in to What Your Following Wants

What’s in a Number?  Quite a Bit Apparently

Okay guys, can we go ahead and agree that Social Media is good for business?  At least in an empirical data kind of way?    Well, you might be surprised at how many skeptics are left out there.  Everybody knows “that guy” who will never be seen on Facebook and thinks that Twitter should never have been invented in the first place.  The funny thing is, “that guy” all too often happens to be a marketing manager or marketing influencer for their respective company.  For the good of everyone, new and concrete statistics are now available to add to your pro-social media arsenal.  When “that guy” says you are wasting time creating a Facebook Fan Page, you can remind him that 60% of people surveyed were more likely to refer a brand to a friend if they are a fan of that brand.  And for Twitter? Try 80% more likely.  “That guy” might waive this off as crazy talk.  If he does, forward him the rest of this article – We found some pretty compelling arguments and stats that are hard to dismiss.

Social Media Fans Much More Likely to Buy

Recent findings by Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate have given some reassurance to social media marketers looking to substantiate the time and money they put in developing a fandom on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.  Take a look at the graph below where US internet users were polled on their Facebook fan habits:

We can see from this graph that Facebook fans are much more likely to not only buy your brand, but to recommend it to their peers.  Most of us could probably have guessed as much – when people are engaged with a product or service through channels such as Facebook and Twitter, brand visibility is heightened and they have a better chance of staying on the customer’s radar.  The trick for brands is to understand why people become fans / followers and then to capitalize on this built-in communication channel by making sure they are telling them what they want to hear. 

Why Your Fans are Fans and Why Your Followers Follow You

So what do your fans want to hear?  Why did they become your fan in the first place?  More data from the study referenced above sheds some light on these questions.  In the graph below, we can see that 61% of “Max Connectors,” or users having 500+ social media connections became fans or followers of a brand to learn about new products, services and features.  This group was also driven to fan or follow a brand to learn more about the company culture, worker’s policies and other corporate information.  For the rest of the users (<500 SM connections), 65% engaged with the brand in order to stay abreast of sales and new deals, while 61% were looking to learn about new products, features and services.  Not to be forgotten, many fans also cited entertainment as a factor in their decision to follow a brand.  Here is the chart:

And what about Twitter?  Do you know why your followers are following you?  If not, you may not be telling them what they want to hear.  The chart below shows strong evidence that supports the notion that many users follow brands on Twitter in order to receive exclusive deals and offers.  Being a customer of the brand and looking for interesting or entertaining content came in neck and neck as the second and third primary reasons users follow a brand on Twitter.

Dig Deeper, But This is a Good Place to Start

Any company with a product or service should keep these easy to remember stats in mind when developing their social media strategy.  While there are countless other ways brands can optimize their social media efforts, the basic concepts laid out above are a great place to start.  Knowing why people follow your brand on social media channels and comprehending what they want to hear is powerful stuff.

Are you looking for referrals, website traffic, feedback, communication, or establishing yourself as an expert?  I already know your answer, “I want all of those things”.  You will get more bang for your time if you focus on one goal at a time. My personal recommendation to beginners is to focus on the goal of establishing yourself as an expert and authority.  By reaching this goal the other goals will fall into place.

What Can I Contribute?

Social media is not like traditional advertising or marketing. It is more like referrals, in networking it is not about making sales at the after hours mixers.  You need to build a rapport with your online network by providing good information, recommending resources, and sharing ideas and feedback. Think about what you can give to your audience. What information or ideas do I have that would be of interest to your network? Approach it from the attitude, ‘I am here to help’ before you even think about asking for the sale. Start by writing articles in the range of 300-500 words and posting them on your website or blog. Then read about how-to Repurpose Your Content and turn the same information in your articles into tweets, wall posts, and videos.

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