Let's Talk About Mass Personalization

V. Hazleton, J. Harrison-Rexrode, W. Kennan

New technologies in the Formation of Personal and Public Relations

"Since individuals are changing the ways in which they communicate whith each other, correspondingly, the methods used in public relations to create, maintain, and utilize relationships are changing as well."

One of the most significant changes social media has brought on communication was in the network-building capabilities of an average user. In the word where everybody is connected, geographical boundaries have diminished and people began to build relationships based not on proximity, but on similarity. Whatever it is you are into, there's a good chance you can find a community of like-minded people somewhere on the web. And the harder it is for an individual to meet people he can relate to offline, the stronger his ties will be to his online community.

These affinity-based online relationships together with public availability of personal information have changed the way we think of strangers (at least strangers we meet online). We relate to those strangers on a more personal level, we feel for them, we even call some of them friends.

Some marketers make a mistake of thinking about social media as just another tool to reach the masses and broadcast messages. But times have changed and your consumer expects much more than an impersonal one-way message. She wants to get product recommendations based on her past purchases or personal style. She expects to see her name spelled out in the emails she receives from your company. She assumes you'll remember her baby's birthday. What's more, she expects you to reply to her tweets and posts on your Facebook fan page.

Not too long ago, corporate/institutional participation in social media was optional, and those who weren't ready refrained. Today, however, if you are not talking about your company online, someone else is. As a company owner/employee or a marketer, you have to be ready to represent your company online and invest a considerable amount of resources to connecting with your customers on a personal level.

It's Not Just Social Media Marketing, It's a New Kind of Marketing

Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

Chapter 7 Review

In this chapter Shirky talks about the reasons behind the rise of successful social movements in recent years. Social tools have allowed individuals to easily find and connect with like-mended people. And, as Shirky puts it, "Whenever you improve a group's ability to communicate internally, you change the things it is capable of." Social Web has granted virtually unlimited access to information to its users. What's more, it provided the tools for people to easily share that information as well as create and distribute new content to the masses. This information flow has empowered web users. And when enough people get together, they are now capable of changing long-established institutional, political and societal structures.

In this context, social media marketing is not just marketing on social media sites. It is a new kind of brand (organization, institution, etc.) to consumer interaction, where the consumer is well-aware that he is now an active - and very powerful - participant of the conversation. This concept can be hard to grasp for people brought up on traditional media.

Today, any marketing initiative is not just a final product of efforts by a creative agency, paying company and media outlet. It is rather a process, a living organism that evolves and changes in the hands of consumers. To be successful on social media, companies and organizations need to be ready to give up the control over their brands and messages they are so used to having. Instead, organizations need to learn how to facilitate conversations and provide customers with the tools to connect, communicate and take action in ways that are beneficial for both, the facilitating company and the users.

Personal Motivation as a Driver Behind Your Social Media Campaign

Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody

Chapter 5 Review

What is it about Wikipedia.org that allowed it to survive - and flourish - in the environment of chaotic collaboration, where anyone can make any edits they want? How has Wikipedia managed to become a reliable source of often academic information, despite the fact that the majority of its contributors have limited (and sometimes zero) knowledge on subjects they write about? In this chapter Shirky explains that with the rise of social media, entry barriers to group communication and collaboration have almost diminished. Therefore, people don't need to be rewarded in some financial way to communicate, create and collaborate anymore. It's the "feeling good" reward that get's them going.

Marketers have always sought ways to engage audiences, get them excited and, ultimately, spread the word of mouth. In theory, today it's easier than ever to do so. I mean, all you need is to attract enough customers who are passionate enough about a particular subject and give people the tools to communicate and collaborate around it. "[If] enough people care enough about an article to read it," writes Shirky about the Wikipedia phenomenon, "then enough people will care enough to improve it." In reality though, there have to be some strong non-financial incentives for people to get together and do something.

Because there are so many non- and for-profit social initiatives on the Web these days, marketers not only have to identify and bring to light WHAT moves the audiences, but also understand WHY it moves them. This is the 'secrete sauce' everyone is looking for. From aspiration to do a good thing, to desire to get healthier, raise a happy child or simply find a good deal, every customer has a personal motivation for things they do online. A deep understanding of your customers motives will greatly increase your chances for success.

Finally an Update

I'm not a Twitter-quitter and I'm not a blogging-quitter. And although I haven't posted here in a while, there's a good reason for that. Or rather a couple of good reasons.

First of all, since my last post my husband Peter got laid off, and, as a result, we started our own family company called My Little Jules.

My Little Jules, or www.mylittlejules.com, is an online kids' clothing store where you'll find cute baby clothes and fun toddler outfits your little ones will love to wear! We search through many brands to find the ones that truly reflect the essence of childhood. So, I've been crazy-busy promoting our company and managing all aspects of this business (together with my beloved hubby, of course). If you'd like to connect with My Little Jules, here are a few links.

1. My Little Jules Facebook page - personally, my favorite
2. My Little Jules Twitter account
3. Jules Got Style blog

Second, I went back to school to get my M.S. in Marketing! I'm really excited about that, although it's been pretty tough to balance family, work and school life... and squeeze a little bit of "me" time somewhere in there too. So, for the next few months, I'll be using this blog to post writing assignment for one of my classes, Strategic Media Communication, which, hopefully, will get me back into the habit of writing about social media and social media marketing!