Social Media Marketing: The Horizontal Revolution (Chapter 1)

The Horizontal Revolution: Key Concepts
  • The Horizontal Revolution
    • Information flows across people, not just from large companies to individuals.
    • Social Media defined as the online means of communication, conveyance, collaboration, and cultivation among interconnected people, communities, and organizations, enhanced by technology and mobility.
    • Key takeaway: today’s social systems enable widespread peer interaction and co-creation, blurring the lines between producers and consumers.
The 4 Zones of Social Media Channels
  • There are 4 zones of social media channels:
    • Zone 1: Social Communities
    • Focus: relationships and shared activities among people with the same interests.
    • Channels: social networking sites (SNS), message boards, forums, wikis.
    • Example: healthboards.com.
    • Zone 2: Social Publishing
    • Focus: dissemination of content to an audience.
    • Channels: blogs, microblogging sites, media sharing sites, social bookmarking, news sites.
    • Example: diigo.com.
    • Zone 3: Social Entertainment
    • Focus: play and enjoyment via social media ecosystems.
    • Channels: social games, alternate reality games, virtual worlds, entertainment communities.
    • Zone 4: Social Commerce
    • Focus: using social media to assist in online buying and selling.
    • Channels: reviews and ratings, deal sites, deal aggregators, social shopping markets, social storefronts.
    • Example: Etsy.
Zone 1: Social Communities
  • Definition: channels focusing on relationships and shared activities among people with the same interests or identifications.
  • Examples of channels within Social Communities: SNS, message boards, forums, wikis.
  • Example channel: http://www.healthboards.com/
  • Implications: leverage communities for engagement, support, and advocacy; risk of echo chambers and moderation needs.
Zone 2: Social Publishing
  • Definition: sites that disseminate content to an audience.
  • Channels include: Blogs, Microblogs, Media sharing sites, Social bookmarking, News sites.
  • Example channel: https://www.diigo.com/
  • Implications: accelerates content reach; enables content remixes and curation; watch for signal-to-noise and credibility.
Zone 3: Social Entertainment
  • Definition: channels and vehicles that offer opportunities for play and enjoyment.
  • Includes: Social games, Alternate reality games, Virtual worlds, Entertainment communities.
  • Implications: drives engagement through play; can be viral; risks include distraction and superficial engagement if not tied to brand goals.
Zone 4: Social Commerce
  • Definition: use of social media to assist in the online buying and selling of products/services.
  • Examples: Reviews/ratings, Deal sites, Deal aggregators, Social shopping markets, Social storefronts.
  • Implications: reduces friction in shopping, enables social proof; important to manage trust, privacy, and fulfillment reliability.
Social Media Zones & Vehicles (Exemplar Vehicles)
  • Social Community vehicles: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Plus.
  • Social Publishing vehicles: Blogs (Blogger, Blogspot), Technorati; Media sites (Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug, SlideShare); Scribd.
  • Social Commerce vehicles: LivingSocial, Groupon, Payvment, TripAdvisor, VideoGenie etc.
  • Social Entertainment vehicles: Come2Play, Second Life, MySpace, Zynga, uGame.
  • Additional exemplars: YouTube, TripAdvisor, LivingSocial, Groupon, SlideShare, etc.
4 Zones: Learning Activity Structure
  • Step 1: Each member learns a new social media channel in one of the 4 zones.
  • Step 2: Introduce the channel briefly to the group.
  • Step 3: Group rep introduces 1 zone to the class.
Web 2.0: Defining Characteristics of Social Media / What is Social Media?
  • Web 2.0 defining characteristics (as a set of defining traits for social media):
    • The Web Is the Platform.
    • User Participation, User-Generated Content, and Crowdsourcing.
    • User-Defined Content (taxonomy vs folksonomy).
    • Network Effects.
    • Scalability.
    • Perpetual Beta.
    • Reputation Economy.
  • The Web is the Platform
    • Cloud computing: hosting services delivered online; the platform on which apps and services run.
  • User Participation, UGC, and Crowdsourcing
    • Crowdsourcing: leveraging the collective knowledge of a crowd to solve problems or complete tasks.
    • Examples include Coca‑Cola campaigns like “Where Will Happiness Strike Next?” and Unilever “Open Innovation.”
  • User-Defined Content
    • Taxonomies: classifications created by experts (e.g., Amazon’s taxonomy for literature and fiction).
    • Folksonomies: user-generated labels/tags that make sense to users.
  • Network Effects and Scalability
    • Network effects: value increases as more users participate.
