Comments on: Research fails to understand social media http://www.radiumlabs.com/blog/research-fails-to-understand-social-media/ internet marketing agency Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:40:26 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Kara Smith http://www.radiumlabs.com/blog/research-fails-to-understand-social-media/comment-page-1/#comment-919 Kara Smith Sat, 23 May 2009 13:19:28 +0000 http://www.radiumlabs.com/?p=781#comment-919 Rich -- Your post is right on point! Unfortunately, most of the negative commentary on social media is coming from people who clearly don't fully comprehend what it is or how to use it. Acquiring knowledge of the medium and attaining any level of mastery, requires ongoing, hands-on interaction. On the Karasma Media Legal marketing blog http://blog.karasmamedia.com, usage and training is an ongoing part of the conversation I have with my readers. Rich –
Your post is right on point!

Unfortunately, most of the negative commentary on social media is coming from people who clearly don’t fully comprehend what it is or how to use it. Acquiring knowledge of the medium and attaining any level of mastery, requires ongoing, hands-on interaction.

On the Karasma Media Legal marketing blog http://blog.karasmamedia.com, usage and training is an ongoing part of the conversation I have with my readers.

]]> By: Greg Wood http://www.radiumlabs.com/blog/research-fails-to-understand-social-media/comment-page-1/#comment-918 Greg Wood Fri, 22 May 2009 17:56:46 +0000 http://www.radiumlabs.com/?p=781#comment-918 Rich - dead on with the post. Anyone who has spent time with facebook or twitter quickly realizes that people are not only talking about what they had for breakfast (and hardly anyone does that anyway) but about their likes and dislikes. Products and brands are front and center in these discussions. For a company to harness this incredibly powerful mechanism they have to dialog with people, get them to like them and their products through valuable conversations, hints, insider info and most importantly content that improves the persons life. If they do that, they get more people talking about them positively and then more fans which will then in turn result in more sales. It's bottoms up, one person at a time but it can be very powerful. Rich – dead on with the post. Anyone who has spent time with facebook or twitter quickly realizes that people are not only talking about what they had for breakfast (and hardly anyone does that anyway) but about their likes and dislikes. Products and brands are front and center in these discussions. For a company to harness this incredibly powerful mechanism they have to dialog with people, get them to like them and their products through valuable conversations, hints, insider info and most importantly content that improves the persons life. If they do that, they get more people talking about them positively and then more fans which will then in turn result in more sales. It’s bottoms up, one person at a time but it can be very powerful.

]]> By: Adam Pieniazek http://www.radiumlabs.com/blog/research-fails-to-understand-social-media/comment-page-1/#comment-914 Adam Pieniazek Thu, 21 May 2009 04:42:56 +0000 http://www.radiumlabs.com/?p=781#comment-914 You are extremely on point with this article. When I'm researching a new purchase the very first thing I do is google the product. Often, the most valuable hits come from blogs and especially the comments on that blog (shows proof that other people liked the product). A lot of the time, I'll also bounce over to Amazon to check and see if there's any reviews there. Finally, I'll search through twitter if it's a new product and see if there's any buzz or blogs talking about it. That's all social media and it's also all word of mouth. That's the beauty of social media is that it not only enables word of mouth but also empowers it to be shared across the world. This research reports makes it seem like they expect people to tweet or post to their facebook that "I love product X" and that'll drive sales for the brand. It's already begun to happen with sponsored tweets but they're mostly just noise. The ones that are not sponsored however provide a valuable perspective from a consumer and allow me to get instant un-biased feedback. I think we'll see social media more as a tool for customer service and branding than straight sales. However, the brands who nail the customer service and interaction point will see increased sales. If I know a company is on twitter I'm more likely to buy from them knowing I can get quick help. You are extremely on point with this article. When I’m researching a new purchase the very first thing I do is google the product. Often, the most valuable hits come from blogs and especially the comments on that blog (shows proof that other people liked the product). A lot of the time, I’ll also bounce over to Amazon to check and see if there’s any reviews there. Finally, I’ll search through twitter if it’s a new product and see if there’s any buzz or blogs talking about it.

That’s all social media and it’s also all word of mouth. That’s the beauty of social media is that it not only enables word of mouth but also empowers it to be shared across the world.

This research reports makes it seem like they expect people to tweet or post to their facebook that “I love product X” and that’ll drive sales for the brand. It’s already begun to happen with sponsored tweets but they’re mostly just noise. The ones that are not sponsored however provide a valuable perspective from a consumer and allow me to get instant un-biased feedback.

I think we’ll see social media more as a tool for customer service and branding than straight sales. However, the brands who nail the customer service and interaction point will see increased sales. If I know a company is on twitter I’m more likely to buy from them knowing I can get quick help.

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