As often as you’ve probably heard the phrase “doing more with less,” you might well think it to be an utterly insufferable cliche, and not particularly true. However, all cliches achieved their status by being true at some point or another, and as a result, ended up in the collective lexicon as they are today.
Study suggests targeting talkative social media users for more effective marketing
In the category of social media marketing, it may well be entirely possible to apply the principle of doing more with less and actually end up with favorable results. Not only that, but according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Iowa, more might itself end up effectively leading to less for any companies choosing to engage in advertising campaigns centered around pages on social networking websites.
Strange as it might be to think that “more,” by the very nature of its definition as a word, might not mean exactly what it is supposed to mean, it might make more sense to closely examine the layout of social networking when considering this issue.
Remove it, for now, from the context of its value as a marketing tool – this principle is equally applicable to those using it purely for entertainment as it is to those using it for its business purposes. Chances are, you know someone who has anywhere from 500 to 1,000 or more friends on Facebook, or that many followers on Twitter. It’s obvious that the personal connections that this individual has to a fair amount of those contacts are fragmentary or tenuous at best, and that they only keep in regular communication and interaction with a small portion of that number.
Now add marketing to the equation. Someone who has a large number of friends but communicates sporadically – or not at all – with the majority of them is not likely to influence those individuals through the few interactions he has with that majority, regarding a product or service he is trying to promote or anything else.
Conversely, someone with less friends in total, but a larger percentage who are close friends or acquaintances, is much more likely to pass around a link or article of interest to a more significant audience, a group of people who are likely to act in some way on the information they are given.
These facts were confirmed by the aforementioned study, which found that the most significant element contributing to the level of influence that social networking and media users had on the behavior of their contacts was frequency of communication.
Targeting the Right Crowd
All of these factors should be foremost in your mind when you are deciding how best to market your products or services in this modern era. If you and your business are looking to make the most out of your social media marketing and advertising plans, you might well have the most success in tailoring your approach to users who have a smaller but more dedicated – and more frequently contacted – network of friends and contacts.
Of course, no single approach to online marketing is guaranteed to work for every business. Based on name recognition alone, large companies may be able to elicit a fair amount of success from campaigns even if they are not particularly well-done – the tactics described above are not necessary for them.
For small- and medium-sized businesses, however, advertising pitched at a small but carefully selected audience is inherently appropriate based on the scope of the operation. Start by focusing on the core audience for your product or service and market it to them on the basis of their tendency to regularly interact with their friends.
After that, circulate offers through your social media page that are bound to spread quickly – coupons and daily deals work well for this purpose. If you’ve courted an audience whose members consistently remain in communication with their contacts, your promotions have the potential to spread like wildfire, and the same can be true of your business.
