Category: Social Media

Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, An Updated Book Review

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Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, An Updated Book Review

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 7, 2018

Another Look at Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

This is something of an updated review of Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff as, by the time I got to the ICM 522 Social Media Platforms class at Quinnipiac University, I had already read this seminal work.

But no matter. Because this is still a terrific work by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li, and it remains more than a little relevant.

And in fact, I think I understand it better than I ever have.

Changing the Way You Think about Online Marketing for Good

For Li and Bernoff, the online world is a rich and diversified community. And in that large umbrella community, there are several smaller communities. But unlike in the case of the classic Matryoshka (Russian nesting dolls), there is an enormous amount of overlap.

Above all, they put forward the idea of a system called POST. And if you read nothing else, read this part of not just my review but of their book itself.

• Personae – who are your potential buyers? Who are your readers? And who makes up your audience?
† Objectives – what do you expect to get out of going online, and continuing online, or going in a different direction online?
• Strategies – how will you implement your ideas? What comes first? In addition, what must wait?
† Technologies – which platforms will you use? How will you use these differently as your strategy begins to click into place?
So the last time I read Groundswell, I suspect that I did not really understand POST.

And now I know never to start a social media campaign without it. So thanks to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff! This work is a classic for a damned fine reason. It really is that good. Because you need this book in your social media library.

Five Years Later — are Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Still Relevant?

Social media platforms come and go. Fads rise and fall. Yet through it all, the lessons of the POST strategy, and why it’s so vital? Those are a rock, an anchor in an online world that sometimes feels like just so much jello stuck to the wall, ever sliding downwards.

Ew, sorry for that image, folks.

But never mind that for now.

I think the biggest and most vital part of POST is the first initialism, the P. The buyer persona is someone who we should be thinking about all the time. Not just sometimes, and for God’s sake not just when there’s an exam at school or the boss comes around at work.

It’s even a vital concept in a place that you would least expect it — a personal blog. And even in our own social media postings.

For if we are flinging those pixels out to the universe, then we are expecting an audience. We are wishing and hoping to be read! But if we don’t take that buyer persona into account at all (even when we aren’t selling anything and not expecting anyone to ever want to buy anything), we should still account for our audience.

Social media is exceptionally performative. We curate our photos and our words and our stories and our snark. If we want any sort of a reaction, then we have our audience in mind. Even if that’s subconsciously.

Being offensive is bad. Being unfunny is worse. But being unread? Quelle horreur! That is the worst.

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Four Important Social Media Stats

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Four Important Social Media Stats

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 15, 2018

Consider These Four Important Social Media Stats

These were four important social media stats for you! This post was, in part, a riff on Four Great Free Tools and Four Important Stats. And I like the important stats. As for the four free tools, I’ll reserve judgment for another day.

These are still somewhat important, but keep in mind that the numbers have undoubtedly changed.

STAT 1

53% of people on Twitter recommend companies and/or products in their Tweets, with 48% of them delivering on their intention to buy the product. (ROI Research for Performance, June 2010)

However does this takes into account what essentially looks like spamming (e. g. buy this stuff!) versus what seems to be more sincere mentions of products, e. g. someone says I love this new Gatorade or I think my New Balance sneakers really make me faster?

I know it can be difficult for a large-scale survey of tweets to tell the difference between the two. However, if there is that much of a return, then I figure, the people either know or, perhaps, they just don’t care.

STAT 2

The average consumer mentions specific brands over 90 times per week in conversations with friends, family, and co-workers. (Keller Fay, WOMMA, 2010) – Just what does this mean? I mention products all the time, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m touting them. Ugh, I hate what they did to my conditioner! Why did John Frieda have to change it?

And that is a far cry from I want some more of that Amy’s Low-Salt Marinara Sauce with Basil – sooo good. Since the stat doesn’t mention whether the mentions went positive or negative, I suppose it’s a corollary to the old saw, that any press is good press. Note: sentiment analysis is better than it used to be, but still has a ways to go.

