Archive for February 19th, 2010
Are You Too Old for Social Media?
“I’m too old for this social media stuff.”
“I prefer talking to actual people, not websites and computers. At my age, I’m more of a ‘people person.’”
“My customers are all baby boomers, like me. They aren’t using Twitter or Facebook.”
If you don’t mind, I’d like to take a moment to demolish some of these persistent myths about social media right now.
The first, most widespread, and most pernicious among them is the concept that social media is a young person’s game, and that kids these days are simply wired differently than older generations to be more capable of understanding and using social technologies.
Hogwash.
People who practice using specific tools get really good at using those tools. Period. Think about it — you grew up playing catch in the backyard with your friends, and now you can catch a ball without a second thought.
Were you hard-wired to catch and throw a ball? Of course not. You practiced.
You practiced because you were a kid and because back then you had lots of free time to do as you pleased. Other people, like your parents, had less time to practice, because they were busy doing more important things, like earning a living.
Generation X and Y were kids when technology advanced by leaps and bounds each year. They had the time to play with, adapt to, and learn each new technology. While you were out doing other things, like earning a living, those kids had nothing but time to practice, practice, practice.
So let’s demolish Myth #1…
You’re not too old for social media; you just haven’t practiced enough.
And the learning curve is not nearly as steep a climb as you think.
Myth #2: “I prefer talking to actual people, not websites. I’m more of a ‘people person.’”
So let’s say you build a profile on Twitter or Facebook. You’re a person, right? Looking to make connections, build relationships, help others, and grow your business.
That’s exactly the kind of person that is behind almost every single other username, avatar and profile on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. A real, living, breathing person, sitting at a desk somewhere with their fingers lightly poised on their keyboard.
Just like you. So social media is really tailor-made for a “people person” like you.
(Are there automated profiles and robot-powered tweets out there? Certainly. Just don’t be one of them.)
Myth #3: “My customers are all baby boomers, like me. They aren’t using Twitter or Facebook.”
The largest, fastest growing group of users on Facebook today is men and women over 55.
Yes, really.
The fastest growing groups of users on Twitter are teens and young adults between 12 and 24 years old — while the largest retained, active group is still men and women over 35.
Surprised?
Your customers are using social websites and applications in ever increasing numbers to find products, buy services, answer their questions and solve their problems.
Shouldn’t you be there to provide answers and solutions when your customers need them?
Wouldn’t that be the mature, responsible thing to do?
Beth Dunn is a member of the Inbound Marketing Consultant team at HubSpot. Beth also blogs at www.bethdunn.org.
Image: *hiro008
Video: How to Use Social Media to Manage Your Company Brand Online
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Whiteboard Friday – The Renewed Value of Branding
Posted by great scott!
This week we take a look at how shifts in the engines over the last year have made it more important than ever to really pay attention to brand-based marketing.
A year or so ago, the engines started giving more weight to established brands, but things have become more interesting: With enhanced attention to personalized search, click patterns, and brand preferences emerging through individual search history, having an identifiable brand is a huge asset. Throw in the new aspect of social search–wherein the influences and preferences of your social network are used to influence inform your decisions, and creating an identifiable brand becomes even more powerful.
Watch this week’s video to learn even more about how branding can help you accomplish big things…