Look Before Jumping

One of the favorite activities right now in social media (right there behind making fun of so-called social media experts) is spouting out large statistics and demographics revolving around the use of social media and the growth of social networks. You’ve probably seen these stats in the popular presentations, videos, or research findings that circulate the web faster than Steve Jobs rumors. From time to time I even fuel the fire myself.

Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with sharing these stats (assuming they are factually accurate). And many times the right statistic or fact about social activities can be a pivotal, eye-opening moment for some people.

The problem occurs when we take all of this information at face value and don’t dig any deeper. As I’ve argued before, demographics are only a small part of the equation. To take these broad forms of information and immediately act is not only irresponsible, but will more than likely be a waste of time.

Here’s a good example: Studies have shown that Facebook is growing fastest among the 35-54 age groups and a larger percentage of that group are women. Lets say you are the brand manager for a line of spa products that is targeted towards women over the age of 40. After seeing this statistic, your impulse might be to dive into adding a full-blown Facebook strategy to your marketing plan, but this would be a mistake. (Hint: If you ever use or hear someone else use the phrase “Facebook strategy” that’s a red flag)

Your first step should be to find where your ideal consumers hang out. Where are they active. All the above stat does is give you a hint. A pocket of women dieing to talk spa may exist on Facebook, but do your research before jumping in.

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What do you think?

Are companies looking before they jump?

1. 

   socialmediajs says:

   September 29, 2009 at 9:53 pm

   Look Before Jumping http://bit.ly/89ABs #news #socialmedia

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
2. 

   sfsmjobshoot says:

   September 29, 2009 at 9:56 pm

   Look Before Jumping http://bit.ly/ZhBfQ #news #socialmedia

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
3. 

   Alltop_Social says:

   September 29, 2009 at 10:00 pm

   Look Before Jumping http://bit.ly/2mXMmQ
   Social-Media.alltop

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
4. 

   WalesSMjobs says:

   September 29, 2009 at 10:15 pm

   Look Before Jumping http://tinyurl.com/yl7j5kn #socialmedia #news

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
5. 

   AggieGreiter says:

   September 29, 2009 at 10:41 pm

   Look Before Jumping http://bit.ly/2mXMmQ

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
6. 

   FreshPeel says:

   September 29, 2009 at 11:38 pm

   Look Before Jumping http://j.mp/3GNYsr

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
7. 

   AlexisBones says:

   September 30, 2009 at 5:41 am

   Look Before Jumping | The Marketing Fresh Peel http://bit.ly/3NRk0v

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
8. 

   consultski says:

   September 30, 2009 at 7:53 am

   Look Before Jumping | The Marketing Fresh Peel – http://shar.es/15Zn3

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
9. 

   FreshPeel says:

   September 30, 2009 at 9:39 am

   Sure those are impressive social media statistics BUT – Look Before Jumping – http://bit.ly/m7wR5

   This comment was originally posted on Twitter
10. 

    Brian Woodland says:

    September 30, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    We tried a Facebook ad for my wife’s nascent portrait business. We put an ad in the rotation for about three weeks and set the daily budget pretty low – just to dip in our toes.

    On the upside she gained several “fans” from the metro area and the cost was fairly minimal. We felt okay with it as an experiment.

    On the downside, none of those fans have turned into customers yet. Perhaps having Facebook fans and “blog stalkers” will turn into a longer-term benefit for her. I think it will, but I guess the jury is still out.

    I think one of the upsides of social media is the fairly low cost for experimentation purposes. We’ve also dipped our toes into CPC marketing with Google and Yahoo and for the cost we didn’t mind doing it. However, as with Facebook, there was not the customer response I thought there would be. Certainly not the “thousands of customers” we are sometimes led to believe by spammers.

    In a similar vein, back in the 90′s lots of so-called experts proclaimed that the old rules of finance didn’t apply anymore. Then, the technology bubble burst and we found that, yeah, the old financial rules do still apply.

    Great post, Chris. Thanks! Brian
11. 

    MarketerBlog says:

    October 1, 2009 at 5:23 am

    Look Before Jumping from @freshpeel http://bit.ly/r3dj5

    This comment was originally posted on Twitter