STAT 3

Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted – nearly 12 times more – than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US mom Internet users by online video review site EXPO. (eMarketer, February 2010)

This is how viral marketing works, kids. Because if a company can send out its minions to tout a product, even if not 100% positively (and it’s more believable that way, as it doesn’t look like mere puffery), then folks eat that up. Astroturfing Nation, here we come.

STAT 4

In a study conducted by social networking site myYearbook, 81 percent of respondents said they’d received advice from friends and followers relating to a product purchase through a social site; 74 percent of those who received such advice found it to be influential in their decision. (Click Z, January 2010)

However, this may be more of a function of the pervasiveness of social sites versus their influence. E. g. I truly only hear from some of my cousins through Facebook.

Do I give their opinions more credence than I do passing acquaintances’? Sometimes. But do I get this Facebook-based advice from them because we don’t pick up the phone or send snail mail or meet in person (we’re too far away to do this, anyway).

But to my mind, this is almost like giving the phone company credit for marketing strategy if we chat on the phone. We don’t. Instead, we use Facebook. I think this is a potential confusion of medium versus message.

Where Do We Go From Here With These Four Important Social Media Stats?

So, are social sites really that important? Is Twitter really that targeted? Do consumers really trust their pals more than they do slick, conventional marketers? Probably maybe, not really and yes. And it’s up to the Social Media Marketer to separate the wheat from the chaff with these kinds of stories, and see what’s really going on.

What do you think?

Five Years After This Post Was Last, Er, Posted…

… and a good thirteen years (!) after it was really first posted. Numbers shift and, these days, Twitter is called X, anyway.

But these metrics are still good, and they are still vital. For businesses, getting case studies published, and getting brand ambassadors on board, is still a terrific and inexpensive way to market. Both of these build trustworthiness (the ‘T‘ in Google’s E-EAT). They also help to build and bolster word of mouth, which is still a vital piece of any marketer’s strategy.

So, don’t discount these metrics, okay? But take the numbers with a grain of salt.

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Social Media’s Seduction AKA Oops, Did I Do That?

Seduction is often a good thing. Hmm.

But this post riffs on Seduced: For Lawyers, the Appeal of Social Media Is Obvious. It’s Also Dangerous, which is a post on ABA Journal Online.

The Background

So here’s the scoop. An attorney named Sean Conway wrote a blog post, about a perceived injustice going on in the Florida courts. According to him, “Judge Cheryl Alemán was asking defendants whether they were ready for trial only about a week after their arraignment”.

Okay, so far, so good.

Except Mr. Conway decided to use inflammatory language in order to get his point across. However, he did go through normal channels initially and got no satisfaction. Because the problem with the one-week prep lead time is that the lead time, apparently, is normally some four or five weeks.

Hence Mr. Conway felt there was an injustice being perpetrated, e. g. the right to a speedy trial.

Over the Top

In addition, he apparently referred to the judge (who is now deceased), as follows:

• “evil, unfair witch”
† “seemingly mentally ill” and
• “clearly unfit for her position and knows not what it means to be a neutral arbiter.”

Now, let’s see. I can go along, perhaps, with unfair as a descriptor, particularly if other defendants, perhaps in other area courts, were being given more lead time. However, after that, Mr. Conway, what the heck are ya doing????

Seriously. So why did he have ever believe that this sort of overly inflammatory rhetoric would be acceptable, at any time, ever? Now, I am not, specifically, suggesting a Bowdlerization of language, or of using softer words to describe hard actions. But we’re not talking about genocide here!

Furthermore, we are not describing babies being pummeled or any other awful image you’d like to conjure up (I leave this to your own devices, Gentle Reader). Rather, it is a difference in lead prep time of three to four weeks. And it’s nothing more.

Yet is it a Civil Rights violation? Possibly. I’ll even give him that one, although neither he nor I are the arbiters of same (er, that’s why we have courts in the first place). Rather, the over the top language is just, well, it’s a very, very bad idea.

