Over the weekend we celebrated our company manager Alex’s 30th birthday. The guest list included the PrintFirm team along with his friends and relatives. Since social media is part of my job description, people usually assume that I’m networking every time they see me on my phone. They’re usually right; I’m a self-professed Twitter addict. But when Alex asked me whether or not I posted about the party on Facebook, I shook my head no. I tweeted about the event, but it wouldn’t occur to me to share a personal event in real time on that site. I don’t even have the Facebook app installed on my phone (I tried it for a while and it sucked the life out of my battery).
His question got me thinking about social preferences and why people prefer certain sites over others. Most people belong to multiple networks, as do the majority of businesses, yet we all end up spending more time on the sites we enjoy. I’ve spent a sizeable chunk of my professional life mingling on the popular online communities and trying to figure out what makes their users tick. I believe that this aspect of our digital existence speaks volumes about our personalities.
Infographic: What Your Favorite Social Network Says About You
Maybe Infographic isn’t the right label to put on the image above because I designed it without any hard evidence. The comments about each network are supposed to be funny, but I feel there’s a degree of truth to the humor. I’ll go through each section of the table in more detail below:
- Facebook- The world’s largest social site started out as a place for college kids to hang out and hook up. The early adopters didn’t bail entirely; they belong to the group of passive users in their late 20s and early 30s who lost interest in nonstop status updates. Some have deactivated their accounts while others keep theirs open out of a sense of obligation or for work related reasons. These days Facebook is filled with middle aged and older adults, a large demographic group that’s stereotypically hostile towards change.
- Twitter – The microblogging site is buzzing with realtime conversations 24/7. Twitter’s rapid flow of content stems in part from the concept of being able to send a text message to the world. Twitter users are often accused of narcissism, a trait that seems more applicable to the Facebook crowd in my opinion. Of course users share details from their private lives, but my timelines are filled with news and informative articles about subjects of interest, not passive-aggressive personal drama.
- Pinterest – Seriously, I can’t go on Pinterest without leaving with a laundry list of wants. From food to new outfits, Pinterest is a constant source of photos that excite the senses, and make you want things you didn’t know existed…until you logged on.
- LinkedIn – The business oriented platform stands out from the rest in the sense that it directly serves a purpose beyond online interaction. LinkedIn earned a reputation as a place to find employment, yet professionals rely on the site as a way of climbing the career ladder.
- Instagram – As I’m sure you know, Instagram isn’t really a website; it’s a photo sharing app that started on the iPhone and then branched out. Unfortunately, they’ve ignored the Windows Phone market, so I’ve never actually used the service. My Instagram observation comes from conversations I’ve had with several young adults, all of whom insisted that they hated Facebook and loved Instagram. When I reminded them that Facebook owns their precious app, they appear immune to the irony.
- Tumblr – I rate Tumblr just behind Twitter as my second favorite spot. The blogging platform definitely caters to the youth market. The account sign up automatically replaces “years old” with “years young” when you enter an age of 30 or older. I’m 30 years young, and I find the content on Tumblr 10 times more engaging than the stuff I see on Facebook. Tumblr certainly isn’t for everyone, and you can bet you’ll never find your grandma on there reblogging Workaholics gifs. Tumblr isn’t about what’s going on in the outside world. It’s a place to tune in, turn on, and drop out.
- Google Plus – Aside from a few diehards, Google Plus barely makes a blip on the radar. It’s not a bad site per say, and I consider it more user friendly than Facebook. Nevertheless, I’ve yet to meet any avid users outside of the marketing sector.
Adapt Your Content to User Behavior
So what does any of the above have to do with your social media strategy? I believe applying my insights will help you improve your campaign results. You can’t gain any traction on social sites without making solid connections i.e. creating content that appeals to your target market. Here’s what you need to keep in mind when you’re mapping out your content plan for each of these sites.
Facebook users prefer to interact with people they already know. Start-ups and unknown brands have a hard time gaining ground because they’re not readily recognizable. For this reason, young brands might want to think twice about putting too much emphasis on Facebook. Established brands should strive for consistency in everything from their designs to their voices. It’s ok to mix it up in some ways, post type for example, but if you stray far away from what your fans are used to seeing, they will quickly disengage. For similar reasons Facebook is also the wrong place to meet new people in the professional world. Despite bombarding users with “suggested friends” and “people you may know,” Facebook forbids users from sending friend requests to people they “don’t know outside of Facebook.”
In this respect, Facebook and Twitter are night and day. To keep Twitter users’ attention, you need to be very active, and share content with substance. It doesn’t always have to be about your industry, either. Check your follower’s timelines to see what they’re talking about and what else interests them. For Pinterest, you need to focus on desire. Show your followers nothing but the best, even if you don’t sell the product or service. For example, we don’t do Letterpress print projects, but I pin Letterpress business cards every chance I get. Why? Because they’re awesome, and help people see business card design as an art form in its own right.
LinkedIn users want to make more money, plain and simple. If you’re in the B2C market, then LinkedIn probably isn’t at the top of your priorities. B2B marketers need to remember that LinkedIn is literally crawling with salespeople, and it’s tough to pitch a pitchman. Don’t try. Instead share helpful career-oriented material along with industry news. Conversely, never come off as businesslike on Tumblr. In general, Tumblrs appreciate humor, art, and the unusual. Entertain them with original content, and you’ll build a ton of followed links in the process.
Google Plus users are open to interacting with brands much more so than their Faebook counterparts. As long as your content relates to their interests, they’re happy to welcome you into their communities. Don’t be afraid to explore the site with hashtags because people actually use them as a way of starting conversations.
That covers everything except for Instagram, which I have to leave out for lack of experience. Anybody want to share a few secrets to Instagram success in the comments below?