Heroes in Business - What Ages are Where on Social, Debunking the Myths

Episode Date: March 10, 2021

Popular myths DEBUNKED about what works in social media marketing: "Young people are not on Facebook and older folks are not on Instagram." WRONG! Also, scheduling, frequency and a preview into The Hashtags Hustle! Apply what I teach, get better results on this episode of Social Media on Steroids with Dan Shinder www.advancedsocialmarketing.com www.eliances.com

Hi, and welcome to the Social Media on Steroids podcast. I'm Dan Schindler, and I created the Social Media on Steroids brand of education, training, consulting, and services to help others learn from my experience of achieving extraordinary results with content marketing on social. I attracted a following of over 1 million people and reach millions more online each month, 100% organically. In this series, I share the strategies that helped me cross all the milestones it took to get there and that we still use. And please, before we dive in, take down my email address in case you have questions. I answer all questions and I take suggestions for topics to be covered in this

series. You can reach me directly at dan at advancedsocialmarketing.com. And of course, the website is the same URL. Follow the blog there and the Advanced Social Marketing YouTube channel. Okay, let's jump in. YouTube channel okay let's jump in hey how's it going here we are with episode two what ages are on social debunking the myths and I'll cover some others as well but first I want you to know where all this information comes from so none of this is made up and none of this is from just reading a bunch of other articles and blogs and going to some webinars then formulating my own information this is from actual research but from also doing it and

having amazing results over the last eight years with my own brand from talk TV a lifestyle brand as well as many different clients in many different areas of business, from speakers to authors, from experts in real estate sales training, dental tech, automotive dealerships, big name dealerships. It goes on and on and on. So I want you to understand that everything I talk about, everything I teach comes from the actual experience of getting great results. And what I do my best to encourage people to not do is follow everyone over the cliff. I see so much of that, this herd mentality, believing a lot of the bunk information

and nonsense that's out there and following everyone over the cliff. It's like copying the person who's about to fail the test. Oh my gosh, I see so much of this in so many areas of content marketing, digital marketing, social media marketing. So let's talk about ages because you've probably all heard that the old farts like me, the senior citizens, they're not on Instagram, right? They're not on TikTok. And of course, the millennials and 18 to 24 year olds, they're not on Instagram, right? They're not on TikTok. And of course, the millennials and 18 to 24 year olds, they're not on Facebook, right? Facebook is an old person's platform. That's all

wrong. All age ranges are everywhere now. That doesn't mean that every single person is on every single platform, of course, but it does mean that every age is everywhere. So if you think, and I'm going to give you real examples, real facts. If you think the millennials are not on Facebook or the seniors are not on Instagram, you've really got it all wrong. So clear the slate, take a deep breath, look through things with a new lens, because the days of any particular age group relegated only to a particular platform, they're over. And I have the statistics to prove it. Not just mine, but clients as well of different industries. The fact is, is that any adult age demographic is found in healthy doses on all the big social platforms. This goes for followers of an endless list of lifestyle brands

and industries and service providers. The list goes on and on and on. It is not specific to one. This is the norm, not the exception. So it's not like, oh, well, that's just in music or that's just in automotive or that's just in health and wellness or that's just in fill in the blank. No, it's everywhere. Does this mean you can get away with being on only one platform? No. And I'll elaborate on that and what it does mean after we examine some examples. So in

a 30-day Instagram report that I have in front of me, and follow me on YouTube, you'll see this visually. I'm not even using the same recordings. I'm doing visual presentations on YouTube. But there's a 30-day Instagram report that I have in front of me of one of my clients' accounts. And it has 45 through 64-year-olds in force. Those are two different age groups. So 45 to 64-year-olds are making up 52.8% of their audience. And if you add the 35 to 44 year olds, it's a total of 71%. That's on Instagram. That's older people on Instagram. But everyone is saying that these age demographics are not on Instagram. Why? They're believing the myths, which perpetuates the myths. So how about Facebook? Everyone is saying that the 18 to 24 year olds and the 25 to 34 year olds are not on Facebook. What? Okay. I have many examples of the younger age ranges

on Facebook. So 51% of total followers of another page I'm looking at are 18 to 34. followers of another page I'm looking at are 18 to 34. And another 17% makes up 35 to 44-year-olds. So the lesson here is not to believe everything you hear or read, especially from someone who has not achieved tremendous results and studies the analytics. I know a guy, wink. But seriously, I know you could easily say, well, then why should we believe you? Well, maybe you missed the part where I said, unless they've had tremendous results and study the analytics. I have. I do. I still do. Every week, I look at our numbers. I look at our clients' numbers. And by the way, the examples that I just mentioned are not unique to Facebook and Instagram. It's the same for TikTok, for Twitter, and everything else. LinkedIn, everything else. All age demographics are on all platforms, okay? I just want to make sure everyone's clear

