Why I love a lurker.

Lurkers are listeners. 
Megan Burkett, Community Ambassador for Talent Culture, nailed it when she said “the lurker is the introvert of Social Media.” They are our listeners and observers. That we’ve attached such a negative word to them only reflects our own fear. Listeners are scary because they’re not visibly engaging so we don’t know what they’re thinking. Maybe we’re even a little offended by their silence. But we shouldn’t be. There is nothing inherently wrong with silence. And, in fact, just like in life, we need people who are quiet and listening. We can’t have everyone in a room talking at once!

Lurkers are learners.
Whether you are marketing a product, building a community, or sharing on a subject you love, the lurker is learning from you. This is your end goal, is it not? Because they’re listening and not engaging, they are untrackable on most platforms. This is frustrating, I’ll give you that. But keep your eye on the prize. You are still communicating and being heard. Consider this affect equal to sending snail mail. You might not hear back from a lurker right away, but there’s still a chance you’ll hear back, and likely in an even more gratifying way. And rest assured they’re affected by the letter if the letter is good.

Lurkers are customers.
When organizations get stuck on social media analytics, I want to cringe and it’s because of the lurker. Again, this is like life. Some people love to window shop and some prefer to go into the store and pick up everything in it. Just because the window shopper doesn’t go into the actual store, doesn’t mean he or she is any less likely to purchase a product. Maybe he or she didn’t need as much to latch onto in order to make a decision. Send your message into the world with the lurker in mind. Pull them in right away and leave them with something lasting. Don’t make them come into the store and dig around. They don’t want to. Give them what they want – right away.

A smart Social Media strategy will always have the “lurker” in mind and an even smarter one will stop calling them or thinking of them as lurkers. They will start thanking them for being the amazing people that they are, acknowledging them as necessary to the success of you or your company!