Social media sites banned on company computers
According to Statista, one in five American employees are not allowed to access Facebook and one in six are not allowed to access Twitter, due to restrictions established by their employer. This means that many people cannot check Facebook, as well as many other social media sites, until they arrive home. With more and more employers focusing on productivity, the rise of social networking sites placed the banned list is rising.
It could be argued that employees should only do personal activities on their personal time, not company time. However, the personal and professional worlds have become more interlaced than ever before. With the addition of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, employees are working outside of the office environment, doing work on their own time in nearly every industry. As a result, work becomes mixed with personal time and the lines become blurred.
What does this mean for your business?
These restrictions mean that many people are unable to access your content while in the work environment (read: while you tweet in the afternoon, many aren’t seeing it). This isn’t to say you shouldn’t use social media during the day, because most people do have access to your updates at all times, but these restrictions mean employees are turning to their mobile devices, even on work time.
Because the role of mobile devices is increasing in all parts of our lives, there are two trends to note:
- When you’re talking to a certain portion of your audience online, their time may be short since they’re peeking at social networks while at work, sometimes on their phone under their desk. When updating social networks during work hours, remember many people are turning to mobile devices, so keep updates brief and calls to action simple.
- As more people sneak their mobile devices into work, your website better be viewable on a mobile device, or you’re missing out on the opportunity to connect, even if your site isn’t being banned by the company servers – when banned from Facebook, they’re reading your statuses in secret and clicking through on a smartphone. “Get mobile” is old news, but this is yet another reason it is relevant.
When you are demanding an audience for your brand, you are often doing so on someone’s personal time; making it prudent that you adjust your marketing tone and advertising model accordingly. If you are advertising photography, you might want to ensure that your marketing message is family friendly (less cut and dry, and more family-centric), because the potential client will most likely be viewing in their home. And the more you cater towards their personal life, the more likely you are to gain business without offending them, or infringing on their personal social media time.
