Embrace detailed data, sharing nature of social media

“If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business,” says Simon Sinek, noted author and leadership speaker. The statement raises valid questions. If you do not understand your customers, how can you reach them, connect with them and sell your products or services to them?

The answers are not as simple as one assumes. As much as marketers try to categorize people and predict behavior, consumers are not one homogeneous group all motivated by the same interests. They are influenced by different motivators and have different personalities — some people are emotional, others are logical, and still others are analytical. In addition, people do not always behave in a consistent manner.

What marketers have learned, though, from limited social media experience over the past decade, is that the platform is best used when sales are not the sole goal. Social media users enjoy sharing information and experiences and engage in social media largely for that purpose.

As you seek to understand people — and more specifically, your target market, traditional market research is beneficial. You can learn a great deal from focus groups, interview, surveys and more. But social media can help on multiple levels as well.

First, social media can provide detailed data on who uses and interacts with your business or organization, on which platforms, for how long, how often and more. Second, social media can provide instantaneous qualitative and quantitative data on your company or organization. If you pay close attention to your Facebook likes, Twitter retweets, Instagram comments and more, you have an endless source of valuable feedback from your customers and potential customers that you can use to enhance your work moving forward.

Social media can also provide a great avenue for responsibly “piloting” messages on social media before launching them as part of a traditional advertising campaign.

The data on social media use is readily available. We know the demographics of social media users for all platforms. We know that Facebook is by far the most frequently adopted social media platform. We know that Instagram and Snapchat are being quickly adopted by younger users. We know the preferred platforms of people with higher incomes and educational levels. We know where they live and work. But what about your audience? Who are they, where do they come from, and what else can you learn about them from social media? It is likely more than you know.

And how do they respond to your company or organization? If you pay close attention, if you engage your audience, social media can serve as a 24/7 focus group or interview. If you are a frequent user of social media, you have probably already experienced very positive or very negative reactions to a social media post. If you offer your customers a deal on social media in which they have no interest, then either their apathy or worse, vocal displeasure, will be immediately evident. The opposite is also true. People quickly get behind great ideas on social media. Either way, though, you gain a fairly accurate sense of where you stand. Without spending a lot of money, without detailed research plans, you can confidently move forward (or backward, if necessary).

Of course, all of this is helpful only if you embrace the sharing nature of social media, remain engaged and listen to your customers and potential customers — which should be a goal, if not the primary goal, of your social media platform.

Jim Coll is the chief communication officer at the University of Southern Mississippi. For marketing, public relations and social media opinions and news, follow him on Twitter at @jimcollpr and on Facebook at Jim Coll PR.