I had so much fun writing my last Social Media for Dummies that I thought I’d give it another stab. This time, I’ll be talking about demographics in social media and the common misconceptions that occur.
My dad was telling me how he wanted to get a Facebook page set up White Rock based real estate company. My dad thinks of himself as extremely technological, always bragging about his new devices or ways he has found to make his life easier, that being said, for a man who provides himself on being “tech-saavy,” his social media skills are non existent.
This got me thinking… would social media be beneficial in a market such as White Rock where the average age of residents is 54 years old. Well… I was definitely mistaken as it turns out that there is DEFINITELY an advantage of setting up social media for older demographics. In fact, according to a GlobalWebIndex study: “Twitter’s fastest growing age demographic is 55 to 64 year olds, registering an increase in active users of 79%”. The reality is, most youth have been using social media and networking sites for several years now, most with great competency meaning that less time is spent navigating and more communicating. This emerging demographic, however, is excited and ready to learn about how Twitter, Facebook or Instagram can help their lives, or even their careers.
It’s based on this knowledge that I made a set of recommendations to my dad, based on some research but also on topics discussed in class. These recommendations are beneficial however to all small businesses looking to increase clientele through social media.
1. Know your demographics!
My dad sure did and he saw the opportunity that social media presents. Older demographics are often more likely to post about things they like or repost things that interest them. Therefore, it is important to understand your target demographic. As you can see by the infographic below, adults tend to use more visual social media sites such as Pinterest and Instagram but also have a strong, and improving presence on some of the bigger sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
2. Cater your content to these demographics!
What my great aunt cares about and what I care about are two very different subjects. It is important to understand and respect this when advertising via social media. Listening can be one of the easiest ways to identify what information your target audience is looking for! When you post about your business or something related to it, see what people reply, or if they reply at all! Identify which posts are often shared and liked.
3. Create a plan.
One of the biggest things my dad said was that he didn’t have time to constantly be updating statuses and trying to find content that would engage consumers. This seems to be a common problem but one that can be easily overcome. Create a plan! By knowing what you want to talk about and who you want to engage, you’re already one step ahead of the rest. Now it’s time to create a viable itinerary that shows what kind of content you are going to post when. There are tools out there to help with this, Hootsuite can be a great tool for managing your time and monitoring social media, but there are also some free frameworks to help identify how to start such as The Altimeter Approach .
4. Put the plan into action!
It may seem like a basic last step, but if you don’t try – you won’t succeed! My dad created his Facebook account months ago and has yet to try post anything. By having a plan, you eliminate some of the trial and error you will have to go through in order to achieve an optimal social media campaign. So get out there and do it! You might be surprised as to how much “buzz” you can create!
