Why Social Media Marketing Is Like Herding Cats [Cat Photos Included!]

Today’s National Cat Day and any marketer using social media to engage prospects, customers and fans to build deeper relationships understands the process can be like herding cats. In part, this is attributable to the fact that social media provides platforms that enable consumers and the public to communicate one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many. As a result, marketers find it difficult to keep their brand and message on track.

8 Types of cats you’ll find on social media platforms

To help you, here are eight types of cats you’ll encounter on social media platforms and how to handle them..

  1. Alley Cat. These strays are the tough guys of the social media landscape. While their points may sometimes be valid, they’re lack of breeding causes others to discount what they’re saying. In addition, they’re sometimes viewed as social media trolls who are just waiting to argue about something for the sake of arguing. 
  2. Cat Burglar. Be on the watch out for these sneaky social media participants. They’re most likely to show up when you least expect them. Even worse, they tend to steal stuff. On social media platforms, the items they take may not be physical products. For example, they may retweet one of your tweets referencing an article of yours and change the shortened link to direct clicks to their site. 
  3. Copy Cat. Everyone knows at least one of these cats, especially if you have a blog, articles, photographs or videos. This cat takes your content and promotes it as his own or even worse makes a few poor edits and gives you a hat tip for helping him. 
  4. Fat Cat. While this term generally refers to rich folks and celebrities, in the social media arena, the fat cats are the digerati who’ve been engaged in the digital and social media space for years. As a result, they’ve built a large following over time who comment and share content.
  5. Hell Cat. Everyone steers clear of this cat. It’s bad tempered and likely to scratch at any moment. The hellcat is often a bad customer who’s always ranting across social media platforms about what you did wrong. This cat never has a good word to say about anyone or anything and always leaves bad reviews across social media platforms. Even worse, she’s likely to cost you money with her returns.
  6. Pussy Cat. This is the sweetie of the bunch and everyone loves her. She spreads joy wherever she goes. From a marketer’s perspective, she’s a dream come true since she’s always got a good word to say about your business and is a loyal shopper who plays by the rules. 
  7. Scaredy Cat. This cat is afraid of his shadow. Most of the time, he’s just lurks on social media platforms hoping to find the moment when he can add to the conversation. As a shopper, he’s a challenge since there’s always something holding him back from buying.
  8. Sourpuss. This cat never has anything nice to say regardless of wherever he is. On social media, he’s always a dissenting voice and always finds something to complain about including your business.

As a marketer, understand you’ll attract a variety of different kinds of cats in every social media marketing situation. What’s important is being able to deal with them and keep on smiling.

Are there any other types of cats that you’ve encountered on social media? If so which ones and how should they be handled?

Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen


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Photo credits:

  • http://www.nationalcatday.com/
  • Alley cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/antonnovoselov/5598019107/
  • Cat burglar http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjc4454/3241743317/
  • Copy cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robboudon/1318734376/
  • Fat cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trippchicago/1076657776/
  • Hell cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trippchicago/1076657776/
  • Scaredy cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanad813/1356441998/
  • Sourpuss cat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockmixer/3251790017/
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