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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS
Social media user typologies
Pinterest users are predominantly female and deal
According to the latest study from Statista, worldwide
there are approximately 1.6 billion users active in social mainly with one or a few specially selected themes.
networks. Hence, social media comprises the largest In order to attract these users to other contents,
part of the Internet communication, attracting advertis- combinations of two or more topics should be cre-
ers that can powerfully take off in the next few years by ated. Related topics can be linked via the dash-
responding to the different characters. board.
TWT Interactive, the German based agency for digital For Instagram posters the pictorial visual commu-
transformation, recently came up with the idea to identi- nication is important. With few words, yet very emo-
fy different social media user groups and their expecta- tional and expressive, contents are shared and
tions. spread. Audio-, photo- and video files in high quali-
ty are especially appealing to this group.
The main user types discovered by TWT Interactive are Google+ users are the most versatile among the
as follows: target groups. They not only read news, are
knowledge driven and very connected to their im-
mediate surroundings, but also intensively cultivate
Xing users are mainly interested in specific expert contacts with family and friends. For this group,
knowledge; business contacts and industry-specific holistic care is important.
information is a priority for the group. Hence, partic-
ularly specialized articles and targeted industry spe- In addition to the typology, however, the actual behav-
cific content is well placed there. ior of users should be considered as well, especially
since the majority of social media users is passive. Alt-
Twitter users employ the brevity of a tweet to get hough they read posts, they are not actively getting
information in 140 characters. The packaging is ra- involved in communications. Active users can be recog-
ther secondary here, but it is important to display nized by their vertical behavior, which means that they
content efficiently, since it is scanned and examined operate on multiple channels. They participate in a vari-
if it is relevant. Therefore, provide more background ety of topics, blogs, posts and follow with interest the
information and links. conversations of other users. In contrast, users with
horizontal behavior are strongly influenced by emo-
Blog readers like background information and inter- tions. How much they are attracted by the themes,
esting or humorous stories. Understanding the de- shows the intense debate on a channel. A good exam-
tails is an important aspect for them. An extensive ple are communities and platforms related to a specific
research is worthwhile to make content more au- field in which users can actively participate, but not
thentic and convincing for these users. necessarily.
Facebook fans like to keep in touch and take part in
conversations interactively. Through the platform TWT Interactive concludes that the extensive and in-
and the messenger, they exchange content with tensive examination of the right target groups is the
their friends and acquaintances almost on a daily essential foundation for further marketing activities and
basis. Therefore, pick up personal wordings, per- an individual social media strategy.◊
sonalized content and contact overarching interests. By Daniela La Marca
8 Asian eMarketing April 2015 - Social Media