on that. So if that's the case, why have more than one channel since every age demographic is everywhere? Well, there's lots of reasons, actually, but it comes down to the fact that even if any given age demographic is on multiple platforms as followers, the usage varies from platform to platform. So I might be on six platforms, but I choose to follow the majority of the brands I follow on two of those. And even if I followed on all of them or one, it doesn't mean that I'm going to see all that content. So for instance, I love checking out my TikTok feed for breakfast in the morning. And then I might look at it late at night when I'm done working. I'm going to be 58 years old as of April 2nd, 2021. So depending on when you hear this, I might be 58, I might be 68. Who knows? And I'm in and out of Facebook all day long on business and a little bit as a consumer. On TikTok, not on

business, totally as a consumer. I have a funny TikTok story for you in a moment. But I check Instagram a couple times during the day. That's about it. I'm also in and out of LinkedIn all day. And I've really fallen in love with TikTok as a consumer. People have shorter and shorter attention spans, including me, and it's really short and really great stuff. So here's my funny TikTok versus Instagram story real quick. Bear with me here. There's a little lesson in here because the lesson I think is maybe you just never know. So I've never been an Instagram fan. I just, I don't like it. I think it's crap. Sorry. First of all, you can't drive traffic with it unless you have one of a few specialized third party programs. So the average person doesn't have that. The average business

doesn't have that. So they're just getting a bunch of likes. Big deal. Likes don't buy product. Likes don't go to websites. Likes don't click Big deal. Likes don't buy product. Likes don't go to websites. Likes don't click on links. Likes don't order your services, order your products, hire you for services, your consulting, buy your book, whatever it is. So I really took a long time to get on board on the business side of Instagram. But we finally did, I don't know, two and a half, three years ago, whatever it was, two years ago maybe. But that didn't change how I felt about it. So there's this guy, his name's Joe Coffey. And Joe is a consultant with Drum Talk TV, really good friend.

And he calls me one day and he says, Dan, you got to get Drum Talk TV on TikTok. I'm like, what? He says, yeah, you got to get on TikTok. Early adopter, it's blown up and it's great. I'm like, Joe, isn't, and I was just naive. I said, Joe, isn't TikTok like police officers doing karaoke or some kind of thing? No, you got to check it out, check it out, check it out. Just open a personal account, check it out, call me in two weeks. So I did that. The second day I had TikTok, I was scrolling through at breakfast and I get a notice from TikTok that basically said, hey, looks like you might be moving too fast and you want to slow down because they could see I was already falling down the rabbit hole. And the stuff I follow on TikTok is mostly funny, funny, funny, funny stuff and some travel stuff and some food stuff. Almost no music whatsoever. So I called Joe after a couple of weeks. I said, Joe, TikTok. Yeah. Deep rabbit hole. Hey, by the way, Joe, you remember when I told you and I'm substituting a word, okay? My mask

word is crap. That's not the real word I used, but to keep this a little cleaner, because I could get really colorful with language. My wife has always reminded me, wear a filter. You're around the kids. I'm like, the kids are 26 to 45. She says, no, no, no, the grandkids. Okay, that's different. So I said, Joe, remember what crap I said Instagram was all that time? He said, yeah. I said, well, now that you threw me down the TikTok hole and I've fallen in love with TikTok, TikTok, TikTok. Yeah, breath mint too. I totally see the value of TikTok.

And now I think that Instagram is even more crap than the crap I thought it was before I realized what crap it really is. So that's just my perspective. Obviously, not everyone feels like that. But from a business standpoint, if you can't drive traffic with it, what's the point? Seriously. All right, let's keep it moving. So that's an example of how I feel about Instagram. And I would never, this is important, I would never design my marketing strategies for my business or my clients around my own behaviors or of usage or my sensibilities because I know better than to think that all 58-year-olds are just like me, let alone 28 years old. And this is a common misstep in thinking I come across often. I hear clients or prospects or people at seminars, webinars, things like that that I do. I know those are old-fashioned words. Sorry about that. Insert your favorite term at the current buzzword. But I hear people say, I would never

watch that, or I would never read all that, or I would never follow that platform. It's not about you. You are never going to buy anything from you. It's not about you. It's about the variety of the different personas who make up the different segments of your target market. And none of them are all the same. So it's really important to remember that. So after all, like I said, you're never going to buy anything from you. And if you do, I hope you give yourself a great deal. So it's truly about everyone else. And for you, it's really about getting educated and understanding what's really going on out there, how it really works. Stop following everyone off the cliff. Stop believing the nonsense. your self-proclaimed expert uncle that you see twice a year at a holiday drunk at the table who says, or maybe he's 74 and says, you know, who's never achieved amazing results and so on. Learn from someone who has done it. If it's not me, that's fine. Learn from me at least how to

