Stages of Social Media Engagement

Chris Hall over at Crumple It Up (a Humana Innovation) recently blogged about an “Inbound Marketing Bootcamp” for Humana’s IT and HR departments.  One term he mentioned that really caught my eye was “Social Media Sympathizers.”  Here is what he said:

“Let’s face it, whether they are engaged in social media or not, most people are at least curious to know what all the fuss is about. Throwing an event like this gets people in your organization talking, leading up the event. By identifying the people who are interested in the subject, you are able to find like minds who will eventually help your business become the social enterprise it longs to be… Extra bonus for getting them all in the same room at the same time during the boot camp itself.”

Personally I think the term Social Media Ambassadors works a little better, but maybe it is really about stages and expertise.

• Pre-Stage 1a – Social Media Avoidance
• Pre-Stage 1b – Social Media Awareness
• Stage 1 – Social Media Rookie
• Stage 2 – Social Media Explorer / Social Media Rebel (depending on one’s approach)
• Stage 3 – Social Media Ambassador
• Stage 4 – Social Media Retiree

Where are you in these stages?  And where are all of your employees and customers?  Do you want them to be social media rookies or rebels or would you rather have a team of Social Media Ambassadors?

We make Social Media Ambassadors out of Social Media Sympathizers.

Tagged as: Business, Social media