You know those really shitty high school parties you went to when you were in your teens, and even though they always sucked, you’d ALWAYS go to the next one?
And the thing is you didn’t really want to go, but felt you had to, because FOMO. But the party ended, and you left wondering how you wasted 5 hours of your life in the name of socialising, when all you really did was play fetch with the host’s dog. Ugh thank god that stage of our lives is over!
Yeah, well you do that every day. Dear reader, welcome to Facebook, AKA a bad high school party. Facebook has its’ own cliques, they might have different names to your classic high school one, but at the end of the day tomayto tomahto.
According to a research paper in 2015, Facebook can be divided into 4 different segments, or cliques if you will. They are identified according to their consumption and creation. They are, Attention Seekers, Devotees, Entertainment Chasers and Connection Seekers.
So at the party, we have the Attention Seekers, (you know exactly who I am referring to) who are characterised by low levels of consumption and high levels of creation on Facebook. They can be known to use Facebook in order to foster admiration, appreciation and even jealousy of their Facebook friends. They will glamorise their statuses and be sure to update us all of what they are up to. EVERY. FREAKIN. MINUTE…… Mate, we know you went to Adele last night, we were updated every 2 minutes!
Furthermore the article found that Attention Seekers usually will comment on their own threads thanking their “fans”, but very rarely comment on the posts of their friends, simply because they do not take the time to read through their news feed.
Then we have the Devotees, essentially they are Facebook’s cheerleaders, but at a party, theyre more of the whingers. They love Facebook because its a place for them to vent and find support from their Facebook friends. Their statuses and comments are usually long, and text based, rather than image based.
Overall, these users are seeking some much-needed emotional support (#virtual hug). Unlike attention seekers, Devotees are highly involved in generating new content for their walls, as well as reading and commenting on their friends’ status updates.
Then, the Entertainment Chasers, who are identified by their low levels of consumption and creation. They mainly use Facebook when they’re bored, or avoid being bored. They usually use their phones to access Facebook, therefore allowing them to to check what everyone is up to whenever there is a low level activity. These are your classic “Facebook stalkers”, or at a party, the gossipers.
Lastly, there’s the Connection Seekers, the host of the party. They have high levels of consumption and a low level of creation on Facebook. Connection Seekers are social people who enjoy using the Facebook medium to enhance their daily life friendships. They also use Facebook to maintain past and present friendships when geographical distance or differing schedules get in the way.
Basically Connection Seekers have found Facebook to be the perfect virtual hangout to have fun with their current and past real-life friends. Connection Seekers usually don’t post original content and do not share their daily lives on Facebook. However, they often comment on their friends’ posts and updates. If they do post content, its often impersonal in nature and it is a way of sharing their interests or entertainment bits with their network of friends. Personal updates are generally saved for important life events. Ya hear me? Important! Jennifer no one cares what you had for lunch.
So it’s really important for Digital Marketers to understand that not all users of Facebook are created equal. The more tailored the marketing is for each segment, the more fondly the marketing will be received.
It is recommended that brands recruit and empower the Attention Seekers and Devotees.
For example, Attention Seekers are the stars of their Facebook community and can serve as very powerful real-life celebrity endorsers, an influencer. Brands should tap into the fact that they can empower attention seekers to become the face of the brand in their Facebook community. Attention Seekers will create the needed social buzz and use their online presence to endorse the brand, making it ‘cool’ in each attention seeker’s social circle.
However when it comes to Devotees, given that they spend large amounts of time on Facebook, marketers should encourage these high creation–high consumption individuals to create, post and circulate their own brand-related content on the brand community’s page as well as their own wall.
To target Entertainment Chasers, marketers should use entertaining videos, quizzes, polls, and games. It is also highly recommended, that marketers combine entertainment with competition by having contests offering various monetary rewards. The monetary rewards can lead to word-of-mouth advertising. Further research found that coupons collected through branded entertainment are perceived as personal achievements and are therefore most likely to be redeemed and shared with friends.
Lastly, when it comes to Connection Seekers, the brands should remember that even though they are fostering a brand community, it should not be about the brand. Rather the emphasis needs to be about the lives of those who USE the brand. This is the best way to engage Connection Seekers.
