Understanding the demographics of social media is to understand the demographics of any society. No matter how you slice it, vertical or horizontal, age, wealth or interests, there is a call to action in the empowerment of any demographic.
As marketers, we’ve been profiling consumers for years, categorizing them into demographics for our convenience. It’s a critical tool, fine-tuned to better capture the consumers’ attention to ultimately deliver products and services in such a way that persuades them to purchase.
From Wikipedia
A demographic profile can be used to determine when and where advertising should be placed so as to achieve maximum results. In all such cases, it is important that the advertiser get the most results for their money, and so careful research is done to match the demographic profile of the target market to the demographic profile of the advertising medium.
What role does the advertiser play when the tables are turned and the manufacturer is profiled by the consumer?
Take yourself out of the role of marketer for a moment and think about a recent purchase decision you made: was your purchase based solely on price, product benefits and perceived quality? Or are these factors a given in today’s age of ubiquitous consumer choice?
When considering one product over the next, did the spirit of the following questions enter your mind:
- What is the fuel economy/carbon impact of this automobile?
- Are these conflict-diamonds in this engagement ring?
- Is this chicken organic?
- Was this t-shirt made with sweatshop labour?
- Is this coffee fair trade?
- Is this dolphin-friendly tuna?
- Was this hamburger cleanly and humanely processed?
- Dot dot dot.
Imagine the added credibility a product or service can benefit from if its social media platform allows for third-party (credible) accolades of corporate responsibility, transparency and integrity. Consumers will offer and find insights that go well beyond the benefits of price and quality.
For example, what if your diamond client’s social media platform actually educated, profiled and funded the anti-conflict diamond trade? What if the purchase of their products actually made a difference to the cause, not only beating out the competition through ethical responsibility, but by also helping to solve the ethical issue in the first place?
If a company has a credible, social-responsibility story to tell, consider telling it through a social media platform. Make it a cause and you may find entirely new and undiscovered consumer channels.
Be careful, however, not to fall into the trap of using social media to cover corporate sins. A less-than the truth message that solicits feedback, enables movements or empowers action can backfire in catastrophic ways. I’ve looked at the recent carbon-offsetting trend in the airline/travel business and I see it to be on really shaky ground.
In this case, carbon-offsetting does a good job of illustrating the environmental impact of the purchase of a plane ticket, but offers little more than some good karma points towards the issue, and nothing towards the solution.
Understanding the demographics of social media is to understand that these are the people who are setting the demographic profile of your company.
Every term entered into a search engine in the pursuit of commerce constitutes a sort of corporate profiling on behalf of the potential customer.
The only question remains, when that customer defines the demographic of the brand they want to deal with in clear search terms, will you have a site that answers them? Or will you let the competition or another third party engage them in your conversation?
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8 Responses to “Demographic Inversion of Social Media”
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May 1st, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Demographic Inversion of Social Media…
Understanding the demographics of social media is to understand that these are the people who are setting the demographic profile of your company.
Every term entered into a search engine in the pursuit of commerce constitutes a sort of corporate pro…
May 1st, 2007 at 4:05 pm
“If a company has a credible, social-responsibility story to tell, consider telling it through a social media platform.”
I’m a bit unclear; with regards to the social media platform mentioned above; are you talking about adding these features to a corporate marketing site? Or using existing SM sites; creating/promoting groups? (or both?)
May 1st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Curmudgeon;
I guess it would be both. Participating in social media sites external to your own platforms is a good thing. Building a social media platform to guide the conversation in your domain is even better. Trusting your consumers to speak amongst themselves is best… Even if some of them have something bad to say. If they are right, you are doomed for that point anyway. If they are wrong, you have a credible platform to respond from.
cheers
c
p.s.
thanks for the link love.
May 3rd, 2007 at 11:19 am
Of course, the problem with “corporate responsibility” is obvious, for every ’cause’ you tie your product to, you are basically creating a negative impression in your company from those diametrically opposed to that cause.
Although this probably wouldn’t be too big an issue with the ’cause’ you mention above given the almost plurality in belief that we humans are cooking the earth… BUT…
Outside of G.W. and the fight against AIDS, I can’t think of another cause a ‘general merchandiser’ might want to tie themselves too tightly too; conversely, I shudder to think the panic most would feel if discussions around their product turned to say… something like Gay Marriage.
An intersting example that… I was the first applaud IKEAS ‘gay couple’ ads; but I’ve often wondered how that would have flown if those ads had run in Southern Ohio and Central Indiana. Its easy to pic regional and/or demographic exposure to more controlled channels like newspapers and television; not so much so over social networks…
AND of course, the IKEA ads didn’t zoom in on those couple wedding rings
[AND, of course, social networks are making it almost impossible to prevent the ads shown in NYC from being played over YouTube in Acron]
I’d be hard pressed in suggesting a client tie their product to a ’cause’ in any medium.
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:12 pm
True, it can be shaky grounds, particularly if you are caught causing the problem you are fighting.
You need a foundation in credibility on the cause to begin with…
I agree the avoidance of political issues, and some social issues should be dealt with with a tender touch. Particularly ones that polarize issues. That said, polarization can be a great support for a brand. Look at the Chevy Tahoe thing GM did in the US last year.
The platform polarized the audience, and in the end, solidified brand loyalists and actually sold more trucks!
Pretty amazing if you ask me.
In the same breathe,
If you are a tuna company, and you don’t use nets that catch dolphins… There is a foundation.
If you are in the diamond trade, and you don’t use conflict diamonds, There is a foundation.
If you are in the carpet business, and you use environmentally sound products, There is a foundation
If you are in the coffee business, and you use fair trade coffee, there is a foundation.
It seems the best credibility is to find something bad that the competition is doing, and talk about how you don’t do it.
That is a good start anyway…
May 4th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I don’t know enough about the Tahoe campaign other than what I’ve gleened from reading a few things in passing on how it did stir some positive loyalties within’ ‘under attack’ SUV lovin’ crowd, but that the negative impact on the GM brand in general had not been measured…
At the risk of sounding polar… the foundations you mentioned above also represent a clarion call to all the Davids out there looking for their Goliath.
The fair trade label on the coffee cup at my local bean bar is appreciated; but I don’t think even the squeaky-cleanest of corporations could withstand the rigorous dissection their brand would undergo after claiming a social consciousness… Then again, maybe we’ll see some fresh new brands build themselves directly from a grass roots movement that starts with a push from a Social Media outcry. [??]
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