Winning with shared interests

I can still remember the exact moment I was introduced to social media. I was working as a Sales and Marketing Project Manager in 2008 when my boss came by my office and asked me about something called Facebook. She was curious about this new platform on the internet and wanted to know if it could be used for business purposes.

That night, I took the plunge and created my first social media account. I was instantly captivated by this new online world, and within hours, I was receiving friend requests from people I hadn’t seen in 15 years. It felt like a trip down memory lane.

At that point, I made a bold move: my first post.

To know me is to know I’m one of those “Never Graduate” guys ESPN used to make commercials about.

gamedaymarketing__

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Little did I know that simple post would spark what I now recognize as the beginning of my social media journey and a path that started my online interest graph.

The shift from the Social Graph to an Interest Graph

Social media has significantly evolved over the years. Initially, it was all about connecting with friends and family, offering us a chance to reconnect with long-lost acquaintances and see how their lives had turned out.

However, in recent years, we’ve witnessed a dramatic shift – from a focus on the social graph, which connected us with people we know, to the interest graph, where content is tailored to what users are most passionate about. The transformation has fundamentally changed how we engage with content across platforms, making the experience more personalized and relevant.

But let’s be real – the driving force behind this shift is money. Every platform is competing for attention and striving to keep users engaged. The longer someone stays on the platform, the more revenue it generates.

And, TikTok is eating every other platform’s lunch, dominating the social media landscape with its addictive, viral content and unparalleled user engagement – at least until it gets banned again.

My Instagram Interest Graph

My wife and I will literally sit next to each other on the couch and DM each other funny memes and videos about marriage and family. Immediately after pressing send, we wait for a reaction. Sometimes it’s a side-eye look, other times it’s a full-on gut-busting laugh.

Now my Instagram feed is full of stuff like this.

awakeningpeople

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While the social media interest graph offers a personalized and engaging experience, especially in the Saig house, there are notable downsides, including: 

• The filter bubble: Users are repeatedly exposed to the same content that algins with their existing beliefs, interests, or preferences, limiting their exposure to diverse perspectives.

• Reinforced echo chambers: Repeatedly seeing similar content can polarize opinions and make it harder to engage with differing viewpoints.

• Mindless scrolling: Prioritizing engagement over meaningful connections leads to endless scrolling and less intentional content consumption.

I bet after reading this your mind just went to politics. Well, try to focus on business and understanding how the algorithm works can help your marketing and sales efforts.

The Shared Interest Graph

With a solid understanding of how social media has shifted, we can now move on to using it to our advantage.  The shared interest graph refers to your network of connections and interactions centered around common interests, activities, or topics.

With personalized recommendations and curated content, brand marketers and individuals can connect with highly targeted audiences in a more meaningful way. Building a strong social interest graph increases engagement, visibility, and influence on social media.

Here’s a real-world, business scenario.

If you run a marketing agency, you likely follow top marketing influencers. But if your target clients are financial services firms, your feed will be filled with marketing content instead. While these influencers provide great insights, they aren’t the audience you are trying to reach.

To ensure your feed aligns with your target audience – not just industry peers – you need to be intentional about who you follow, engage with, and the content you interact with. By strategically curating your connections and activity, you can shift your feed to reflect the interests and needs of your potential clients.

Here are 7 tips how to boost your social interest graph:

1. Connect, follow, and engage with your target audience and industry influencers

2. Get involved in niche communities

3. Join relevant conversations in your target industry

4. Collaborate with industry influencers

5. Curate content based on shared interests

6. Analyze interest-driven trends

7. Create partnerships with like-minded brands

The key is to be intentional – curate your content, participate in meaningful discussions, and create value for the audience you want to reach.

The bottom line

Social media has come a long way from its early days of simple friend connections. What started as a way to keep up with long-lost classmates has transformed into a finely tuned machine designed to keep users engaged through hyper-personalized content.

It doesn’t matter if your Aunt Sally saw and liked your most recent post. All that matters is that it gets in front of your target audience – whether prospects, clients, or strategic partners.

The shift from a social graph to an interest graph has fundamentally changed the way we consume information, interact with brands, and make purchasing decisions.

For marketers and sales professionals, this shift presents a massive opportunity. By understanding how platforms prioritize content and leveraging the shared interest graph, you can connect with highly targeted audiences in a more meaningful way.

If you want to end up at the top of your audience’s feed as much as those ridiculous marriage and family memes in my Instagram account, meet them at the intersection of the social and interest graph.

~Joseph
What’s your take? Tell me, so I can pretend I thought of it first.

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