Alternatives to Social Media Seduction

Because surely he could have made the point with far less negativity. Conway feels that the invective was necessary to get the point across.

According to the article, “[t]he Florida Bar, however, concluded that he had violated five ethics rules, including Rule 4-8.2(a) (making false or reckless statements regarding the qualifications or integrity of a judge) and Rule 4-8.4(d) (engaging in professional conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice). However, Conway argued that his actions were protected by the First Amendment, but the Florida Supreme Court rejected this. Finally, in the end, Conway acquiesced with a public reprimand and a fine of $1,250.”

The Real Issues

No one said he couldn’t talk or write about this. It’s just the overly inflammatory rhetoric, truly, at issue here.

Although, by making the statements, possibly without too many supporting materials, he could’ve still been dinged on Rule 4-8.2(a), the “false or reckless statements” clause.

However, truly, the very stuff that he added to try to make his post stand out (e. g. the over the top statements and name-calling) were, most likely, the very things that made the Florida Bar not only sit up and take notice.

Those statements probably also made the Florida Bar ding him an amount that, for some people, equals close to one month’s worth of mortgage payments. It’s not a huge sum, but it’s not a small, one, either. Because clearly the Florida Bar was less than pleased.

So, what have we learned here? To my mind, it’s two things. One, we’ve got Free Speech! Yay! Awesome! And, two, that doesn’t mean we should be reckless with it.

Because, certainly, if we’re gonna make accusations with our free speech, we might want to do some research and back up our statements well.

Seduction and What it Can Teach Us

Oops, we’ve also, I hope, learned a third and fourth thing as well. Three, Social Media is actual speech and it’s pretty dang permanent.

Therefore, we might wanna think twice before putting stuff out there. And four, yeah, we’ve got free speech (yay!). However, it doesn’t mean we have to be jerks about using it.

Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then check out my other articles about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Social Media in Our Society

Reviews of Books on Social Media

• Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review
† Book Review – Likeable Social Media by Dave Kerpen
• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, a Book Review

Working with Social Media

Social Media for Writers

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Demographics for Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on December 27, 2016

Check Out Some Older Demographics for Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest and Some New Demographics

Demographics change over time. Hence the specific numeric percentages could be off, but the gist of these measurements remains on target. Part of this has to do with crowds. If a platform already caters to your demographic, you are probably going to be more interested in it than in a platform that does not.

At Agile Impact, Hilary Heino compiled some impressive statistics about who really uses these image-based social media platforms.

Tumblr

First of all, Tumblr reportedly has loyal users highly dedicated to the site. But Tumblr demographics have changed.

2013

In 2013, two-thirds of all users were under the age of 35. In addition, nearly forty percent had not yet seen 25 summers.

Finally, there were about 300 million monthly unique users; the site grew by 74 percent in 2013.

2022

By 2022, over 32 million Tumblr bloggers lived in the US. The demographics of Tumblr have changed a bit, in that now the number of users under the age of 35 is 2 out of 5 (or, 40%). Its audience is 40% Gen Z and 30% Millennials.

Tumblr traffic fell off dramatically in late 2018 when the platform banned adult content. The site still has not recovered. According to Finances Online, Tumblr has 16.74 million monthly users. Reddit, in contrast, has about 3 times as many monthly users. But some of that may be due to it being blocked in China, Iran, and Kazakhstan.

Genders are split nearly 50-50. The number of site users has continued to decline, and they failed to capitalize on so many people being home at the start of Covid-19. Will Tumblr go the way of MySpace? Or will someone buy it?

Demographics for Pinterest

Here is a look at 2013 and 2022 Pinterest demographics side by side.

2013

First of all, as of July of 2013, there were 46.9 million unique monthly users. And women continued to dominate the platform; around a third of all women online had Pinterest accounts. In addition, two-thirds of all Pinterest users were over the age of 35, making it a near opposite to Tumblr.

Furthermore, a good three-quarters of its traffic was coming through mobile apps. Hence if you posted to Pinterest, you had to make sure that your content is visible, clear, and comprehensible on smart phones. Finally, 80 percent of total Pinterest pins are repins. It is probably the sign of a strong community. In addition, the site boasts 2.5 billion monthly pageviews.

