Social Media and Social Networking: There is a Difference

 

I’m constantly amazed by who companies choose/allow to handle and monitor their Facebook, Twitter and other social accounts. I think there’s a very common misconception that only tweens, teens and Gen-Yers are engaging with brands through these channels. It’s like corporations and agencies say to their interns and young staff members, “Hey, you’re young. You get all this ‘Tweetering’ and ‘MyFacing.’ You take care of this.” Don’t get me wrong, a lot of brands and the agencies that represent them make social media work well for them, but pretty much every day I also hear someone expressing confusion about it all. Mostly small businesses — mostly your kind of clients.

Patrick Keane wrote a great column about these types of issues, so I wanted to share his thoughts on the matter with you. It also got me thinking about targeting mishaps along these same lines of thinking. We constantly hear about the thousands of teen followers on Twitter and their perpetual tweeting, and I think this is why many people think that’s their only market, socially. And sure, Justin Bieber has tens of thousands of “Beliebers” chatting him up all the live-long day (a record of 71,495 tweets in one day), but don’t forget that the Baby Boomers are the fastest growing category of users on Facebook today. According to Jim Gilmartin, “Baby Boomers and older consumers are the single largest economic group in America.” He says in his Engage:Boomers blog that somewhere in America, a Baby Boomer turns 50 every 7-10 seconds. That’s a huge market to engage! You just have to do it with some thought and planning, as Keane points out.

“Social networking is more than setting up an online presence, and social media is more than just blasting out press releases,” Keane says. “Until brands understand how to authentically join — rather than crash — the conversation, they will continue to throw their money away.” He stresses that social networking is geared for actual communication, not stagnant reading or researching. Facebook is successful because members want to share and express, not view from afar. Keane thinks that the key to roping in this activity is for marketers to be present.

Now, social media gives voice to the customer and the marketer — and everyone else. Anyone can write and post a review of a product, or provide essential information. Keane points to CNN’s success with this type of media. “CNN’s approach to social media — pushing breaking new updates out via Twitter and accepting reports from citizen journalists through its iReport platform — has won them millions of followers and invaluable on-the-spot material.” He wants to remind people that “social media provides a point of directed engagement, not an experience that depends on continuous focus.”

Those who do it successfully know that, “ultimately, a brand strategy solely focusing on social networking is a near-impossible task but, coupled with social media, is the ideal approach for authentic brand voice. To do that, social media needs to exist as a distinct entity in your media plan.”

[Sources: Keane, Patrick. "Don't Confuse Social Networking with Social Media." AdAge.com. April 12, 2010; Gilmartin, Jim. "Writing a Brand New Book." Engage:Boomers. MediaPost. April 19, 2010.]