    • Scalability: capacity to grow without harming margins.
  • Perpetual Beta and Reputation Economy
    • Perpetual Beta: continuous product development with new features even while testing/refinement ongoing (example: Google Lab features).
    • Reputation Economy: value exchanged is measured in esteem as well as money.
  • Practical implication: these characteristics shape how firms design engagement, content strategy, and customer interactions.
Living a Social (Media) Life
  • The Internet and related technologies enable social media today.
  • Interactions come in two forms:
    • Synchronous interactions: occur in real time.
    • Asynchronous interactions: do not require immediate responses.
  • Practical impact: plan for both real-time engagement and ongoing, evergreen conversations.
Social Behavior & Philosophy of Participation
  • Culture of Participation:
    • Freedom to interact with others and with brands.
    • Open access that enables users to share content.
    • Power to build on others’ content from one’s own POV.
  • Implications: fosters innovation and consumer empowerment, but raises governance, moderation, and quality-control considerations.
Media Types: Mass, Personal, and Social
  • Media definitions:
    • Mass Media: channels that reach a large audience (broadcast, print, digital).
    • Personal Media: two-way channels on a small scale (email, telephone, face-to-face).
    • Social Media: crosses mass and personal media; supports two-way, networked interactions among many participants.
  • Practical takeaway: social media blends reach with dialog and co-creation.
The Role of Social Media in Marketing Objectives (Real-World Examples)
  • Marketing objectives supported by social media include:
    • Promotion and Branding: extend media coverage; influence consumer decisions.
    • CRM and Service Recovery: maintain relationships; fix issues and win back dissatisfied customers.
    • Marketing Research: gather consumer insights and opinions.
    • Retailing and E-commerce: drive sales and online transactions.
  • Real-world campaign examples referenced: BMW “Dad Gone Wild”; Dove “Real Beauty Sketches”; BP “Bring People Together.”
  • Notes on links: YouTube/video references provided for each campaign example.
The Consumer Purchase Process and Social Media
  • Social media roles across the purchase funnel:
    • Increase Awareness
    • Influence Desire
    • Encourage Trial
    • Facilitate Purchase
    • Cement Brand Loyalty
  • Practical implication: design content and interactions aligned with each stage of the journey.
Social CRM and Service Recovery
  • Social CRM: uses software to tailor offers and build customer intimacy.
  • Service recovery: actions to correct mishaps and regain customer trust.
  • Example: Domino’s Pizza Turnaround (video link provided) demonstrates turning a crisis into a learning and improvement opportunity.
In-Class Activities: Real-World Examples (Group Exercise)
  • Activity objective: Find real business examples of how social media achieves each marketing objective and share with the class.
  • Group breakdown (based on slide):
    • Groups for Branding & Promotion (objectives 1 & 2).
    • Groups for CRM & Service Recovery (objectives 3 & 4).
    • Groups for Marketing Research (objectives 5 & 6).
    • Groups for Retailing & E-commerce (objectives 7 & 8).
Practical and Theoretical Implications
  • Ethical considerations:
    • Transparency, authenticity, and the potential for manipulation in crowdsourced content and reviews.
    • Privacy and data use in CRM and personalized marketing.
  • Philosophical implications:
    • Democratization of content creation vs. challenges of governance and quality control.
    • Reputation economy raises questions about fairness, reputation manipulation, and the value of trust.
  • Practical implications for marketers:
    • Design for participation and co-creation, not just messaging.
    • Leverage network effects but guard against negative feedback loops and misinformation.
    • Use perpetual beta to iterate campaigns rapidly while maintaining brand integrity.
    • Integrate CRM, service recovery, and research into a unified social strategy.
Quick Reference: Key Terms and Numbers
  • 4 zones of social media channels: Social Communities, Social Publishing, Social Entertainment, Social Commerce.
  • 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: standard for Web 2.0 interactive availability in many platforms.
  • Network effects: increased value as more participants join.
  • Perpetual Beta: continuous feature updates during development.
  • Reputation Economy: value exchanged through esteem and trust, in addition to money.
  • Example campaigns and platforms mentioned: BMW, Dove, BP; Domino’s turnaround video; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Plus; Diigo; healthboards.com; Etsy; Groupon/LivingSocial; Second Life; TripAdvisor; Zynga; Payvment.

Connection to foundational principles: these concepts connect to broader marketing theory such as engagement marketing, WOM, brand communities, trust in online reviews, and technology-enabled relationship management. They also tie into risk management, data ethics, and the economics of attention in digital environments.