Why do people get involved with social sites?

I read this on BuzzCanuck:

It seems tat IBM recently did some research as to why people join online communities and what motivates them to stay connected. It's very interesting and has a few lessons for marketers who are looking to explore social media.

Here are the top three reason why people join online communities.

The three biggest ones are most telling as identified by IBM''s research:
1) intrinsic/feeling part of a community (31%) - we all want to feel part of some larger whole
2) extrinsic - recognition from peers (28%) - a feeling of validation and respect from you peer network
3) brand kinship (9%) - a genuine affiliation with brands that either solve our problems or reflect our values

So what does this mean for marketers? I think you can take different things from the data. I take that even though people are online by themselves, they want to reach out to others. And if you combine this with reason number 3, you could see that if you build a bigger idea that ties into your brand, you could have some success online.

I think the key is creating an idea that makes people feel that they are part of something larger - a movement perhaps. Maybe it's a community based around a common interest that pertains to a lot of the people who use your brand, or who you want to use your brand. It could provide a good introduction to your brand. get people interested in the community and then show them how your brand fits into that community.

I think #3 also shows perhaps that branding is not dead. Indeed you could postulate that you need to build your brand in the real, offline world before you can expect a large community to develop around it online.

Something to think about.

Comments

[Dave]

"I think #3 also shows perhaps that branding is not dead. Indeed you could postulate that you need to build your brand in the real, offline world before you can expect a large community to develop around it online."

Yup. Absolutely on the mark!

If we take a step back and consider social marketing as just another communication vehicle, the basic principle of communication still holds. That being, why should people care about you/your company in the first place. If you can't answer that one, then anything you do ("social" or not) will be pretty much useless eh wot?