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The Best Part of Social Media

Is the Social side.

When I was 16 I started talking to people on a form of media called radio.

It was mostly a one way conversation with the occasional listener calling in to make a request or ask a question.

The web in it’s current state of evolution has created a new form of media that we call social media.

Now I have friends who say this isn’t new, that there have been forms of social media since the 1990’s but it was a limited, geeky thing, not mainstream like it is today.

All you need is a connection to the web which is now easier than ever with smartphones and easy to use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Blog sites.

But what I like best about all of this, from a personal standpoint is the relationships.

I have met dozens upon dozens of people since 2003 online and reconnected with even more.  Often these connections end up as face to face meetings and conversations.

I’ve helped others connect and others have helped me, all because of this thing we call Social Media.

By the way, I’m considering some changes with what I do on this website, so drop me a note telling me what you like about this site, what you don’t care about, what you would like to see in the future too.  Just use the Contact form or reach out to me on Social Media!

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Social Media Marketing for the 50+ Crowd

It’s not just for the 20, 30 or even 40 year olds.

Take a look at this detailed report from Mediapost:

Social Media – It’s Not About Technology

 

According to Pew Research, Baby Boomers and older folks using social media has increased enormously in 2010 and it continues to grow into 2011. The 55 to 64 and 65+ age groups are catching up to younger demos. In fact, it’s the 65+ age group that has grown the most in the past two years, increasing by 49%. At more than 100 million strong, baby boomer and older customers (born before 1965) are the single largest consumer group in America, and they are the wealthiest, best educated and most sophisticated of purchasers. With more disposable income than any population in America, they are, in fact, as author David Wolfe coined them the “New Customer Majority.”

Baby Boomers created the technology we enjoy today. Steve Jobs of Apple, Bill Gates from Microsoft, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Sir Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, the man who “invented” the internet are all baby boomers. But social media is not about technology. It’s about people connecting with people. And it’s so much more. According to an Experian 2011 Social Media Consumer Trend Report it also provides consumers with personalized way to connect to companies, brands and media and vice versa, making it an undeniable, if often complex, marketing tool.

Other tidbits from the Experian report included:

  • 91% of Americans use social media in an average month. That’s 129 million.
  • 58% use Facebook monthly. The average number of friends is 130.
  • 18% of parents try to connect with their children via Facebook, up from 6% in 2009.
  • Facebook visits last five times longer than visits to Google+.
  • Social networks are an infinite loop: 19% of all visits are immediately followed by a visit to another social network.
  • 20% of users now access social media via their phones, up from 11%.
  • 14% use phones to upload photos and video.

Social media content and advertising should be easy to read and be experiential in nature. It should reflect empathy for the values mentioned above. Positioning your company as a gateway to desired experiences of your target markets should be your goal.

Consultant Jeff Korhan says “traditional media may be dying, but you can learn a lot from it.” He goes on to say that “traditional media provides entertainment or educational content (including the news) – and in exchange for their hard work you accept commercials and other forms of advertising.” Social media efforts, (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) have often taken a similar approach by becoming another distribution channel for traditional media saturating content with slick advertising making the experience more like an electronic brochure for products and services than an interactive experience. Now it’s clear social media has evolved to focus on making profits, and that’s good and acceptable.

Social media reaches out to an audience to engage it, and make a profit for all its efforts. However, if you want to be successful in your social media efforts you have you make it “sticky”; encouraging visitors to come back and interact. Visitors will come back and interact when they believe you are about them and their needs and desires.

So, how do you best use social media? Create interactive experiences. Since the primary purpose of social media is to encourage people to connect, content and advertising needs to have the best chance of generating interest and converting that interest into a longevity and loyalty reflecting empathy with the values and motivators of this demo.

Our experience tells us that a key to capturing and keeping these rapidly growing lucrative demos is a better understanding of their values and how their behavior, buying motivators and satisfaction needs change as they get older. Their values typically include:

  • Autonomy and self-sufficiency (independence/participation)
  • Social connectedness (relationships/friendships)
  • Altruism (opportunity to share wisdom and ability to do for others: family, community & country)
  • Personal growth (gain knowledge)
  • Revitalization (need to rejuvenate)

The next step is applying knowledge gained to create effective content, titillating interactivity and online advertising, communications and sales strategies and tactics.

To succeed in social media, marketers must have foresight. Yet at times they seem to have vastly better hindsight. Marketers can be forgiven for not jumping on—if not foreseeing—radically new platforms, channels, and opportunities. How can someone predict the impact of flash sales or social gaming? The point isn’t that marketers can’t agree on the future.

If there are no longer one-size-fits-all solutions for reaching audiences, why should there be any for the marketers themselves? Progressive marketers are the ones pushing the envelope, setting dialogues, and defining the industry. They’re willing to commit, experiment and adjust aided, of course, by robust data collected at every step in the process.

Has the ship sailed, then? Is it too late for the latecomers? No, it’s never too late. Even brands that have an early lead in social media will need to constantly innovate in order to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape.” What’s more, brands just getting into social media have the advantage of learning from the success and failures of early entries into social media.

Jim Gilmartin is president of Chicago-based Coming of Age, Inc. (www.comingofage.com), a marketing/ad agency, PR and training firm specializing in helping clients increase market share and profit in baby boomer and senior customer markets. He has co-authored “Market Smart: The Best in Age & Lifestyle Specific Design.” Reach him here.
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Video Recap of Social Media in 2011

First off, you should know that I became aware of this video via Social Media.

Specifically Twitter and Blogs and it comes from YouTube, another Social Media channel.

(Hat tips to Randy Clark and Bobbie Garner)

I like these types of videos and appreciate those that assemble them as that is not one of my skill sets nor is it something I want to learn.

I’ve used these videos in presentations and seminars that I’ve given to open folks eyes to the magnitude of impact and influence that Social Media has on our lives.

This video was just released last month, so the stats are pretty current.

I also learned that I am above average in the number of Social Media connections I have compared to the stats shared.

But remember it’s not a race or a contest, but it’s more of figuring out what works best for you and your situation.

Now, on with the show….

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No Rules? Someone Disagrees

What do you think of these 7 Social Media Rules?

1. Connection does not imply permission

2. Access does not imply entitlement

3. Activity is not productivity

4. More is not better

5. Reciprocation is optional

6. Amplification without accomplishment is futile

7. Engagement without enrichment is not effective

 

Before you decide to agree or disagree, better read the reasoning behind these rules.