The Value of a Linked In Profile

Linked In is a social media platform used for business professionals. I currently have a Linked In profile but I have not fully created my profile yet. I am waiting until I have a clear goal for the platform before I decide to use it to its full potential. I learned about Linked In from my social media class and am convinced of its usefulness. When I graduate and decide on a goal for the platform I will finish creating my profile and use it on a regular basis.

Multi-Generation

Today’s market is diverse in many different aspects. An aspect that can prove to be difficult to sift through is age. In order to understand a particular generation a person needs to learn the views that the generation shares. Interviewing a person is one way to get to know their views and how those views differ from the views of other generations. When implementing a social media strategy it is important to understand what generations fall under the target market in order for that strategy to work.

Different generations vary on their views of social media. During my interview, I found out that the person I was interviewing had not yet used social media because they hadn’t deemed it useful enough to use yet. If they wanted to talk to someone, they would call them. The fact that there is an “interaction” without face-to-face communication seemed unfriendly and insincere in their view. Hearing each other’s’ voice, or seeing their face established a more intimate and friendly interaction then simply reading letters that someone typed without an investment in getting together to meet or call one another. My generation views social media differently, because we can see the sincerity in what someone typed and establish friendly interaction without talking or meeting in person. Another view is the internet is used for business. The person I interviewed is very active and views the internet as a place to shop, email employees, or to pay bills. Leisure activities are done with friends and family, away from the computer. This is very different from my generation. About half of my interaction with friends is online. I use the internet for both business and leisure activities. Whether it is video games, Skype, Facebook, or email I use these outlets more than I do my cell phone for friend and family interaction.

A challenge to social media strategies to market effectively to the generation of the person I interviewed is that most of them do not use social media as much as other generations. So the marketing has to be twice as effective in order to justify using social media.

Social Media Empowering Customers

Social media empowers consumers by giving them a voice. If I am contemplating buying a new product I know nothing about, I ask people I trust about it… but if they do not know where could I turn? Before social media, the next natural step may have been the store, but now a person could just look up what people are commenting about the product using Facebook. This empowers customers to give nonbiased feedback on products they have used and receive the same feedback to use for products they wish to learn more about. For example, this camera already is generating feedback from customers.

 

 

Online/Offline Media

In the case study, Case Study: ROI of Social Media Campaign for Sea World San Antonio – A Year Later*, Sea World’s online/offline social media campaign was explored. They used both online and offline activities. These activities proved successful by gaining lots of attention for their new ride (Journey to Atlantis), increase their revenue, calculate an ROI for their social media campaign, and they were about to gain valuable experience.

They used both online and offline activities in their campaign. Offline, they created an analysis of influential voices. This analysis found 22 coaster enthusiasts and they later used this information to target them to be used to promote their coaster. These enthusiasts used blogs and forums to discuss their passion of coasters. In order to direct their passion of coasters towards Sea World’s new ride, Sea World gave them special VIP access to the ride. This exclusive access generated buzz and increased the ride’s awareness. Online, they created a content rich website, deployed videos and photos (via YouTube, Flickr, Veoh), and created online surveys for their customers. These online and offline activities lead to their successful social media campaign.

-Sources

*http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com/2008/04/case-study-roi-of-social-media-campaign.html