Over the past 20 years we have analyzed human behaviors on social media to understand everything from why someone is happy with a product and decides to share that with their friends/following to other scenarios where anger, discontent and other factors create something more extreme like a PR nightmare. This post touches more on that.
To kick things off, one of the biggest mishaps we’ve seen over time is companies and their internal teams operating in a bubble/industry without understanding what’s actually going on in the big picture on a daily basis. For example, looking at social media behaviors in particular, do you want to know when trends are happening now or 6 months later when it finally trickles down to your business/radar and the value is almost gone?
Marketing teams in particular have struggled here, and it’s absolutely critical to analyze not only your customers and their behaviors on social media (linguistics, time/place, etc.) but also your competitors because many times secrets can be unlocked there. Essentially, put on some music and your tinfoil hat and spend an hour or two each week watching your competition along with their customers while thinking about ways to convert them to being your customers.
When it comes to PR nightmares which we’ve guided for ages that nowadays are heavily fueled by social media, understanding behaviors on social media becomes even more critical because there’s already a heated situation and the slightest misstep can do more harm than good. It takes a team (both internal and external) to create a knight in shining armor that can fight through that and come out on top in the end.
Understanding social media behaviors also ties back to the financial industry and the GameStop short squeeze powered by Reddit along with a multitude of other scenarios are prime examples. That initially led to a lot of controversy and also a clear roadmap for the future.
Taking potential controversy one step further, this post wouldn’t be complete if we failed to touch on how social media is continuing to play a key role in a wide variety of legal cases ranging from civil to criminal yet at the same time many attorneys and court systems, including judges (no disrespect to them), are just not savvy with the times now, which isn’t their fault.
At the same time, and due to that, many cases require social media expert witnesses to come in and share their thoughts which is no different than a brain surgeon testifying about head trauma in a personal injury case. Yet who actually gets social media behaviors and can add value to cases on the high level then also testify at trial?
The moral of the story: Whether you’re a local restaurant serving the best food or a global company, understanding social media behaviors related to your business is key.