Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Welcome to the Class

Students,

Welcome to the class and I hope you find it an very enjoyable and rewarding experience.

The first assigned readings, Secrets of Social Media Marketing (Gillin) pp. 1-94 set the tone for almost any social media program. The emphasis is on embracing change, something most people do not handle very well, particularly in an organizational environment. The real-world of work often is a risk averse environment where people are not rewarded for creative and innovative ideas but rather for how well they maintain the "status quo" and curry favor with their immediate superiors. This environment, to a great extent, represents a barrier to social media initiatives.

The author also highlights a number of other issues of importance to marketers and illustrates the power of social media with some excellent real world examples, Blendtec, etc.

The author makes several points worth discussing or reflecting on. First, social media is perfect for organizations that have more time than money. As indicated on page 17, "social media is cheap." Well, Deborah indicated that it is not cheap, but she meant that it does require time--traditional promotional campaigns also require time and entail hundreds of thousands of dollars--something social media seldom requires. Why are advertising revenues declining for daily newspapers, magazines, etc?

The author also indicates that social media is not simply for B2C companies, but is also of great value in B2B firms. Last semester our Practicum course, offered in the spring semester, had one B2B firm in the client list and social media is as relevant to them as it is to the Louisville Zoo (another firm that we worked with last semester).

In chapter 2 the author makes a very good point--"Start with the business goal, not the tools" stating that tools are secondary. However, in this course we will also focus on the tools and their applications in marketing, but the emphasis is on understanding what tools are appropriate and when, which in turn implies that you know what the organizational goals and objectives are.

Chapter 3 is a good discussion of tapping into the conversation that is occurring out there in the social media arena. This implies awareness of the conversation and the ability to first listen, listen, and listen objectively to that conversation. Again, this is a sensitive issue to most people. Why? What happens if you hear negative things about your firm, or perhaps about you personally?

You probably at this point noticed that this book, Secrets of Social Media Marketing, emphasizes blogs and blogging more than other social media venues. In chapter 4, the author talks about influence rs, a topic that Rosen discusses in detail in The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited.  The chapter offers some good information that you should keep in mind in preparing your module project--how the companies that you analyzed to complete the project identified and managed their influence rs.

Hope to hear from you in the near future and do post your thoughts and observations on the readings, your experiences, and any other insights that you think would be of interest to the class.

54 comments:

  1. This book is FULL of information- I'm finding that I am having to read it a few times before I grasp all of the info the author ir providing. Hope I can keep up! ;)

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  2. There is a lot of information in the first 5 chapters but something that I found particularly interesting was the statistics concerning internet usage. The younger generations are using the internet more than anyone else by astronomical levels (600%) but leaders of corporations are the "least likely to be active internet users" (p18). How are companies going to successfully reach the younger crowd through social media marketing when their leaders aren't knowledgeable on the network that their consumers are spending most of their time on?

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  3. Taylor brings up a good point. It is difficult to have a successful interaction through social media sources when the leaders are not taking the initiative to explore this type of marketing. However, it would be in their best interest to get involved and start looking forward at the direction in which marketing is headed. Furthermore, in chapter 2 Gillin points out, "a surprisingly large number of companies launch social media campaigns without any clear strategic goal (pp 21)". Again, reiterating the lack of commitment in using social media tools. A company would never think of launching a traditional marketing campaign without a goal in mind.

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  4. So far this book is full of information that I believe will bold well for this class. Its not a hard read and I enjoy reading it. Taylor did bring up a great point about Internet usage and I agree that it will be tough for the companies to reach out to the younger generation. I find it strange that these leaders aren't using the internet as much because in just a few short years the internet will rule the business world. At the same time when our generation gets more into the business world I believe a lot of changes will take place.

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  5. This book is solid. I believe all business should take some insight from it, because social media isn't just a phase; it is a growing sensation. Soon (5 to 10 yrs) virtually everything will be online so we need to learn to embrace it. Most of all I thought that the feedback part of the book stood out the most. So many people are afraid of social media, because of the negative feedback they might encounter. Businesses must recognize that feedback, even negative, is very important because it will help you improve your business. As more and more businesses embrace social networking, we will see more success in the marketing area. This will in return benefit the consumers; therefore, making the company improve their products to satisfy the consumer.

