The Social Media Pecking Order

I've been watching an interesting phenomenon in social media circles — an undeniable pecking order that has people always reaching higher and rarely reaching lower. And it has me considering why two-way conversation is such a powerful tool in social media.

But before I delve into the marketing ramifications, I should probably begin with my observations.

I first noticed this phenomenon on Twitter. Consider when the "@" reply gets used. (For those of you who have not been "twitterized," the "@" reply is the means of publicly addressing an individual, as opposed to the "d" response which is for direct messages.) Now think hard about all the instances that the "@" gets used and you see a trend of social acknowledgment or social climbing. I know I'm guilty of it. You usually "@" people only if you feel they are your equal or if you want them to notice you. And when you reach below yourself, you are imparting wisdom and recognizing someone for excellence in some way.

The higher up the ladder, the worse this becomes. People are constantly responding publicly to the likes of @leolaporte, but rarely does the flow go the other way. And in all fairness, it really can't. The more popular you are, the more impossible it becomes to respond to everyone and you develop a selective decision-making process of deciding to whom you're going to address. Does this person benefit me? How would I feel if this person takes notice of my post? Who will see that I have the street-cred to actually address this person?

There's so much emotion and pride tied into the commenting and responding options built into most social media. These tools are allowing you to ride the coat-tails of someone else's fame for a moment and possibly become famous yourself. Which is the reason the comment section of video game blogs thrive and why DIGG posters compete to be first to post new stories. It's a kind of pseudo fame that people find incredibly valuable. With very minimal effort, a simple post or receiving a public response from an "@" message can get you noticed by many more people than currently know who you are.

So how can marketers capitalize on this phenomenon?

It starts with content. Don't sell. Provide information or entertainment or some idea that people find valuable. Get them engaged with you and your thinking first. Create an emotional reason to be with you. This fulfills both the direct need for content, as well as attracting enough other people to offer the respondent a potential audience for themselves if they are so inclined.

Next, provide an open avenue for attention and self-promotion. We all have to police our blogs for unwanted porn ads, but for the most part take a hands off approach. Let your users express themselves and showcase their own talents. This both solidifies loyalty (let's face it, even negative posters are loyal if they keep coming back) and offers you a source of additional content for attracting more audience.

And finally, respond. Do it selectively (we don't want look easy, after all) but always remember the power of taking direct notice of your customers. EA did a fantastic job with his, taking notice of a YouTube poster who showed a glitch in their Tiger Woods golf game, then creating their own video to show that it wasn't really a glitch (wink, wink) when promoting the latest edition of the game. It shows they are in touch, can laugh at themselves and are willing to engage with their customers. But most importantly, it encourages other users to engage with more content and further promote the game. The promise of "fame" is too much to resist.

So few people expect to be noticed by big companies. So when we do notice them, it has a lot of impact. And social media allows us to showcase these responses in a public fashion that can provide untold PR and sales benefits for our brands.