3 – Communication Styles

Principle 3 - Understand Peoples Communication Styles

SocialCone15 Principle 3 – Understand People’s Communication Styles

You know people do it.  They fail to respond in conversation, answer your email or reply to text messages. You wonder if those on your readership list actually read your writings or whether they even care.  On the other end of the dialog interaction scale are those who regularly respond, are engaged and offer feedback and comments.  We can better understand the reasons behind these situations by learning people’s preferences for communicating.

Not everyone has the same abilities, capabilities, desires or interest when they communicate. This is both true in real life, face-to-face encounters or for people as they decide whether or not or how to engage in dialog online in social media platforms. Understanding this fact will help us analyze and measure the effectiveness of our online communication interactions. Tailoring our communication message in order to attract others and lead them to some conversion point can best be accomplished as we understand why and how and whether people choose to communicate. This is true with converting existing customers into loyal customers and in acquiring new customers.

Social Communication Styles

The communications styles as outlined in the following chart are based on the research and findings of Forrester in their book Groundswell. Here is how they breakdown their styles. This is how consumer social media styles break down, from top to bottom in terms of levels of engagement, according to data from the groundswell blog

  • Thought Leaders (Creators), 24 percent of adults.
  • Communicators (Conversationalists), 33 percent.
  • Critics, 37 percent.
  • Collectors, 20 percent.
  • Joiners, 59 percent.
  • Spectators, 70 percent.
  • Don’t Cares (Inactives), 17 percent.

Groundswell Social Ladder

Social Leadership and Assessments

Communication styles are akin to peoples Behavioral styles. A number of organizations and professionals specialize in conducting behavioral assessments and testing. Understanding Leadership Styles would be very valuable when understanding the Influencers in specific social communities. One of these professionals who conducts Leadership Assessments is in the Tampa Bay FL area, is Robin Lavitch. Robin’s company Surpass Your Goal conducts training and leadership workshops around her Mind The Matters – Leadership Assessment program.  Robin’s program identifies leaders in the categories, Motivator, Investigator, Nurturer, and Director.

Follow Up Social Marketing Research Articles and Blogs to Come

Know Thyself – What is your personality?

  • Before we evaluate how others communicate, what is the benefit if we identify our own communication preferences first.
  • Know Others – Identifying others when you can not see them?

Communication Styles of Others

  • Not every one will respond to our position of Thought Leadership opinions they way you want.  Why?
  • How to Inspire each of the communication styles?
  • How does understanding the way each person communicate help us make a stronger business position?

Contact Ed Woods for further information on this topic.

Links to the Seven Principles of Social Marketing  1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7