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  6. I agree with you on your point,companies should admit to recognize their errors and focus on improving their business.That way,consumers will be willing to purchase their products.And with the use of social media more companies can sell themselves out there, since everyone make use of some internet sites to advertise and promote themselves.

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  7. I think one of the biggest challenges for older and already established companies is that what they had been doing through past, traditional marketing forms worked for them for years. These established companies may not see a need to jump onto this new trend if there numbers are not yet hurting. Why waste time and effort in something that has never been necessary before. What these companies are not realizing is that in order to stay in business these days you have to be able to keep up with the changing technology and trends. This means not just using these new tools like blogging when regarding social media, but also knowing how to do them well. That is why companies need to look to investing in employees our age and also listening to our ideas on the subject. We are in fact almost experts on new trends that emerge from things like social media because we grew up with this technology and use it on a daily basis.

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  8. So far this book contains a lot of information, but is very interesting. It's a lot more interesting than reading a traditional textbook. One section that grabbed my attention was the part about feedback. It said that research has shown that bloggers are six times more likely to write positive things about brands than they are to write negatively. This was interesting because I usually read a lot of feedback in order to make better buying decisions.

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  9. So far, this book had a lot of information to process. I think discussing it in class will definitely help us understand!

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  10. In response to what Susan said, I wholeheartedly agree. Companies who are more willing to get on board and commit time and resources to doing social media 'right' will be better off in the end. It takes just one instance of not being able to find what you are looking for online (or anything at all) to create frustration towards what you are looking for. We live in an age where if you cant find it online, people give up. Creating a presence online--even if only through social media--is a step in the right direction.

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  11. This book is very helpful in todays marketing world. Social media is on the rise and will keep increasing. Learning how to exploit social media will help everyone in the marketing field. This book will aid all people on the use of social media.

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  12. i like this book a lot! easy to read, interesting, current issues, and new online tools for customers which is something i like a lot.. thanks to this book i know that my voice can be heard and someone will listen

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  13. Secrets of Social Media Marketing is a handbookk for marketers and business owners to use in deciding how to employ the new social media for online marketing. I really thought i knew a lot about how to use social media and social networking for business. No I didn't. The book is really valuable, very interesting !

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  14. This book is very similar to an introduction guide into social media marketing. Not only is it full of information in regards to social media, but it provides recent events in where social media has helped re-energize companies. Also, it gives examples of companies that have neglected social media which costed them to lose a lot of money. Examples like the Fiskateers helped re-energize that company that has been around many years before even the internet was invented.

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  15. The author pointed out an important idea on being "Persistant" when having social network groups.he said:"its a bad idea to start a group just to deal with a point problem or a single promotion. you should have a strategy to grow and expand".i like that point,it makes a lot of sense, cause some companies dont even think of various ways to grow and exapnd their business out there on the market.

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  16. The second assigned readings build on the topics discussed and cover many of the social media venues that are the focus of our in class tutorials. I am finding that the students are familiar with these tools but the book, through many examples, discusses how these tools have actually been used by marketers.

    I am sure we have more than a few aspiring entrepreneurs in class and the information given in the book is of potential use to these individuals. It is also useful to those of you who will soon be employed, most likely with a company or organization that is not effectively utilizing social media, or maybe not utilizing it at all!

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  17. Gillin put forth a statement that was eye opening to me ... He said that "wikipeia can outperform even the first page of google results". I just would not have thought this was true.

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  18. I think Susan brings up an excellent point that it would greatly benefit companies to invest in people of our generation who have knowledge of current technology and social media outlets. This is a great way for long standing companies with set ways and traditions to be brought into the new social media age where they can reach multitudes of consumers online. I think it is really interesting that we could get to create marketing plans for actually companies in the second part of this course! Teaming up with local university business programs could be an excellent idea for companies all over the nation.

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  19. I really liked how the book talked about different companies utilizing the power and minds of the consumer through blogs. Having people identify there own needs is a sure way of knowing that a new product will do well in the market because you already know there is a need! They also talk about how this greatly can cut back costs for an entire staff that is hired to invent new products for their company. By simply listening to your consumer and taking their thoughts into consideration you save time, money, and gain lots of valuable information.

