The Court of Public Opinion

I think Brian Haven said it best when he said, “Face it: marketers no longer dictate the path people take, nor do they lead the dialogue” (Groundswell, 102).  Chapters 5 & 6 stressed the power of the consumer in the groundswell and the absolute necessity of a company to listen.  Gone are the days when a company or business would decide what their brand was to be, and the consumer had no real way of disputing this decision.  Now, anyone with a blog, a Facebook page or even just as simple as email, can take their opinion and spread it faster than ever before using simple groundswell tactics.  This is where the ability to listen and act upon what you have heard becomes vital.

photo taken from: http://adage.com/article/digital/week-s-top-trending-brands-tv-s-role-buzz/237114/

This is an election year and nowhere is listening more important than in a political campaign.  Within the last few years, we have seen campaigns use the Internet not only to disseminate information about a candidate, but to monitor public perception.  President Barack Obama’s campaign has used groundswell ideas to energize supporters and connect with those who may still be undecided.  No matter your political affiliation, President Obama’s campaign can be seen as a prime example of how to use the groundswell to your advantage without letting your brand become hijacked.
 

 

 



During election season, the American public is inundated with advertisements everywhere in every possible medium.  In chapter 6 we are introduced to the marketing funnel (Groundswell, 101), a way to understand the progression of a customer from awareness of a product through advertisement until they become a buyer.
 

Marketing funnel as pictured in Figure 6-1, Groundswell, pg. 101
 

 



Groundswell goes on to explain that advertisements, or “shouting”, only works to give people an awareness of your product.  Conversation, not advertisements, work on people once they have moved to the middle of the funnel (102) and this is where social media is able to play a large part in a campaign.

 

Looking once again at President Obama’s website for his re-election campaign, he has used what Li & Bernoff have listed as the most common forms of groundswell communication (103):

 

·       There are video posts, both from his campaign organizers and his supporters, such as the one below

 

·       10+ social network site opportunities, including sites such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter

·    The Obama 2012 Blog features pictures from recent events, donation updates and video messages

·    Supporters can join groups depending upon the issues important to them (such as environmentalists or women’s issues) and be surrounded by a community of people with like-minded ideals.

 

The campaign has also devoted a portion of the webpage to “2012 Stories” where supporters are encouraged to send in pictures, videos and stories about issues important to them and how the participate in the campaign efforts.  With the online social media initiatives, and constant solicitation for opinions from the American public, President Obama’s campaign has taken what could prove to be a very tricky medium to navigate and done so with ease.

 

 





Writing Is Easy…Just Open a Vein and Bleed

I think it’s safe to say that becoming the next J.K. Rowling, Katherine Howe, or Dan Brown is not in my immediate future.  And I know many amateur authors feel the same way.  In a culture where our attention span has been reduced to a 140 character Twitter update, having the word of your pen heard is, or was, getting harder… until about a year ago.

Enter Liboo, a site started just over a year ago which helps struggling and aspiring authors get their work out there.  On their site they describe themselves as offering “a way for talented authors to publish to Amazon and Barnes & Noble at the click of a button, and then interact directly with their fans to identify their most influential champions.”  In the publishing world, there are hundreds of thousands of writers who have the talent and the will necessary to move hearts, yet still lack the very basic and hardest thing to obtain: discovery.

 

 

Right about now you are probably saying, “Okay, wonderful dream to revolutionize the publishing industry, but how is this one little website I’ve never heard of going to accomplish this?” And I have to admit, when hearing about the site a year ago, I was skeptical as well, thinking Libbo would never be able to generate enough interest to sustain itself.  The answer to this lies in one key element of social media Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff keep reminding us of throughout their 2008 book Groundswell – it’s all about the relationships.  “In the groundswell, relationships are everything.  The way people connect…determines how the power shifts.” (Groundswell, pp18)  Though a high class tech support team always helps, to make a social site like Liboo work, the focus must be on relationship building and connections.

 But Chris Howard, Liboo founder and CEO knew to build his talented community of writers, he would need to get the word of his creation out to the world.  To spread the influence of his message, he turned his team towards every popular and rising social media site to keep the updates coming.  Between their constantly evolving Facebook page and Twitter, Tumblr and Google+ accounts, one would think they had covered all their social media bases.  Yet Li & Bernoff tell us that “blog reading is one of the most popular activities in the groundswell.” (Groundswell, pp19)  Liboo’s blogs range from explaining how the site works (New Features and Changes) to upcoming public appearances by the Liboo Team at events such as the Boston Book Festival, held each October in Copley Plaza.  The blog function, coupled with each social media post helps to increase the public’s awareness of the site and increase enthusiasm for the already captivated audience.



So check out Liboo, read a blog or two, “like” their Facebook page or just check out a few of their pictures on Tumblr- and sink your hooks into some books!