodes, which are Rick’s primary content medium.  Watch pages and YouTube are both built for video and clearly, Rick’s strategy for utilizing them in his content marketing plan is working.  We know from social media usage research that YouTube is the world’s most popular video streaming platform, and that Facebook users are represented by Millennials and older generations, which are the demographics of Rick Steves’ audience.  If Rick’s audience were younger, he might use Snapchat or vimeo more to promote his brand.

It’s also advantageous that Facebook Watch pages and YouTube channels have a “subscribe” option, so followers are notified as soon as a new clip or episode is posted to either channel, respectively. They also have analytics tracking so Rick can see which videos are more popular according to KPIs such as views, viewing time, watch lists, comments, favorites, and a few others.  These KPIs can help guide Rick’s future content production by, for example, indicating which countries his fans watch the most videos about.  

For all these reasons, it makes sense for Rick Steves’ primary social channels to be video-focused platforms.  He also has a significant following on Twitter (102K) and Instagram (138K), but being that these are not designed for video streaming, they can’t provide what Facebook Watch and YouTube can for his fans.

I gave the example of Rick Steves because he has a consistent, successful medium he uses to produce content and has found the platforms that work best for that and where his audience is.  Other businesses may find Twitter is their top platform, such as news outlets, since Twitter is known for providing rapid and late-breaking tweets that people can follow with a #hashtag.  For food businesses or restaurants, Instagram or Pinterest may be the best platform to show rich images of menu items to entice customers.  But even they can benefit from secondary platforms.  For example, for food trucks, Twitter is also important as they can update fans on their whereabouts while driving around town.

The networks that work for your business really depend on where your audience consumes the type of content you put out there.

The Point of Sharing the Right Content on the Right Channels

Now, let’s talk for a minute about the goals of all this content.  Is it out there just for our individual enjoyment and to keep to ourselves?  Of course not. That’s why we don’t all get this content sent to us simply through email or snail mail with no links or way to share with others.  Content is King, but if there’s nothing in it that drives people to talk about it, share it or act on something that helps your business, then what’s the point?   We want engagement, comments, social shares, conversions, new sign-ups, earned media, etc.

Author Catherine Novak puts it in a way to make you think: “Content without conversation is just broadcasting, or just advertising.”  She argues that if no one talks about your content – whether in person or online – then it’s not living up to its potential.

Rick Steves is famous for the relationships he forms along his travels, and inviting fans to call in and write in with comments and questions about anything related to traveling in Europe.  He inherently is a conversation starter because he understands that conversation leads to relationships, and the relationships formed make travel – and everything in life – more enjoyable, memorable and meaningful.