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  20. In my mind blogs, facebook, youtube, and sometimes twitter all seem almost essential to marketing on an everyday basis. When the book stated Flickr was underrated, it made me think hard about it. I believe Flickr is a great tool for businesses to use. Take jones soda company. They allow people to send in pictures of random things they enjoy, do, or love and that makes it unique. It got Jones soda a lot of interested customers when they got big. I dont know if they particularly use Flickr, but if they do not it would be a GREAT resource for them!

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  21. ~(If not already known, Jones soda puts the pictures on the front of their bottles.)

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  22. I always saw YouTube as a place to see movie trailers or music videos but I did not know about how companies can get to know customer through this tool. It is true as the author says in the Social Media book that the customers enthuasiam for the product can be captured with this tool.

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  23. One of the best examples that I have gotten from this book was about Jason Falls and how he used Social Media for NASCAR fans to follow their favorite drivers in a remote location where there were no phone towers and that few media organizations had the resources to follow it in Baja. It was very intriguing how he used satellite phones to Twitter out to NASCAR fans. All he needed was creative thinking and it was inexpensive to do all of this.

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  24. My favorite part of the book were the last 3 chapters, that really show you how to utilize social media throughout your business. One of the secrets that I liked was to "Humanize the social media experience. Write in personal terms. Tell stories." I think this is a very good secret to live by when starting social media. Social media is where you can let go of the business sense and really relax and get to know your customers. Adding that human touch and telling stories will help your customers feel more comfortable with the social media experience.

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  25. I really liked the chapter on blogging and the different things you can do to utilize a blog. One of my favorite ideas was to send out sample products to loyal bloggers. By sending these products to consumers that blog you are just about guaranteed that these people will talk about your product. Since most consumers that get free sample products for trial tend to talk positively about those products it is a great Word-of-Mouth technique. People like to be recommended to products and services by others, especially people they know, when looking for products they have little knowledge on. What a great way to capitalize on consumers and how they can help a company succeed.

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  26. I enjoyed the last assigned reading section a lot, it seemed to take the theories and give you actual application advice which I enjoy. It gets frustrating when books and classes give theory but no practical application advice so I am really appreciating the book and this class for giving us a more real world feel instead of making me wonder if I'll ever use this information. I think that the 'secrets' he gives and the different tips on various mediums is very useful and is information that one day, in a business setting, I could refer back to and still find helpful.

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  28. I have enjoyed reading this book.its one of the great tools one can make use of when learning on how to use social media in the business world. the author was good, in explaing various points on how social media is so beneficial to marketers and other companies in the business world.Social media will have a huge impact in the business world in the upcoming years. more people will definitely make use of social media.great book to read.

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  29. Has anyone started reading Groundswell? I actually think I am going to like it better than the last book. It seems more interesting and it seems to flow a little bit better than Secrets of Social Media Marketing did. It's pretty good so far!

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  30. I agree with Amber, Groundswell appeals more to be as well! The content is in a more logical order and not scattered. Many times during Secrets of Social Media Marketing, I felt like certain chapters should have been before others. However, so far, Groundswell has not caused me to think that.

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  31. I like Groundswell and the fact that he doesn't go into such great detail about all the social media venues but instead explains how they can be used to add to the groundswell and benefit (or harm) a business.

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  32. Am enjoying Groundswell so far.he shows different ways and strategies cusotmers can be approached.He also suggested a good point on how to use that acronym on page 67"POST",i think it's a great tool o use when planning different strategies.

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  34. I think The Groundswell's identification of the Technographics Profile will definitely help us second semester.

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  35. I like the authors statement in Chapter 5 (Listening to the Groundswell). They said that "your brand is what customers say it is" which I think is an interesting change up of the traditional idea that as marketers we create, define, and manage brands. With the easy access consumers have to each other, companies who actually listen to what people are saying about their brand and acting on it definitely have an advantage and are probably more in tune with what their customers want.

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  36. I really liked how he went in depth about the different technologies that you can use in the end of the POST process. The most interesting to me was the example of the Cancer Hospital that built an online community in order to figure out why and how cancer patients picked the place they would go for treatment. It turned out most of them went with their doctors and trusted their recommendations. Knowing this the Cancer center utilized their time in effort in strengthening their relationships with doctors around the area instead of simply just spending countless dollars on advertisements that may not effect peoples choices.

