Summary
Chapter 5, titled “Make Some Noise: Social Media Marketing Aids in Branding and Awareness,” begins walking through case studies and methods for how SMM can broadly affect the way customers view your company--your brand. The authors set social media in terms of marketing and then compares it to the Internet itself in terms of historic technologies that have affected and changed marketing. An important point is that “your brand is what the community says it is.” Additionally, this chapter goes through the differences between metrics for traditional media like TV and metrics for social media, the latter being many times more accurate and useful.
Chapter 6, titled “It’s Your House: Social Media Marketing Protects Your Reputation,” is concerned with the inevitable situation of dealing with angry customers and negative activity on social media. The authors outline several principles in regards to social media customer service and “crisis communication,” and share several horrendous case studies of bad examples in this regard (Nestlé’s 2010 fiasco, to begin with). The authors emphasize the need to be present, engaged and aware of social media conversations about your company in order to respond to negative scenarios as fast as possible. As pointed out in chapter 3, the customer is already talking about your company on social media. Businesses must be reactive as well as proactive.
Chapter 5, titled “Make Some Noise: Social Media Marketing Aids in Branding and Awareness,” begins walking through case studies and methods for how SMM can broadly affect the way customers view your company--your brand. The authors set social media in terms of marketing and then compares it to the Internet itself in terms of historic technologies that have affected and changed marketing. An important point is that “your brand is what the community says it is.” Additionally, this chapter goes through the differences between metrics for traditional media like TV and metrics for social media, the latter being many times more accurate and useful.
Chapter 6, titled “It’s Your House: Social Media Marketing Protects Your Reputation,” is concerned with the inevitable situation of dealing with angry customers and negative activity on social media. The authors outline several principles in regards to social media customer service and “crisis communication,” and share several horrendous case studies of bad examples in this regard (Nestlé’s 2010 fiasco, to begin with). The authors emphasize the need to be present, engaged and aware of social media conversations about your company in order to respond to negative scenarios as fast as possible. As pointed out in chapter 3, the customer is already talking about your company on social media. Businesses must be reactive as well as proactive.
Response
I appreciated both of these chapters in really spelling out the value of social media compared to traditional media, as well as the imperative reasons to shift attention (urgency, metrics, price, etc.). There’s some good numbers given in chapter 5 taken from the book Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman:
Also, the case studies in chapter 6 are downright scary. :( But the crisis communication sections made a lot of sense to me as a former waiter.
I appreciated both of these chapters in really spelling out the value of social media compared to traditional media, as well as the imperative reasons to shift attention (urgency, metrics, price, etc.). There’s some good numbers given in chapter 5 taken from the book Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business by Erik Qualman:
- 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to UGC like reviews and consumer comments.
- 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands and their readers trust them.
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations (see “social media”!) while only 14% trust advertisements.
- Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI. (Take that, ROI!)
Also, the case studies in chapter 6 are downright scary. :( But the crisis communication sections made a lot of sense to me as a former waiter.
Questions
- I’m not sure I understand how software like Radian6 and Sysomos work. How is it different from other metric services like those provided by Hootsuite and Facebook Insights?
- Is it necessary to understand such programs to create a social media proposal?