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Social Media

The 7 Types Of People Who Use Social Media

How do you use social media to build rapport with your customers AND make money? Kim L. Clark talks about how to get a return on your social media investment by understanding the 7 Types Of People Who Use Social Media.

How do you use social media to build rapport with your customers AND make money? Kim L. Clark talks about how to get a return on your social media investment by understanding the 7 Types Of People Who Use Social Media …

Like nearly all Solopreneur consultants I engage in social media for professional reasons, but I have yet to obtain a client solely through social media interactions. My business is 100% referral, since basically no one hires business strategists or marketing consultants without a personal endorsement. Nevertheless, I must keep up appearances and so I keep my profile in good shape and post relevant updates to keep things fresh.

The experts say that like all marketing campaigns, what and how you communicate through social media must appropriately reflect your brand and appeal to current and prospective clients. To achieve the desired return on investment, it is imperative to deliver the right message to the right sites. To accomplish that, you must know the customer. Who hires you and what type of social media might they trust and follow?

To help define which social media platforms to focus on, begin with the age group of your prospects. Are they under 35 years old? If so, they are more likely to be very comfortable with a wide variety of social media. They’re likely to own a smart phone, tablet and laptop computer. They may very well create and copiously share online content in their personal and professional lives.

Conversely, if your typical clients are 40+ years old, they are less likely to be heavily involved in social media and much less likely to create content. They own a smart phone, they regularly use a computer and they may also own a tablet, but should they decide to share content, it is most likely created by someone else.

Social media expert Judith Lewis says that about 20% of social media users are High Sharers and about 80% are Low Sharers. High Sharers are almost three times as likely as Low Sharers to recommend products or services to those in their network. Therefore, it is wise to create content that will appeal to High Sharers, who will do some “e-legwork” on your behalf and boost your online ROI.

Lewis has identified seven types of High Sharers and explains how their sharing style can be leveraged to target and engage clients and prospects. Give the list a read and see how you might tweak your message and perhaps vary the sites you use:

  1. Altruists – Altruists share content out of a desire to help those in their network. They respond well to appeals made through email and Facebook. Altruists make up the largest percentage of social media users.
  2. Selectives – This group shares information if they feel it will be useful for a specific individual and they usually use email to share that information. Selectives comprise the second largest percentage of social media users.
  3. Passionates – Passionates share information with those who share their intense interest in a given topic, cause, band, fashion designer or whatever. This group frequently uses Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. Moreover, they are big contributors to customer review sites.
  4. Connectors – As their name describes, this group likes bringing people together to socialize or do business. Connectors tend to use numerous social media sites, most notably LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.
  5. Trendspotters – This type uses social media sites to show the world that they are on the bleeding edge of the hottest trends. Trendspotters are compelled to build their credibility and they are busy working many platforms. YouTube, Instagram, Delicious, Vine, Twitter and Facebook are favorites. Trendspotters can be very useful for B2C ventures seeking to increase visibility and sales, especially in fashion, electronics and baby products.
  6. Provocateurs – Bloggers often fall into this category (but not your humble diarist). Provocateurs like to do just that—be controversial, cheeky and outrageous and get a rise out their readers. In addition to their blog, these folks tend to favor YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.
  7. Careerists – This group will use social media networking almost exclusively for business purposes. They favor LinkedIn, but will use Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as needed, to effectively share information about their business enterprise or career.

As a postscript, I will say that I don’t know any Solopreneurs who have successfully monetized their social media relationships. Still, creating buzz will never hurt your business. If you’re able to get on the radar screen of a High Sharer who will post a good recommendation for your services, it may help convince someone who is on the fence to go ahead and offer you the contract.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Kim-L.-Clark_609073Kim L. Clark is an external consultant who provides strategy and marketing solutions to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Kim is the founder and principal of Polished Professionals Boston and she teaches business plan writing to aspiring entrepreneurs. Visit polishedprofessionalsboston.com for more information.

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