2022

According to Omnicore,a good half of all Pinterest users were outside the United States. Just over 77% of all users were female. There were over 478 million monthly users. As in ten times as many as in the earlier demographics of Pinterest, above.

Per 2021 info from Statista, 38% of persons between the ages of 50 and 64 were Pinterest users, making them the most represented cohort. But that number dropped dramatically, to 18% for persons aged 65 and up. However, that was probably explainable, due to generational differences and people just plain getting sicker and otherwise not having time for social media.

Instagram Demographics

Here is a comparison of Instagram demographics from 2013 to 2022. How had things changed in those 10 or so years?

2013

So with 150 million active users, Instagram reported 1.2 billion daily likes.

And 18% of smartphone users in the 30 – 49 demographic reported using it. However, the majority of users were teens and young adults.

Furthermore, the site tied with Facebook as being the second-most popular site for teens. Yet Twitter/X was the first for that age demographic.

2024

Again, according to Omnicore, Instagram had nearly 2 billion daily users. The ages were suddenly skewing differently.

Just under 2/3 of all users were between the ages of 18 and 34. In the US alone, 22.5% of users were 25 to 24 years old. Also in the US, 73% of teens said Instagram was the best way to reach them about brands or products.

Men slightly outnumbered women, 51.6% to 48.4%.

Now it is a good idea to add TikTok, which was not around in 2013.

TikTok

Per HubSpot, this platform was dominated by Gen Z in the US (it still is). But around the world, the demographics for TikTok skewed more millennial. And globally, only about 14% of all persons aged 50 to 64. About 1/4 of Americans aged 12 to 34 had used it. Contrast this with only about 3% of American adults over 35 years old.

TikTok users were more engaged and more likely to buy when they were on the platform. There were over 14 million daily users on the Android version of the app, and almost 30 million using the iOS version. About 88% reported that sound was vital to their enjoyment.

Social Media Platform Demographics: Takeaways

Savvy social media marketers (and book marketers) would do well to consider the demographics of their ideal customer/buyer persona before starting an account on any of these platforms. Marketing to women over the age of 50? Then Pinterest is still important, and you can probably safely ignore TikTok and Tumblr. You may or may not be able to ignore Instagram.

If you are marketing to teenaged boys, then TikTok is right up your alley. But you should not ignore Instagram. Pinterest would be a nonstarter for you. As for Tumblr, it may or may not be worth your time.

Since time and energy are finite, focusing like a laser on demographics will save both.

So, know your image-based social platforms. Because they are not the same!

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InMaps – Visualize Your Network on LinkedIn

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on July 21, 2016

A Look at InMaps – Visualize Your Network on LinkedIn

InMaps were cool. But alas, they are no more. LinkedIn, like other social media sites, is a lot more about advertising these days.

Let’s say you’ve got a nice, growing network on LinkedIn.

Hurray! Now let’s say that it’s large enough that you’re unsure of how it’s all trending. After all, what if your network is mainly people who used to work at Fidelity but you want to get into Prudential instead? How can you see how things are shaking out?

Or maybe you want to get a handle on job titles that you’re seeing – what if most of your network consists of tradespeople in your area, rather than people who might actually be able to find you something?

If you’re an accountant, a network full of hairdressers and landscape contractors is lovely but it might not be really doing it for you, eh?

Here’s where InMaps came in.

What InMaps Did

Essentially, what LinkedIn was doing is, instead of geographically mapping your connections, they were mapping other meaningful relationships among all of those people. So instead you could see things like job titles that frequently come up, and other connections. These included who used to work where.

If you’d worked in several places (like I have) you might have seen one former employer dominate, particularly if you’d just left a particular role.

After all, when Hachette Book Group and I parted ways, suddenly I connected to the other seventeen or so people who were being outsourced. There was a bit of urgency to getting connections, and we wanted to maintain friendships. I’d had to dig a bit in order to find former colleagues further back in my career.

