Niche Marketing in the Blogosphere

Last night I read “The Origins of Social Media” and listened to “The Long Tail.”  Let me start with the latter.  After listening to “The Long Tail,” I agree with the ultimate conclusion.  I wouldn’t consider long tail theory the be-all, end-all of business theory, but I don’t think it’s a bad concept to keep in mind.  It does help companies seek out niche markets, remembering that this day and age, every customer should have the ability to find exactly the product they’re looking for, instead of just a best-fit product.  

This idea fits in nicely with the discussion of blogs in “The Origins of Social Media.”  The article focused mainly on how a blog can make a product/issue “go viral.”  While I agree that organizations must be wary of this new(ish) capability to easily sensationalize issues, they can also capitalize on the communities that blogs can create for customers in niche markets.  Entire blog communities are created around new tech products, home design, foodie fads, ANYTHING.  Look at Pinterest, and you’ll find not only images, but links to blogs and sites in every niche imaginable. 

Finally, the article discusses the clash between bloggers and the mainstream media, but it doesn’t even touch on the huge opportunity afforded to media and businesses who choose not to push against the blogosphere but to embrace it and become a part of it.  Hop on over and take a look at Today.  While I won’t argue that morning shows are hard-hitting journalism, I will argue that they are the only source of news for a LOT of Americans. Even as a news source, Today has embraced the idea of blogging, and uses this blog to keep audiences updated with what’s going on at Today and provide additions to material covered in the telecast.  In particular, I remember an edition during NBC’s Olympic coverage where anchors posted updates and interesting tidbits about the Olympics every day.  They’ve done a good job of keeping viewers tuned in, even when they’re not on the air, and blogs afford this opportunity to any company who chooses to embrace it.

I'll Give it 5 Stars

Today I read "Social Media Playbook" and listened to "Star Search." What I found interesting from the written article was the focus on a new type of target segmentation.  I completely agree that web marketing gives marketers the ability to focus on potential consumers' behaviors and actions instead of just a set of demographics.  Marketers and advertisers now have the ability to more specifically target messages to people based not on age and income, but on cultural interests and even past purchasing behaviors.  This opens up new avenues for creative and effective advertising that is more likely to hit home with its intended audience-definitely more bang for the buck!

"Star Search" was interesting to me because I've certainly encountered the problem of too-positive product reviews.  As a consumer, how am I supposed to compare two brands of printer paper (to use the one of the examples cited in the interview) when all the reviews are glowing and make it appear that both brand X and Y could be the be-all end-all solution to my printing needs?  As a marketer, I have to understand two things: 1. Reviews for certain types of products (perhaps a hotel) are more influential in consumers' decisions than reviews for other types of products (printer paper, anyone?). 2.  Knowing that reviews for each of my competitors may be as positive as my rave reviews, I need to focus my messages on my differentiating WOW factors.  Making those distinctions can help a company target their messages in the most effective way.      

Crowdsourcing and Connectivity

Today I read/watched all of the required material for this week.  I was particularly interested in the chapter from The Dawn of the Human Network on crowdsourcing.  Reading through the chapter, I continued to come up with endless examples of crowdsourcing at work across all types of industries.  From Warber Parker eyeware (allowing consumers to post photos of them in prospective glasses and get Facebook followers' input on which is the best pair) to Louisville, Kentucky music festival Forecastle (hosting a Twitter/Instagram photo contest with the winners becoming the official photographers of the festival) to Sparked.com (seeking community members' input on any number of advertising/PR campaigns for start-up companies and non-profits) crowdsourcing has infiltrated nearly every industry imaginable. 

The key that I take away from this is something I touched upon in an earlier post- a way to truly interact with potential consumers, instead of advertising at them.  When potential consumers feel as if they are working as a part of a community instead of working with a corporation, they are more connected, and from an advertising perspective, this connectivity enhances brand reputation, increases brand loyalty, and ultimately casts a wider net from which to draw potential consumers.  From a product/quality perspective, community members who are truly interested in the final outcome are more likely to produce quality material that offers solutions to the most frequent problems or questions that users encounter. 

