November 12th Post

Pages 253-284 of Made to Stick, by Heath and Heath, discuss various strategies that should be implemented when trying to make an idea stick. The section begins by describing how important it is for employees to understand what an organization stands for, and what will make it successful. In other words, it is not enough that the CEO and top managers of a company understand the strategic language used by the company; employees must also understand this language so that they can make appropriate decisions and further advance the company.

As the chapter continues, Heath and Heath discuss various barriers that make strategic communication difficult. One of those barriers is called The Curse of Knowledge. This means that individuals tend to talk to others as if they all have the same knowledge and experiences. People must be careful to translate their ideas into language that is concrete and applicable to the audience. In addition to being concrete, individuals must say something unexpected and tell stories when trying to make an idea stick. According to Heath and Heath, a good story is better than any abstract statement. This is because people naturally tune into stories. They are curious to know how the story unfolds. I have seen this work firsthand while giving motivational speeches to kids. While the kids are generally very attentive, they tend to pay even more attention when I tell stories that relate to my points. In fact, I have had teenagers email me months later, telling me that particular stories still stick with them and guide them in their everyday lives.

I found this section of Made to Stick to be very insightful. I’ve learned that it is not enough for individuals to come up with ingenious ideas; individuals must find ways to make those ideas stick. By implementing the strategies outlined by Heath and Heath, I will be able to design “sticky” creations in my professional life beyond school.

November 5th Post

Pages 179-206 of Secrets of Social Media Marketing, by Paul Gillin, discuss various strategies and “secrets” that can be utilized in a social media campaign. These strategies and secrets can be used to generate awareness and increase profits. For example, one secret reads, “Even bland content can be made interesting if approached in an interesting way.” In other words, the content itself is not as important as the approach to that content. As the chapter continues, a strategy is discussed called, “Ditch the Pitch.” Simply put, social media marketers should not engage in sales pitches. Instead, they should try to engage their audiences. In order to do this, social media marketers should try to stimulate two-way conversations between the company and the consumers. When consumers are engaged, they are more likely to take action.

Another secret states, “Optimize everything for search.” While this tip may seem simple, it has great implications. By optimizing content for search engines, social media marketers can ensure that potential customers find that content. If an article on a site is optimized for search, that article can possibly receive as many views as a New York Times article. This is because search engines act as an equalizer for content. The source of the information doesn’t matter as much as how that information is optimized.

One of my favorite secrets involves dictation. More specifically, the secret states, “Write how you speak.” This means that social media marketers must use terms that people use in actual conversations. For example, people don’t use passive voice or third person while conversing; consequently, they shouldn’t use passive voice or third person while writing online content.

My biggest take-away from this section of Secrets of Social Media Marketing is that creativity is essential when constructing a social media campaign. Social media marketers must be willing to think outside of the box in order to bring awareness to a particular brand. The internet is home to many users and possibilities. Marketers just have to find creative ways to engage customers.

October 29th Post

Pages 167-196 in Design to Thrive, by Tharon Howard, discuss the role of significance in the building of a social network or online community. Howard describes the idea that people are more motivated to join, participate in, and remain members of communities that they believe are significant. Significance can be established by making an online community exclusive. In other words, individuals inherently believe that a community carries a high level of importance if only certain people can join the community and gain access to particular information. In 2008, the Obama presidential campaign played off this concept by only releasing certain information to those registered on my.barackobama.com. For example, the my.barackobama.com community refused to release information about Obama’s choice for vice president to anyone not registered on the site. This undoubtedly led to millions of people joining the site in order to receive the “exclusive” information. This was beneficial to Obama campaign, which collected the contact information for millions of people. The campaign could then use that information to keep in contact with potential voters.