vet a service provider or someone you want to take a workshop or course from if it's not me. Totally fine with that. I've been doing this since 2012 consistently getting great results and I'm always going to tell it like it is. I'm never going to buy into the herd mentality. I always do my best to help people from making the most common mistakes with social media, content marketing, and it all boils down to this. Stop following what everyone else is doing because that's what they're doing. Don't do it. That's not good enough reason. Okay. So quick story, if you don't know it, in the first year of my lifestyle brand, Drum Talk TV, where we never paid for an ad, never boosted a post, we surpassed all of our media industry peers, fluffy word for competitors, by 900%

combined in online reach and engagement. And some of these companies were between 15 and 40 years old, and they don't have a clue. I say that with all the love and respect in the world, but seriously, otherwise, how would we have done that? There's no way I'm that much smarter than everybody. Or am I? But we've still eight years in from Drum Talk TV started January of 2013. We still have never run an ad, never boosted a post, and we still reach millions of people a month. So there you go. Let's talk

about busting some other myths. Okay. And if questions about any of this, send me questions. I answer all questions. If you have suggestions for what you want covered, send it in dan at advanced social marketing.com. Okay. How about this? How about when to post? That's probably the most common question I get asked. And before I tell you when to post, allow me to tell you what absolutely does not work. And that comes with the story as well. About a year ago, someone without any explanation, great friend of mine who writes business books, Jim Plouffe. Oh, by the way, I quote Jim in all of my books and things that I do. Jim says he writes business management books, The Lazy Manager.

He's got three volumes out. It's Plouffe, P-L-O-U-F-F-E, Jim Plouffe. He says, never take advice from someone who hasn't done what you want to do. Kind of what I was talking about earlier. So Jim sends me this article without saying anything about it. And the title I knew, you know, okay, I should read this. So it's this guy who has a blog and he's talking about when to post. And he says, you should post four o'clock on Thursdays on Facebook. 4 o'clock on Thursdays. 4 o'clock where? That's just the most ridiculous BS advice

I've ever heard. And I'm going to just give you the tip of the iceberg as to why. First of all, once a week won't do it. I'll get into that. 4 o'clock on Thursdays is completely ambiguous being that how many people listening to this live in different time zones? That's why I say four o'clock where and it doesn't matter where you are.

It matters where your audience is and if they're awake and likely online. OK, so there's a lot of garbage out there. Frequency. That's why the once a week doesn't work. You need to post on a regular basis no matter what platform it is for many reasons. Let's just take Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for now. The less you post, the less those platforms will show your content. When you post, they're going to give greater distribution to those that are using the product, those that are using their platform. So you really need to post, brace yourselves, and I'll even soften it up. My softened up version, once a day. And that's the soft, soft, letting you off easy until you take my course and I give you the real scoop.

But if you start posting once a day, I guarantee right away you'll see your reach grow. There's no way it won't work. Everything I teach, there's no way it doesn't work. And I don't mean to sound pompous or cavalier, but I'm speaking from results. So frequency is very important. Also never post on all your channels at the same time. I have an exception that I'll get to. So whether you do it manually, whether you schedule things into the queue manually or use a whoozy doodle app like Hootsuite or Buffer or Later or whatever. Don't take the shortcut of wanting to press one button and schedule the post for the exact same time on all your channels. Because then you're kind of like wasting the opportunity. If not all your followers are on all those channels, then it might not hit their feed.

So we scatter stuff. We post everything on Facebook first, and within a day or two, it hits our other four channels. And I do that for all our clients too. Spread out your distribution. And don't put the purple posts on Facebook, the red ones on Instagram, the green ones on YouTube. Everything should go everywhere.

The exception is still image content can't go on YouTube, of course, unless you make a video that just shows that for a few minutes or whatever. But I think you understand what I mean. So spread out your distribution, which is really syndication when you're on different channels. So hopefully this all makes sense. the exception is if it's breaking news if it's breaking news in our industry or your industry someone acquires a company some amazing new product gets released or you have a time-based sale narrow window unfortunately if someone passes away or whatever blast it out all on your

channels all at the same time. That's the exception. Okay, so here's another one. I still see this, and this goes back, gosh, about seven or eight years where there was this myth that if you liked your own post, it would keep putting it back in the feed no that's not how it works it never did it still doesn't and I doubt it ever will don't like your own posts no matter what platform you're on Facebook Instagram LinkedIn knickknack paddywhack doesn't matter it just makes it look like you don't know how to use a plan of course you like it it's your post. It's your content. Of course you like it. So toss that one aside. How about this one? Not all likes or followers are actually fans. So a real fan is someone who truly follows what you do and hopefully engages with your content.