And, by the way, FYI, this does behoove one to try to make connections. These connections would be both during employment and to reach back to older connections. This is because the natural push to connect might not come about if you’re thinking about a job you held twenty years ago, long before the existence of LinkedIn.

The Downside

It would take a while for LinkedIn to generate an InMap. Particularly if you’ve got a lot of connections. This was a feature that never really got out of Beta, so that was totally understandable.

But here was the InMap for a woman named Leslie Gotch Zarelli. So this should give something of an idea about how the overall pattern looked. Her InMap (I would have posted mine, but LinkedIn never generated one) was dominated by general areas like Legal. Plus she had probably a former employer or two, and what appeared to be some job duties.

More information was on LinkedIn. LinkedIn discontinued the service in 2015 and never really found a replacement for it. So your contacts now are static. A pity, as it was a great idea. LinkedIn – people want this! Get mappin’!

Want More About the Conquest of LinkedIn?

If my experiences with LinkedIn resonate with you, then check out my other articles about the largest networking site on the planet.

What LinkedIn Has to Offer

• Your Profile Page
† Your Resume
• Meeting Offline
† Your Network
• Giving Your LinkedIn Profile A Facelift
† Last Little Bits
• InMaps – Visualize Your Network on LinkedIn

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SEO, Continued

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 28, 2016

SEO Continued – (Search Engine Optimization) Strategy)

So, yesterday I put together more of an SEO strategy. Er, SEO continued, that is.

The Mechanics

I started with tabs and tabs of an Excel spreadsheet as I began to think about what I really want to do with all of this.

So, it is becoming more obvious is that I have got major ambitions and there are not enough hours in a day in which I can accomplish them.

To really make a good site, a beautifully designed one with awesome SEO and kick-bun content, means engaging something like 50 people to do it.

Egad. I am organized and I am energetic and I have got time these days, but I am not 50 people.

How Did I Get SEO Continued and Working for Me?

This is a source of a bit of stress, to be sure, but it is also a challenge. How can I leverage what I have already got?

So, how can I use my organizational skills to make things easier on myself? And how can I set up some things which will run on their own, thereby saving me time? So, what is the timing of, well, of all of it?

I am very excited about this whole venture. Plus, I actually got a little Google traffic yesterday! Yay!

I have only been on Google for maybe 3 days. Holy cow. This stuff really works.

I have a billion things to do. Oh and I am running in a 5K in a week. If I could do web development while running, I would.

Nine Years Later, More SEO Continued

Well, the truth is, this stuff never, ever stops. And that even includes what I am doing right now, which is fixing SEO on older blog posts and organizing them better. And, oof, dealing with the onslaught of AI.

Yet every year, I learn more. Hell, every day. It also helps a lot to be working with someone who knows their way around SEO. So, I can see what is working. And how to fix whatever is not.

Onward and sideways.

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Responding to Facebook’s Organic Reach Decline

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 26, 2016

Responding to Facebook’s Organic Reach Decline

Are you responding to Facebook’s organic reach decline? Facebook’s organic reach is going down. That is, fewer people are seeing your posts (unless you cough up some dough. So, what’s a writer or social media marketer to do?

Social Media Today’s Pam Dyer has the scoop on how to respond.

Then in 2012, Facebook restricted brand content reach to around 16%. But in 2014, the figure plummeted to just about a dismal 6%.

Per Dyer

So, according to Dyer, “No one really knows for sure how Facebook decides what appears in news feeds, but some elements are well known as weighting factors:

† Post types that receive the most user interaction
• Posts that users hide or report as spam
† How a user interacts with Facebook ads
• The device that is used to access Facebook and the speed of its connection”

EdgeRank

EdgeRank has less importance than it had. But it’s not quite absent from the mix. So, it consists of –

† “Affinity: The closeness of the relationship between the user and the content/source
• Weight: The action that was taken on the content
† Decay: The freshness of the content”

Responding to Facebook’s Organic Reach Decline: Four Steps

Dyer lays out four steps.