So, there you have it, thats everyone at the shitty high-school party. So even if you don’t end up using this information for marketing purposes, I’ve saved you the need to go that party you have this weekend. Now you can spend your Saturday night watching Netflix without the FOMO….. your’e welcome.
I want to know what you think, what kind of Facebook user are you? Have you found brands actually use this information to target you on Facebook?
Very interesting article here! I think you forgot to add which category the dog is in (surely entertainment chaser)
I agree that Facebook has divided the audience into different segments, but i also believe people can vary from group to group. An example of this is where the host becomes a guest at another party – he/she will fall into a different category.
I think the more we age and the more we adapt, the easier it will be to switch from category to category.
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Hahaha, the dog is the one who goes to whoever gives him the most attention!
Thats a really interesting thought, that you can switch from category to category with age/maturity. I think that would definitely happen. I know that when we were teenagers, we would use Facebook to vent to the world, but I’ve found that as I’ve gotten older, I use to Facebook to foster relationships with people I cant see everyday.
I wonder if one falls under one category on Facebook, but another category on lets say, Instagram?
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Loved the comparison to a bad high school party! In some ways it definitely is. I’m definitely someone who never posts on Facebook these days, and only use it when I’m deadly bored or to talk to friends… so I would say I’m some where between an Entertainment Chaser and Connection Seeker!
Honestly I don’t think any specific type of advertising would not work on me… I can see all types being successful. As long as the advertisement reaches to me on a personal level, satisfies my need/want and is backed up by WOM I would most likely be buying it. The method of delivery is up to them!
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I agree with you, im also somewhere between an Entertainment Chaser and a Connection Seeker, and use Facebook for the same reasons as you.
I think that even though you say any type of advertising would work on you as long as its personal is great from a marketer’s perspective. However, some forms of advertising are stronger than others, and then therefore may be more suited to different segments of Facebook users.
Thanks for the comment!
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Absolutely loved this post – your metaphor is so accurate!
I would definitely categorise myself as an Entertainment Chaser. I am a sucker for quizzes and videos of derpy dogs and basically just waiting around for an Attention Seeker to post a rant as their status.
I definitely think the only form of Facebook marketing that has caught my attention are competitions and quizzes to get a free burger or something. Basically I am not interested in any brand’s Facebook posts until they offer me something free unless I already have a strong loyalty towards them already.
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Haha I love how honest you are, about your Facebook use!
I definitely find that when Im scrolling through my newsfeed I am usually waiting for an attention seeker to post something funny, and to start ranting.
Well, quizzes and competitions are definitely the way to catch an entertainment chaser’s attention, so as long as brands keep trying to target the entertainment chasers in this way, they will most like get the entertainment chasers interacting with the brand.
Thanks for the comment 🙂
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Love the article, I’m definitely not a big poster on Facebook gotta say I’m an entertainment seeker but must say I’m getting less and less of that by the day at the moment. However, Sportsbet is a great example of a company understanding their audience, their posts are hilarious, entertainment!! I can’t say I’ve seen many others following a similar lead (besides for the other betting companies mooching off Sportsbets idea)
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Thanks for the comment!
Sportsbet is definitely a company doing it right, and i think a reason for this is that they understand their audience and appeal mainly to the entertainment chasers.
I agree, i hardly post on Facebook, and ill mainly share articles that i find interesting, and things that are more personal, ill send through a private message.
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I would probably fall under the category of Entertainment Chaser, due to my lack of activity on Facebook nowadays. The only reason why Facebook is still installed on my phone is probably just the need for me to stay updated on the news feed of the various community groups that I am in.
I do feel that Facebook is a very useful marketing platform for brands to their sophisticated targeting systems in place, that could literally pinpoint potential customers based on levels of education, job title or even current workplace in addition to their standard metrics like age, gender and location.
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Yeah, I’m seeing a reoccurring pattern here that most of the people commenting are Entertainment Chasers…. I wonder why that is? Seems were kind of over Facebook, its not new anymore, and there’s lots of other apps…….and we only keep the app to be updated by people who are not Entertainment Chasers.
However, as you said, Facebook does have a lot of information that would be beneficial to marketers and brands. Maybe we’ll see Instagram eventually take the lead in terms of quality of information?
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