Don’t just do Social Media – Think like a digital native (Part 2)

By Stephanie Weg

In my last entry, I wrote about the fact that Social Media initiatives should be based on Digital Native thinking – the participatory way Generation Y and Generation Z interact with the world. 

So how do I create something "participatory?

Three principles were used in Social Media initiatives like Dell Idea Storm and Smith’s Chips “Do us a flavor” to ensure success.  Put these principles on a sticky note right on eye level – they will make your project a successful, truly digital native initiative.

1. Create value for both sides

Social Media is based on the power of community, of people participating freely in the initiative. This will only work if there is something in it for your audience. Aim to create win-win situations in which you gather data, information and feedback in a useful form while the user has fun providing this feedback and willingly spreads the word about the initiative – because they can show off, they can enlist friends for their cause or they can give friends access to something new and exciting.

2. Create a dialogue

Social Media is used in its true sense only if a two-way communication takes place, i.e. if blog entries, Facebook updates or Tweets spark something in your audience that leads them to reply to them, allowing you to learn from this and engage your audience rather than throwing lots of content in a black hole. Remember point one – you want to create value for both sides. 

 3. Make it fast and integrated in everyday life

People are busy today, things have to be Twitter-quick, fun and easy. People are extremely perceptive for things which make their life easier, things which integrate in their busy schedule and allow them to be more efficient. When you create a Social Media initiative, have the guts to compromise on all the nice potential features and rather keep the core functionality which covers the essentials and make it fast and practical so it fits in the life of a Digital Native.  

To recap the key points in this topic: Digital native thinking for Social Media campaigns means participatory campaigns which create value for both sides, establish a dialogue and integrate in everyday life. These are the success factors to develop a good social media initiative. Good luck!