1. Optimize Facebook content. Test what’s working, and what isn’t. What are people clicking on? And are they clicking through to your site? Look at Google Analytics 4 for your site, and determine which content is the source for your Facebook-generated traffic.
2. Create incentives for sharing content. Whether that’s offers, contents, or just can-you-believe-this types of posts, create the kind of content that people want to spread to their peers.
3. Work a multi-network campaign strategy. Use hashtags; they show up in all sorts of places, and not necessarily on Facebook. Also, put your hashtag in all of your promotions, e. g. blogs, television commercials, literature, etc.
4. Track data, and act on it accordingly! What’s happening with your links? Where is your audience coming from? Dovetailing with step #1, be the company that knows where your traffic is really coming from. Know where your audience is clicking.

Knowledge is power.

Seven Years Later, Organic Reach Decline is Even Worse

But that’s probably something to expect. The number of Facebook users continues to rise exponentially.

Per Hootsuite, Facebook is flirting with 2 billion daily users. Yes, you read that right. But also —

“About 15% of Facebook Feed content is recommended by AI from non-followed accounts

Mark Zuckerberg has said that he expects that percentage to more than double by the end of 2023. That’s loads of potential for brands to get in front of new audiences organically. All the more reason to stay on top of the latest changes in the Facebook algorithm.”

This is heartening. Maybe Meta has listened to advertisers. After all, that’s how they make their money. If advertisers aren’t selling, then they will go someplace where they will.

That place may be TikTok, Instagram (another Meta property), LinkedIn, or the like. Or it may be a bit more outside the box, like Twitch, Quora, or Google ads. Or Bluesky, even.

If Facebook doesn’t want its competition to eat its lunch, then Facebook has to make it possible for advertisers to do well on its platform.

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

… And Facebook for All

• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Home Page
• Offsite Sharing
† All Your Account Settings
• All the Rest of It
† Facebook versus Forums

Next blog post

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Online Advertising: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on July 31, 2014

Online Advertising: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn

Social Media Today several years ago compared these three types of online advertising, namely: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn. To find out who the top dog was, read on.

Google

Google’s ads got more expensive at the end, and their success often seemed to be hit or miss. Wide geographic ranges could give dramatic numbers but few results – narrowing things down geographically seemed to accompany a commensurate rise in click quality.

According to the article, Google advertising, “… works if you have a unique and popular product or service. The interface feels professional, with excellent reporting tools, great usability and many various options.”

Facebook

So, the Facebook advertising experience seemed to be the most satisfying to the writer of the article. With a demographic and geographic focus (and fast service by Facebook support), you can credit ads with near-pinpoint accuracy.

But when speaking of Facebook, which is much more of a leisure time site than LinkedIn or Google is, the article stated, “(t)he secret is not to become too serious in your ads and keep them simple.”

LinkedIn was seen as being great for ads intended to reach strictly professional audiences. However, the LinkedIn admin team took significantly longer to approve advertisements than their counterparts at Facebook and Google took. Also, the reporting also had some serious restrictions. And it only offers a CSV file for download.

Facebook Ads vs. Google, Etc.

I agree with the conclusions drawn in the article – Facebook was overall the best, Google would be helpful for targeted ads for specific, unique or well-known products. And LinkedIn lagged, big time.

To my mind, this also dovetails well with these sites’ overall purposes. Facebook is where people go for socializing. And so it seems to work with ads in the same way that we view television commercials. Google and LinkedIn have other purposes. And so we are less likely to expect such a marriage of content and online advertising.

Want More About Facebook?

If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.

Next blog post

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Category: Social Media

Another Look at Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Changing the Way You Think about Online Marketing for Good

Five Years Later — are Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Still Relevant?

Rating

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Consider These Four Important Social Media Stats

STAT 1

STAT 2

STAT 3

STAT 4

Where Do We Go From Here With These Four Important Social Media Stats?

Five Years After This Post Was Last, Er, Posted…