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  37. The book covers different ways of approaching the business outthere.As well as giving suggestions on how some people can make use of the strategies mentioned in the book about building a better community which will be beneficial to the business.And what steps are to be taken in order for it to be effect out there in the community.am enjoying this book!

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  38. I like the point were groundswell mentions that customers might have suggestions on how to improve your process,pricing,billing or service.he says: "The key is, you need to do more than just ask for feedback. you need to show that feedback online, good and bad, where people can see that you are ready to act on it, that you are committed to improving things.while its tough to pull all that feedback out of everyone to see".

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  39. Hermann brigns up a good point, transparency is one of the most effect strategies a firm can take on to give people that visibility of their company and to realize there are real people listening to customers problems.

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  40. http://mashable.com/2010/10/20/mashable-jobs-oct20/ look at how many jobs are available in social media fields. Jobs have been disappearing as a result of technology and automation but, as some jobs go away new ones are replacing them because of other technologies and new ideas.

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  41. This book emphasizes on knowing your target group. While we might think this is a simple question, this book demonstrates that it is more difficult than it seems. The authors did a great job in explaining social technographics, which are: creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. This made me start thinking in a more strategic way. After reading the story about “Alpha Moms,” I realized that targeting a group was more complex than I originally thought. If you are targeting a group, like the Alpha Moms, you are going to base your strategy towards the critics and spectators.

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  42. The Groundswell was a great read that really owned in on utilizing the tools around us. In the end of the book the author describes a world in which you are completely surrounded by the groundswell. As more and more people start to participate and more and more companies participate it is plausible that majority if not all of our actions will take place through these actions. And like Groundswell points out, those companies and people that do not participate will look dated and thus will loose attractiveness.

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  43. The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited clarified the six degrees of seperation for me. I always thought that it meant five persons apart is whoe people connected. However, it truly means five circles of aquaintances seperate people.

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  44. i like the way the book shows how it has used two of its major trends to spreads its business.it has reached a massive scale of people by spreading its messages through audiovisual communication technologies as well as tools that give people more opportunities to communicate with each other more often.

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  45. Besides placing seeding units in a large number of places, Buzz indicates that you must also focus on the depth of your seeding as a tactic for growing your buzz. The deeper, and the longer you seed something or have it for someone to have contact with, the longer the period of time they are likely to talk about it. In the book the author gave the example of virtual flower pot that you download and watch grow over a period of weeks. By this method, the consumer sees this pot and flower and is likely to talk about it whenever a change occurs, therefore reaching a greater number of people than if they sent out something once that did not change at all.

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  46. The uses of advertising in the real world as long been used.And the book highlights some facts that Ads have contributed to its business.it has stimulated people to seek more information about the product from network hubs.and its a fairly effective way to reach people and let them know about certain types of products offered on the market.

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  47. The Anatomy of Buzz was my favorite of all three of the books because of its diversity and useful information it provided!

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  48. Tonight i have learned how Emmanuel Rosen simplified Ads and Buzz under four rules: keep it simple, tell us what's new, don't make claims you can't support, and ask your customers to articulate what's special about your product or service.

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  50. All three books have been very informative about all the different aspects of social media. Each book seemed to approach things in a different way. Secrets of Social Media described each medium in depth and how to use each medium, Groundswell taught you the importance of each medium, and finally Buzz gave us the best real world examples of these mediums being successfully used by companies today. All three were great books and essential reads to anyone new to social media marketing.

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  51. I enjoyed reading this book and discovered a lot from it.its one of the upbuilding books to consider whenever one need to make a marketing decision on social media and improving their business to a full scale.enjoyed reading it!!!

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  52. Out of all three books, I liked Buzz Revisited the best. I thought it was really easy to keep up with and the stories that were told throughout the book were very interesting. Although the other two books I believe were more "how to" and provided outlines for social media marketing, I didn't find them as interesting, although they were helpful.

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  53. I really enjoyed the attention that Buzz directed toward the power of word of mouth marketing via online text and pictures. Every marketer knows that word of mouth is probably the single greatest form of marketing a company can utilize, so by introducing a new way to improve upon this concept is enlightening and extremely helpful. This book was also more stories then definition talk, which is always a lot more interesting!

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  54. The semester project opened my eyes to how different companies are successfully utilizing different social media marketing tools and are making it work for them. I am looking forward to the presentations to see what companies other groups have chosen as well.

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