Social Media is Human Nature

Posted on 30. Apr, 2009 by Pete Hollier in Social Media

Social Media Marketing It’s Just Natural

Social Media Marketing is most certainly the latest Buzz term. Wise and proactive business owners are getting involved in Social Media and reaping the benefits of the Social realm for their business.

Is Social Media Marketing a complex undertaking?

I really do have to ask myself is Social Media all that complex or is it actually quite a simple undertaking?

To answer that lets start by taking a look at the word Social

Source: Dictionary.com

If I were to sum up what I take out of these definitions, I would say we are all Social by nature, as humans we enjoy and crave the company and interaction of others.

In a sense I suppose being Social is hard-wired into our DNA or psyche. If this is actually the case, we should be adapting to Social Media Marketing quite naturally. Therefore, does it take the learning of special skills? I don’t thinks so. To interact with others is as natural to humans as eating and breathing.

The Business / Social Mix

Now all that is just fine in a purely social environment, so Internet users who are catching up with old acquaintances and meeting new friends in an online social web space will naturally take to the social interaction online, However, when we add business to the social mix, we have a different perspective, it has passed from being just social to a social interaction between business and consumer and this is where the learning curve begins.

As a business owner I think one of the main perspectives we have to consider is the consumers. Businesses need to look at Social Media Marketing from the consumer’s perspective and act accordingly. This is not all that difficult because is some form we are all consumers.

I believe the best way to look at this is to consider how we as consumers react to the advertisements we are inundated with daily. Some of these advertisements are passive such as in the print media, they don’t really invade our space and therefore we don’t find them overly annoying.

However, some of the more intrusive methods of advertising such as Radio, TV and of course the Telemarketer seem to invade our space when we are taking time out to be with friends and family or in other words being social. How do you feel when the television volume goes up 20 decibels when the adverts come on, or consider your reaction when the Telemarketer phones at just the wrong time. I know that I have numerous feelings from annoyance to just plain old leave me alone.

Now is the time to take the lessons we learn from our personal life and integrate these into our Social Marketing plans and strategies. The most important lesson businesses need to learn to market efficiently in the online social environment is – Don’t invade the personal space.

In many ways the term marketing is not appropriate for how businesses should be interacting with consumers in an online social environment. A few basic considerations in the social business approach will have a significant impact on the success or failure of the Social Marketing initiative.

Listen: Social Media offers the ideal opportunity for businesses to listen to the consumer. Again consider this in your own social interactions. Take into consideration how you feel when the person you are talking to is actually listening to what you have to say. Then consider how you feel when that same person keeps interrupting to get their point across without considering what your opinion.

Participate: Social Marketing is accomplished in a group environment and participation is a prerequisite to success. Again look to your own Social experiences, a conference or business dinner. Who is paying attention to the person who sits in the corner to shy or otherwise to participate?

Be Helpful: Assisting consumers and others in an online Social community garners the same respect and goodwill as it does in your own Town or City. Consider the local charity groups and volunteers in your community. Are these people not generally appreciated, respected and receive the general good will of the community?

Be Yourself: We are who we are, and our characteristics regardless of our interactions being online or offline do come through all the other clutter.  Online Social communities are no different than our offline social outlets, it is never difficult to differentiate between the genuine people and those who are not quite what they appear to be.

Social Marketing It’s Human Nature

In conclusion what do we have to learn to participate as a business in the Social Media Realm? I don’t think we have much to learn at all. We have been learning all our life and if we just stop for a moment to consider how we ourselves feel in various real world social situations or through our past social experiences we will find success and enjoyment in our business social media endeavors.

Written by: pete@seowizardry.ca a Search Engine Optimization Consultant

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