Internet Marketing & Social Media Connections

Internet Marketing This Week…What They Said

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It’s been a while since I did a “What They Said” post but after listening to Epidose 26 of IMTW, here we are =)

What I liked about this week’s episode was the diversity in thinking when it comes to social networks, friending & following people, and ultimate utilization.

You have Mari who does friend a lot of people (although from the pow-wow it sounds like she has changed her strategy slightly in recent months) and you have Ed who doesn’t friend anyone he doesn’t know.

Both of these people are successful internet people but one difference I notice in them is that Mari is much more “socially” successful and Ed is not (meaning it seems Mari got her fame from utilizing Facebook, a social network, whereas Ed got his from other marketing avenues).  Ed seems to be more old school (not so much into the social networking aspect) which I think has an impact on how they approach their networks.

One of Ed’s fears about friending people was the expectations those people might hold. If he friends someone, will they:

• expect him to see everything they say
• expect him to actively interact & respond to things they say
• expect that he actually has a real interest in them

Mari on the other hand (and I think Lynn too) says that while she has her inner circle, she does take some time to scan updates from other people and comment or interact.

I think Ed’s fears are reasonable but I don’t think that everyone necessarily expects that every single person who they are connected to on social networks will hang on to their every word.  I believe most people know that’s just not possible even though we all ‘hope’ that people will take some interest in us.  And I think that in cases with people like Ed, who is a successful person, people want to connect so that they can keep in touch with what that person (Ed in this example) are saying and doing…not so much for Ed to focus on their posts (although I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt their feelings if he did).

Me – I’m picky about who I connect with and friend to an extent.  Unlike Ed, I don’t have to know them, but I do need to see that we have something in common.  If they are into marketing, whether it be social or not, I may very well connect with them; if they want to be in my Mafia Wars family, I may very well connect with them (LOL, I know, I know but I can have fun too right?); if they are into bowling gear, I probably won’t connect with them because it’s of no interest to me…but if they message me and want to connect with me because they want to consider marketing their bowling gear, well then I might go ahead and connect.

I take most things on a case-by-case basis.  I don’t connect with absolutely everyone, but I do connect with many people that I don’t know.  I can always remove them later if need be.  I love making new connections for many reasons.

Michelle made a good point about her Facebook profile though.  She chooses to keep her FB profile connected to people she actually knows and connect with others via her FB page instead.  Her angle is that she has family and friends that may not want their stuff to be publicized as much as she is…which is very valid.  She also points out that she and her circle can be a little “off the cuff” as she calls it and doesn’t know if it’s always appropriate for everyone else, i.e. they might be offended, might get upset, may take it wrong.  Also very valid. I don’t have any family on FB and only a few offline friends there so that’s not a angle I have to concern myself with, but you might.

So it’s very interesting to hear the different trains of thought when it comes to our social networks and understand that everyone has to evaluate their own situations, desires and goals, and make their own decisions that work for them.  Some of us want to be more connected and others don’t.  Some of us may be more active with friends and family on networks and others aren’t.

You also have to know where you fall.  If you’re like Mari and you got your name from a social platform, well you kind of have to be more social.  If you’re like Ed and you didn’t get your name from a social arena, you may not be as deep into it. If you’re a brand like Dell, you got your name way before social media, so you can still utilize it to keep visibility up but you probably don’t have as much of a need to worry about ‘friending’ people or interacting as deeply.

While Ed and Mari are on different ends of the social spectrum, it seems that their individual ways of handling things works for them and that’s what matters.

The new FTC Guidelines were also discussed in this week’s episode.

How do you approach your social networks – do you friend any and everyone, only people you know, only people you have a common ground with; or if the connection is via FB do you prefer they connect with your FB page if you have one instead of your personal profile?

Are you offended if someone who accepts your friend request doesn’t hang on to your every word or see/comment on a lot of your stuff or are  you cool with that?

Social Media Maniac,
@areaK

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