The Age of Social Media

Social Media Has Taken Over Our Lives 

Social media has evolved and taken over the lives of many young people who either seek false celebredom, perceived importance and awareness, created interesting networks for young professionals, driven a laissez-faire attitude for seasoned professional and developed into a new marketing tool for business owners, public officials, and corporate executives. But the tone and purpose of the message can be lost if the age of the viewer doesn't correlate. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center revealed in Jessica Walrack's article, the breakdown of the social media age groups can be used to determine the type, frequency and focus of the message.

Promote, Promote, Promote 

If you want to promote a business or submit a highly publicized post aimed at a targeted demographic between the ages of 18 - 29. Focus marketing effort on:

• Facebook (87%)
• Instagram (53%)
• Twitter (37%)
• Pinterest (34%), 

To gain the interest of prospective buyers between the ages of 30-49, the efforts should turn towards

• Facebook (73%)
• LinkedIn (31%)
• Instagram (25%)
• Twitter (25%) 

63% of 50-64-year-olds are active on Facebook while those over 65 have a 56% Facebook usage rate.
There is no need to post new technology gadgets on Instagram for the elderly market because they won't ever see it unless their 19-year old grandson visits and sees it on his tablet. Offering after-work fitness boot camps with child care arrangements to 20 yr olds on Pinterest would generate less traffic than a Facebook ad that reaches the social media users from the ages of 30 - 49.

Know the age for the message and the targeted platform for them to notice. Welcome to the aging of social media.

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Posted in: Facebook,Instagram,LinkedIn,marketing,Pinterest,social media,Social Media and Business,sports psychology,strategy,Twitter

Best Read Fridays - Hashtags: The Best New Marketing

Repurposed # Sign...

Twitter users engage with one another to group conversations, hot topics, and trending ideas by prefixing words with the number sign, hashtag.  The hashtag is now used throughout all of social media as a norm.  But individuals are not the only ones that use them.  Marketing departments of companies have discovered that the use of a hashtag and encouragement of employees to use them in their social media experience increases awareness of the company and its products.  It is a cheaper marketing strategy that has a great awareness impact. 

Check out this article on how your company can make hashtag marketing successful:  http://onforb.es/14muzR3

Be sure to check back here for more weekly business tips and follow on Twitter @temekoruns.

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Posted in: hashtag,marketing,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson

Best Read Friday - Scare Customers Into Buying What You Have

FRIGHTENED TO PURCHASE...

Most executives believe marketing is about building a brand and making people believe in the greatness of what is being offered because of the perks or advantages over competitors' products and services.  This article goes in reverse and points out how scare tactics can force potential buyers into purchasing what you offer.  

Read carefully to see how the marketing is deployed to keep customers believing "what if " they don't buy it.  http://bit.ly/17jwRoU

For more tips, be sure to pick up a copy of the book, Get A Clue - 10 Steps to an Executive IQ on Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/10Somc1) and make sure to follow me @temekoruns on Twitter.

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Posted in: Get A Clue,marketing,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson,The RLC Group

The Not So Freedom of Speech Social Media

LEARN TO NOT BE SO FREE

Social media has become the norm for communication, job searches, entertainment and news updates, and opining differences in viewpoints. The Internet buzz has become so overwhelming that there are special tools to provide insight on every social media interaction, frequently used by businesses to track "brand" love but more often used by employers to track whereabouts and opinions of employees.
 
It requires self-imposed discipline to not speak (type) so freely in the following situations:

1). Human Rights Concerns: Gone are the days you can respectfully disagree with others' beliefs on certain topics. One statement that you don't understand a belief opposite than yours turns into imposed fines and sensitivity training. For those that believe in the topic, they can speak boldly with no consequence. Double standard, yes! But until you have Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, or Oprah Winfrey money, stay away from these public social media opinions.
2). Employer Related Woes: No matter how horrible the employer, manager, team, or vendor, it is in your best interest to not provide names or details that will cause others to quickly elude to who the culprits are. It is hard to not put unscrupulous or difficult people on blast to alert others who may think about working with them in the future. However defamation lawsuits are unnecessarily expensive legal battles. Trust me, they will be discovered by a much bigger entity than you, possibly one of those class action lawsuits that send penny checks in the mail.
3). Friend-to-Friend Banter: Sometimes casual tweets and posts turn into an interchange of profane or derogatory statements. Don't believe for a second that people who can possibly control your destiny are not paying attention. Your associations to followers and FB friends are oftentimes just as incriminating as if you made the statements yourself. I am sure your parents told you that you are the company you keep. So keep the wrong company at a far distance.
 
Social media used to be an open forum for sharing ideas but it has now turned into a way to police people's opinions and to punish for double standards when it fits the agenda of a particular company or employee. In essence, think twice before you post because freedom of speech may free you from some much-needed income.

For more business tips and motivation, follow tweets at http://twitter.com/temekoruns or posts on Facebook at http://facebook.com/execgetaclue

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Posted in: Internet etiquette,Internet usage,marketing,social media,Social Media and Business,Temeko Richardson