As I continued to read the chapter, I began to feel that it is not only important for the online community to be significant, but that individual members can build significance for themselves within the community. For example, Twitter can be considered significant because of its large number of users and the vast amount of information that originates on the site. While the site is significant in itself, some members are “more significant” than others. Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres flaunt millions of followers and can get those followers to take a particular action through a single tweet. This helps celebrities to further build their brands through Twitter. “Normal” people attempt to achieve their own significance on the site by networking and promoting their page to get more followers.  After reading this chapter, I believe that Howard did a great job discussing the essential role of significance in the building of an online community.

“Who Are the Real Online Influencers?” is an online article written by Josh Catone. The article discusses how people are most likely to be influenced in the new world of interactive media. Using various statistics and study results, Catone demonstrates that consumers trust recommendations from peers over all forms of advertising. This means that companies need to ensure the satisfaction of individual consumers, who are likely to tell their friends and family about new products, often through social media.

Week 8 Post

Pages 25-62 of Made to Stick, by Heath and Heath, discuss the importance of simplicity when a person is presenting an idea. The authors make the point that simple does not mean “dumbing down.” To be simple means to find the core of an idea. For example, leads of news stories are meant to be simple. In the first sentence, readers should be informed of the following five things: “Who? What? Where? When? Why?” If readers are not informed of these things, they may put the story down without knowing what it was really about.

As the chapter continues, Heath and Heath talk about why various proverbs have been so successful over the course of many years. The reason is that proverbs are simple, but very profound. For example, the following proverb is extremely popular: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” While this sentence is very simple, it encompasses a lot of meaning. With this simple quotation, people can be reminded that it is important not to give up a sure thing for something that is speculative.

I found this chapter on simplicity very profound. As a budding entrepreneur, I find myself in many meetings in which I have to get my ideas across to various groups of people. This chapter reminded me how important it is to find the core concept of any idea. In future meetings, I need to make sure that I am fully aware of the “main idea.” Then I can add the appropriate details.

Pages 63-97 of Made to Stick discuss the significance of an idea including an element of surprise. In other words, something has to be unexpected by the audience. According to Heath and Heath, one of the most basic ways to get someone’s attention is to break a pattern. Beyond getting the audience’s attention, however, an individual has to be able to keep the audience’s attention. An audience’s attention can be kept with a mystery. By not revealing everything at once, an individual can keep an audience “coming back for more.”

After reading this chapter, I thought about Facebook. The major social networking site is able to keep people’s attention because it contains an element of surprise. While users begin by “completing” their profiles with the appropriate information (school, interests, pictures, etc.), there is always more to be added. Users come back constantly to see if others have uploaded new pictures, updated their statuses, or liked new groups. Because there is always more to see, users keep coming back.

Week 7 Post

Pages 129-165 of Design to Thrive, by Tharon Howard describe the importance of belonging in the context of a social networking site. Basically, belonging is a sense of an individual’s social presence in a community. In other words, it’s an awareness of the shared bonds a member has with others in a group. The chapter begins by explaining the significance of initiation rituals in the establishment of a community that incorporates belonging. Initiation rituals are experiences that give individuals a “right” to enter a particular group. For example, college students often have to perform certain tasks in order join a sorority or fraternity. These tasks bond members of those sororities and fraternities for years and years.

Towards the end of the chapter, Howard discusses techniques that can be used to promote a sense of belonging in online communities. Such techniques include: creating and distributing a story of origin, creating an initiation ritual, encouraging your leaders to share mythologies, encouraging members to share stories about themselves, creating leveling up ceremonies, establishing routines, establishing symbols, and using a membership application.

One technique that particular struck me was “Encourage Members to Share Myths and Stories about Themselves.” When I read about this technique, I immediately thought about Twitter. Twitter’s hashtag component works to create a sense of belonging amongst users. When users use hashtags, they become grouped with other users who have also used that same hashtag. In some cases, hashtags become “trending topics.” These “trending topics” encourage users to tell stories about themselves using various hashtags. For example, there was a recent hashtag that said, “#ItDrivesMeCrazyWhen.” Twitter users were encouraged to use the hashtag to describe various things that drive them crazy. This caused the sharing of different stories by Twitter users. It also gave users a sense of belonging to the Twitter community.