Exploiting Social Media

Too often, I am made to feel like a member of a new generation of mutant youth. I hear my parents and their friends in the dining room below me, whispering about how their kids are doing things they can't understand. When I talk with my dad on the phone, he tells me, "Son, you're just different." I can understand, to a degree. Every few years, there's a new excuse to categorize a group of people born around the same time. Some of the lines of separation are more definitive than others. But I just don't think we (Generation Y, they say) are really all that different. What my parents and their like are really trying to point out is the coinciding of our youth during the rise of a digital age, and especially the social media agents that have spawned from it. So we've got drunken photos to share with each other and thousands of tweets about nothing (really). Big deal. The baby boomers on the other hand had a living, breathing Jimi Hendrix. But seriously, the baby boomers have a legitimate, distinct claim to separating themselves as a generation, whereas I believe Generation Y has just gotten hip to all the new technology faster than older age groups, which is understandable.

But still, when I tell the next "generation" about a time when Facebook (and inevitably Twitter sometime soon) wasn't laced by advertisements on every page or being populated by nosy and curious businesses of every kind, I will feel pretty old. I imagine this feeling is the reason why businesses want to be involved in social media in the first place. Maybe it's because I've lived in a world in which businesses were not obsessed with social media, or maybe it's just because I don't use Facebook for any reason other than my friends, but I just don't think it makes perfect sense for every business to have its own Facebook page.

I probably just don't like the idea of it, because I have to admit that there are still some effective ways for businesses to use social media. Like the chapters of Groundswell explain, technographics is probably the main consideration to make before a business should venture into Web 2.0. Your lawnmowing business has heard social media is all the rage these days, but it's not wise to just dive blindly into the pool. You could be wasting money in the wrong avenue, but many businesses have found success with various ways.

For me, the best use of social media that businesses undertake involve some kind of promotion. At various times throughout the year, someone in my Facebook network invites me to an event page hosted by the restaurant promoting free burritos or a great burrito deal. When college students see something like this, it's hard to ignore. It's definitely worth waiting in the absurd lines on the day of the event. Businesses should be doing this more often: rewarding its social media using customers and reaching people it might not usually reach.

Twitter is sometimes used to similarly excite customers. The twitter account for the music festival Fun Fun Fun Fest always gives away free tickets before its annual event through trivia question announcements. The first tweet giving the correct answer wins the tickets. Although I've never won, it feels exciting and worthwhile that a business is willing to interact so closely with its fan base and offer something lucrative so easily. If a user is willing to subscribe or follow more closely to the Fun Fun Fun Fest twitter account because of their giveaways, he is more likely to pay attention to other FFF Fest related announcements. The same idea applies to Facebook promotions as well.

While promotions are the best way to excite people outside of your loyal fan base, social media is doubtlessly useful in other ways for those inside of it. When I am following one of my favorite new bands on their Facebook or Twitter page, I know there's not always an amazing promotion to jump at, but any kind of news or link they post is nonetheless interesting to me. Though it might not grab the attention of someone who's never heard of the band, I'm always eager to hear about what the guitarist had for dinner through Twitter or watch a new live video clip posted on Facebook. Social media is still a great way to interact with your fans, even if you're not actively recruiting new ones.

As a Facebook user, I'm primarily interested in what my friends are doing, but I use Twitter once in awhile primarily for businesses to reach me. Like I mentioned earlier, I want those free tickets, but the only way to get them is through Twitter. Since so many more companies (in my opinion) have jumped onto using Twitter more so and earlier than using Facebook, I think Twitter has a future involving strong business potential ahead of it. Get those users out there excited for what you have to offer!