Understanding Social Media Communities

Image from HubSpot

Liana Evans from Search Engine Watch just wrote a great article on understanding social media communities. A lot more goes into online social media communities than merely advertising your company, however subtle you might be. If you’ve ever wondered about the psychology of social media, this is the article to read.

• Know the rules. Rules and policies are posted in almost every social media site. It will bode you well to know the rules or risk being shut down or frozen by the almighty gatekeepers of social media sites. Adding friends too aggressively, for example, will get your over-eager account frozen by Facebook.

• Look, listen, and observe. Take the time and effort to see what other people in the community are doing. It can help you engage your target audience in ways you couldn’t with traditional media. Communities understand that sharing is one of the rules in social media, and will be more than willing to give you honest insight into your product or service that your company may have overlooked.

• Obey the norms by observing. For instance, jargon and commenting behaviors are some norms that are differently regulated on different sites. For example, announcing that you’re the first to comment on a forum post will likely ignite a flurry of angry comments or even banned from a forum.

• Learn the pecking order. Don’t anger the moderators and/or the movers-and-shakers of the community you would like to join. It’s like calling the big jock at your high school names. Sooner or later, you can expect the social media equivalent of an atomic wedgie.

• Don’t market to communities. Even though it may be the hardest thing for marketer to unlearn, you should know that most people flock to social media communities to get away from all the advertising and heckling from TV and radio.

Community members decide the value you offer. However, it’s not through a perfectly crafted marketing campaign, but through establishing relationships and giving them the information that they want.