Over the course of the rest of the week, I plan to read/watch "Star Search," The Social Marketing PlayBook, "Crowdsourcing Evolution," and "The New New Thing."

Connectivity Through TV and Web

Today I watched, "The Web and TV, a Sibling Rivalry." I think the key point to take away from this presentation is the importance of interactivity and connectivity with potential consumers.  All the way back to Space Wars on the computer and the Winky Dinky window on TV, both mediums have attempted to connect with consumers.  Instead of talking at an audience, the more successful medium will be that which can interact with its audience. 

Of note, the presentation mentioned the new (at the time) Nike plus network, which is a prime example.  Instead of Nike just airing commercials, it has created a network of connections among Nike plus users and Nike itself.  Through this connectivity Nike is drawing its consumers to its site instead of having to go out and seek them out.  This results in much less television advertising and greater brand loyalty from consumers. 

The Future of the Book

This morning I listened to "Books 2.0," an NPR interview with Bob Stein who is the director of the Institute for the Future of the Book.  Basically Bob was explaining that there are two ways to look at the future of the writing process.  One is where we are now; a writer gets an advance and goes into seclusion until he completes his next masterpiece.  The alternative is a communal project.  Books will be written by a particular author, but will be much more heavily influenced by the readers- throughout the writing process, readers will have input into the content and direction of the book. 

I think this is a fascinating idea.  It makes writing a much more communal effort than it typically has been in the past.  It reminds me of days before print when stories were handed down from generation to generation, each storyteller adding their own twists and turns, so the same basic story could be told 100 different ways, each with a different flavor.  I like the idea of creating books in the same way, so that the basic story contains aspects that will "speak" to each contributor in a different way.  It makes the final product more personal to each reader and is a way to keep readers engaged with a work throughout the writing process.  

I Like to Think I'm Not Dumber Than Previous Generations Because I Use the Internet

I’ve always had thoughts of starting a blog or keeping a focused journal and one day compiling it into something meaningful to other people.  I would disseminate it and millions of people would instantly be awed by my genius insight into anything and everything.  However, generally I get bored with my own writings within the first couple of weeks and give up my project as a lost cause.  Hopefully that will not be the case in this class.  I don’t expect to awe you with my insights, but I do hope to have something worthwhile to say for the entire six-week period of this class.  So here goes: 

Today I started off reading, Does the Internet Make You Dumber?  I have to say that my initial reaction was not favorable.  I should mention that I grew up with the internet.  I only vaguely remember a time when my household did not own an internet-connected computer, and I don’t like to think that I may be dumber than previous generations simply because I grew up playing on the internet.  I certainly understand some of the points the author makes, but I disagree with the final conclusion.  I would say that instead of the internet and its distractions making us shallower, it has taught us to filter out what is unimportant and how to focus on what we’re truly interested in.   The Cornell University class example is interesting to me because I still believe that the half of the class who performed better on the test (and weren’t on computers during the lecture) only committed their knowledge to short-term memory.  If they weren’t interested in really learning the material, they would lose it just as quickly as those who were on computers.  The point to take away is that if people WANT to learn “deep” meaningful material, they will, even with the distractions of the internet.     

After the first article, I moved on to Does the Internet Make You Smarter?  As expected, I agree more with the author of this article.  I will say that I don’t believe that the internet actually makes us smarter.  It is simply a tool and as such can’t make us either smarter or dumber, but I do believe that as a tool, it provides greater access than ever before to material that could make us more informed and knowledgeable.  I particularly like the point the author made when speaking of the printing press.  Not all books are high-minded literature.  We have to learn to sort out what is quality and what is not, but if anything, frequent use of the internet makes us more adept at sorting that out. 

Ultimately the internet provides a platform for unknown authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers to disseminate their works and get people thinking.  It is up to the rest of us to decide how to make use of that.   Specifically from the article, “Literate societies become literate by investing extraordinary resources, every year, training children to read. Now it's our turn to figure out what response we need to shape our use of digital tools.”  Just as with the printing press, the advent of the internet resulted in a major cultural shift.  It is up to us and the forerunners of the next generations to figure out how to filter out what could make us shallow and focus on how to put this new tool to good use.