The more they engage with your content, the more they're going to receive your content as well. But also what's important about that is you can learn from them. You can learn what they like, what they don't like, what they want more of, what they want less of. This is why it's important to go back and do community management. Go through your content. Look at the interaction you got. Answer questions. It still blows my mind every time we answer a question on a post on Drum Talk TV. Inevitably someone says, wow, I didn't expect an answer. We have over a million fans on our

Facebook page. So of course they would think, ah, they're too big, but I'm going to ask anyways. They ask a question on a post, we answer. They say, well, I didn't expect an answer. What does that mean? It means that's the experience they're used to. So give better customer service. Pay attention. Build that relationship. Humanize the experience. Break down that digital facade and interact with them. They'll become your super fans. They will champion your brand and you'll achieve trust, likability, and brand love. You need those three things to happen before they buy from you, let alone sign up for an email list, let alone maybe even click on a call to action link to go to your website. You are putting in call to action links in your posts, right? to your website. You are putting in call to action links in your posts, right? So not all likes, quote unquote, are fans. And your content really needs to rock. We can't think for a moment that everyone's just waiting. Well, if you do a good enough job, people will wait for your content. But what does good enough job mean? That means you're getting a bleep load of video views. You are posting video, right? A bleep load of video views,

a bleep load of shares, a bleep load of comments, which is engagement. The emojis don't matter. Pay no attention to how many likes or hearts or smiley faces your posts get. That doesn't matter. People could argue, well, it means that 200 people liked my post. Yeah, but if there's no shares, they're not caring enough to share it with like-minded people. If there's no comments, they're not really engaging with your content or care enough to. So what matters the most is comments and shares, comments and shares, shares and comments, comments and shares. Comments are where you learn from your audience and they learn from you. And like I said, you humanize the experience. Shares are where you learn from your audience and they learn from you. And like I said, you humanize experience. Shares are where you grow organically.

If you're on Facebook or whatever platform you're on, imagine this. In the first seven weeks of Drum Talk TV, we had 47,000 fans, followers, let's call them. And they all became fans on facebook 47 000 in the first seven weeks without ever boosting a post and this is before video video was the giant game changer because video is more compelling that's the number one way studies show that that's the number one way people prefer to receive and consume content whether it's news or entertainment or education, whatever it is. So very, very important to understand your content needs to rock because everyone's got a channel on whatever platform you've ever heard of. So we need to stand out. There's no scale now because everyone's on all these different platforms.

all these different platforms. So I hope that makes sense. So let's review. Let's review starting from the beginning. All ages are everywhere now. The older folks are on Instagram. The younger folks are on Facebook. Everyone's on LinkedIn, on and on and on. You heard the statistics. Rewind. Listen to this a couple of times. Let it marinate. Let it sink in. All age demographics are on all platforms. This is very important. Okay. Not all likes are fans. Don't just post once a week at the same time. And there is no magic once a week time. There just isn't. Use frequency. Post at least once a day on every freaking platform. I'll teach you time management and how to create this much content. I know people think, oh, I don't have time. Hey, I get busy. Okay. I have two big businesses. I help my wife with her business. We have 11 kids between the two of us

and 19 grandkids and a cat. I understand busy. I got it done. I still get it done. I do have a team now, but for the first four and a half years, I the only one doing it and some of our clients I do all their stuff I do all their stuff Stephen does a bunch of their stuff we're bringing Deanna on to do more stuff so what's next your content needs to rock not all likes or fans much more to be covered in future episodes and the biggest myth I'm going to debunk for you is on episode three, which is the hashtag hustle. They do not work the way you think they work. Here, I'll give you a little teaser. What hashtags do people use? They use the most quote unquote popular hashtags, right? They're using generic unbranded hashtags, right? So let me ask you a question. If 62,489 people are using the same hashtag,

let's just say coaching, this week, four times a week, and you're using that hashtag, how is that gonna help your content be found if you're just one more grain of sand on the beach of that same hashtag? It doesn't work like that. You won't hear this from anyone else. I'm the only person that's figured it out and I'll explain on episode three. Stay tuned. Like I said, much more to be covered in many, many, many episodes to come.

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You can reach me directly at danatadvancedsocialmarketing.com and see how I can help you further at the same URL check out the blog there and follow the advanced social marketing YouTube channel as well you can also connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com slash in slash Dan Schindler happy marketing