The power of people

In the book Groundswell, the authors discuss the importance of the word of mouth. According to the authors, word of mouth campaigns succeed more than media campaigns because they are more believable, self-reinforcing, and self-spreading.

This impact of word of mouth campaigns made me think of influencers and their similarities. This is because both are built around people’s “desire to share with others” (page 13).  But what separates these two are influencers on websites might be company employees where as “word of mouth” campaigns come cannot be faked.

If I’m going to try a new product or service it is always helpful if a friend of mine has tried it out first and enjoyed it. I prefer reviews from my friends because it is a more believable response than from a stranger over the internet. I know that I when I have had a good experience at a restaurant or store, that I tell everyone I come across. Of course, I’m not sure of how much new business I have brought in but at least they will have repeat business from me.

*Li, Charlene, and Josh Bernoff. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business, 2008. Print.

POST Method

In Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff’s book, Groundswell, they identify one of the biggest problems with companies engaging in social media is that these companies go into social media for the wrong reasons.  For example, the authors described one company wanting to know how to use social media just because their competitor has an on-line presence. This reasoning isn’t recommended by the Groundswell team because a company needs to have a plan over what they want and need from being on-line. According to the author’s, companies should use their “POST” method. This method consists of:

·         People: How will your customers engage with the technology?

·         Objectives: What are the main goals?

·         Strategy: how do you want your relationships with your customers change?

·         Technology: What applications should you build?

What I found interesting about the POST method is that many companies created a presence on-line without considering what they want from the social media sites. An example of a company creating a site without considering the customers is the original M&M Twitter account. This page, from what I could tell, was created because it was “the thing to do”.  This is because the site wasn’t based on building a relationship with their customers, which social media is allows companies to do; but instead used it to broadcast company information.  Since, then companies, including M&M, have learned how to build relationships with their customers. Let’s hope that when the next new on-line phenomenon happens that companies will know to use it in order to help build relationships.

*Li, Charlene, and Josh Bernoff. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business, 2008. Print.