Is Marketing to Blacks on Twitter #winning?

African Americans have historically been a difficult demographic to market towards, but Twitter could be making it easier. According to a study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, roughly 18% of Twitter’s users are black. This doesn’t seem very significant, until one takes into account that that’s nearly twice the 10% of US Internet users who are black, and more than the 11% of black users Facebook has. Furthermore, 40% of black Internet users aged 18-29 use Twitter, whereas only 28% of whites in the same age group do.

At the time of this writing, Black People Tweet (@BlkPplTweet) had 117,031 followers. The Atlanta Journal Constitution (@ajc) only has 109,055. Black People Tweet essentially has a bigger immediate reach than a paper that reaches 1.4 million print readers weekly, not to mention the countless Internet readers as well.

Black Twitter followers, using #BlackTwitter, have recently started using their power as a social community to enact change. When Paula Deen used racist language, Black Twitter called for her to lose her job and then she was fired. When it was felt that African American females were underrepresented on the show SNL, Black Twitter called for a change and new cast members were hired. Black Twitter also played a huge role in the Trayvon Martin media buzz, with contributions to the 5 million tweets sent in the first 26 hours after the verdict was announced. Black Twitter even went as far as to protest a book planned by a juror in the Trayvon Martin case, causing the agent to drop the book deal. 

Clearly African Americans have a huge influence in the Twitter community, and know how to use this community to their advantage. They comprise a large demographic that marketers need to start focusing more on. However, this demographic comes with challenges that many businesses are unprepared for. Black users are more likely than others to reply to each other’s tweets, follow each other, and retweet each other’s tweets. Black users are also more likely to use a different lexicon in their tweets. Marketers should take note of this and attempt to provide an authentic, engaging experience in order to foster interaction. 

Twitter is a unique platform in that it has a sense of immediacy most other social media platforms lack. Many people check it for instantaneous news updates and developments. The combination of this immediacy and the general disposition among black users, can cause them to behave strongly in one direction at any given moment. This could provide the tipping point for the right product or service, or could potentially damage a company’s reputation for coming across as racially insensitive. 

Word to the wise: Try to be the former, not another Paula Deen. 

Like This to Cure Cancer!

I recently read an article on CNN about “like farming,” which is a new technique scammers are using to take advantage of users’ good intentions on Facebook. A user “likes” or “shares” an uplifting picture or story (think beating cancer or stopping animal abuse), and then once the page has enough views, it can be converted to advertisements. It may even be sold to the highest bidder, who can profit from these newfound fans and the increased web traffic surrounding their page.

This will affect companies who genuinely are trying to engage with their consumers over Facebook. Already consumers are being pushed away by companies who want them to constantly “like”, “share”, and “retweet” their advertisements. Adding the frequency of these scams to the issue can only heighten consumers’ distrust, and make them less likely to engage with companies on social media platforms. 

To combat these negative feelings, companies should focus on producing quality, original content. Yes it’s expensive. Yes it’s difficult. But nothing good ever comes easy, and if a company wants to build a meaningful relationship with their consumer, they’re going to have to put in the effort. These consumers will then recommend the company to friends, which makes the company seem like a reputable business, instead of being annoying and in-your-face. 

Of course if this doesn't work, I'm sure there's a page against animal abuse that can be bought for the right price.