Chapter 2 of Gillin’s Secrets of Social Media Marketing gave a lot of good tips and information regarding the best way to advertise and display information to consumers. I found it interesting that many companies choose how they are going to display information before they actually figure out what that information is. It seems so obvious that you should figure out what your goal is before you decide how to implement it. I think some companies are so focused on using the latest technology that they forget that a lot of consumers are comfortable with using technology that they are already familiar with, so these businesses should have that same mindset. The chapter explained it perfectly when it said that we are better off using tools that we’re familiar with, rather than using those that require time and learning. I’m not saying that no one should ever learn new technology, but I think it’s important for businesses to get on the level of their consumers before making choices about advertising.
Something else that I found interesting is how much social media affects the image of different businesses. I always check reviews of certain products before I make a decision on a purchase, but I never really realized how important those reviews are in making or breaking large companies. It is so important that businesses listen to what their customers are displaying all over different types of social media. Even though they can’t control what people write about them, they can, and should, do something to fix that problem before it becomes extremely harmful to the business.
Chapter 6 focuses strongly on the importance of social networks and who should use them. One of the main benefits of social networking is that it creates a community between all types of people that are interested in similar things. However, even though social media is great at bringing people together, it’s not necessarily the best form of communication for marketers. On page 102, it says that “86% of members join sites to see what their friends are up to,” not to find out different brands and products. The main reason people use social networking is to keep in touch with people who they used to be close to or maybe to those who they wouldn’t normally talk to. Marketers realize that even though social media is so popular and used by so many, it’s not necessarily the place where people are going to be attracted to different businesses. This is important for businesses to understand so they can figure out which sites are going to benefit them the most in this social media age.
In Design to Thrive, the importance of communities is made clear, just as it is in Chapter 6 of Secrets of Social Media Marketing. In order for RIBS to be successful, communities must be there for influencing, belonging, and making social networking significant. However, in Chapter 2, we find out that social networks and online communities aren’t exactly the same. In social networks, the individual person is the main importance, while in online communities, the interests that brought people to form the community are the most important things. This reminds me of groups on Facebook. Although people have individual profiles, they can “like” or join groups on Facebook in which that particular interest is more important to the community than their actual identity. Despite their differences, I think it’s important that social networks and online communities work together to create an environment for online users.
