Chapter 4

We can learn a lot from chapter 4; for example, online communities and how ideas travel within these communities.  Online communities stem from networks and their foundations.  These communities are also built around social objects.  For example, objects of similar interests among community members.   These communities also thrive on conversation.  We all know that communication is the most important thing in almost every situation.  These members abide by a certain standard and share beliefs and ideas with each other.  

This chapter explained online communities very well, I thought.  It gave great examples and even went into depth on opinion among leaders and how that can effect a group of people, or a community.  This chapter had only a few flaws.  I thought it could have gone a little more in to depth about certain definitions to help me better grasp the concepts.

One terms that I learned about in this chapter is social proof.  I work in retail and so this made a lot of sense to me.  Social proof works by encouraging consumers to make decisions that mimic those of the people in their social network.  People, especially in todays world, are so influenced by their friends and who they interact with.  This could be a tool that could help influence sales at my job.  Another word I didn’t know before reading this chapter is homophily.  This refers to the extent at which people are similar in terms of education, social status, and beliefs.  Also, meme a great new word to be familiar with.  It is a snippet of cultural information that spreads person to person until it eventually enters the general consciousness.  Open access sites are also something that I learned about.  These sites allow anyone to participate without registration or creating an account.  I like these type of websites more because I have so many logins that I don’t like to make additional ones.  Norms is also a new term to me, it is also known as rules that govern behavior in order to operate.  These are obviously very important in every aspect of the work place.  

I have over 2,000 friends a Facebook so obviously majority of them are weak ties.  I keep up with family and friends and people from other times in my life.  I moved around a lot growing up.  I lived in 9 different states by the time I was two years old but fortunately, we started to stay in a few places longer than others when I became school age.  I keep with people from this time in my life through Facebook too.  

The creator of Twitter was a genius when they started to associate hashtags with their social media site.  Hashtags are a quick way to see millions of posts related to the same topic.  We can find complaints, praises, pictures, general feedback, promotions and so much more by searching one hashtag.  It really is a neat option in today’s social media. 

I learned a lot from this chapter and how social communities relate to social media and merchandising.  It really is neat to see how it all connects to form one large circle.  

Until next time, 

Blake

Chapter 2

Hello everyone and thanks for reading my blog.  Just to define a few terms before we start, a marketing plan is pretty much a plan that takes into account the product, pricing, distribution, and promotional strategies that will help in the achievement of certain marketing objectives.  One reason why it is not successful to begin the trial phase without further research is because it is just a phase to test out social media, it doesn’t actually consider how effective these strategies are going to be later down the road.  This phase is meant more for learning a new way to communicate and so forth.  I think it would be beneficial to do the research and figure out what social media methods work best for the particular situation.  You need to know the targeted market and the way to approach them.  

There are three phases in the social media marketing maturity life cycle.  The first phase is the trial phase, which we just discussed above.  It consists of testing out social media platforms but not really considering how it can play a roll in the overall marketing plan.  Next, the transition phase occurs when more social media is happening but it is more s however, a more organized way of thinking starts to occur within the organization.  The third phase is the strategic phase.  At this point, a formal plan to use social media marketing strategies is put into place and it is more effective.  

Organizational structure is used in three ways to help support social media marketing.  The first way is through centralized structure.  The social media department report s to a CEO and they are responsible for all the social media activities that happen.  The problem with this is that all the social media activity may not be properly presented.  The second one is distributed structure.   All employees represent the brand and work social media into their roles.  This happens through training and used across the organization.  The down side to this is that the wrong message could be sent because any employee could respond.  The third is combination structure.  It involves both centralized  best practices and decentralized execution.  A committee or social media leaders is formed in order to make decisions on the social media position or voice.  

The seven steps to the social media strategic planning process is to conduct a situation analysis and identify key opportunities, state objectives, gather insight into and target one or more segments of social consumers, select the social media channels and vehicles, create and experience strategy, establish an activation plan using other promotional tools, and execute and measure the campaign.  

Hope this was helpful and informative.  See y’all next week

-Blake 

Introduction

My name is Blake Castle and I am a fourth year student at Southern Miss.  I am majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Merchandising and Tourism.    I love my degree because it’s almost like having the best of both worlds.  I get to study both fashion and tourism even though I still have no idea what career I want to have after graduation.  I feel like this degree plan gives me wiggle room incase I don’t like one area, I’ll always have a backup.  I have never made a blog before so I’ll try my best at this.  I am creating this account for my Merchandising 478 class.  I plan to learn what I can about marketing through social media and actually get the see it play out in the real world.  Working at Material Girls, a women’s clothing boutique, I get to see how our four stores use social media in order to make sales and boost the companies growth.  I hope that I can take away some things from this class that could help me become a better employee. 

 I have many personal and professional goals for my life but I don’t have many details worked out yet.  I know I want to have a family one day, as well as a successful career.  I grew up in a family that always traveled and I want my children to experience that also.  Traveling is one of my favorite things to do and you learn so much about the world and the people that we share it with.  One day, I hope to own my own bar and grill and make it something so unique and special, that it’s unlike any other dining out experience.  I want to offer something to all types and ages of people but still have an overall feel.  I also love the idea of maybe owning my own clothing store, or interior decorating store also.  I know I can’t do it all but these are just some ideas that I have come up with.  My grandfather created his own pipeline company 15 years ago that my dad now owns and operates and it is continually growing and climbing it’s way to the top so I know that I want to create my own business one day too.  I think that it’s in my blood to be an entrepreneur and create my own opportunities.

Strengths and weaknesses are never fun to talk about but everyone has them.  I would have to say that my three strengths are compassion, determination, and appreciation.  I am a very compassionate person.  I always care how people are effected by situations and how they feel about things.  I always want the people I’m around to have a good time and enjoy themselves.  I’m also a determined individual because I like to get things done.  I was raised to never quit anything in the middle, you always finish strong, no matter what it is.  I am also a very appreciative person.  I think about the effort someone went through when they do something for me.  I know the value of time and effort and I appreciate it as much as I can.  My three weaknesses would be time management, communication skills, and staying focused.  I like to wait to the last minute to do things which always makes it harder on myself but I still continue to do it pretty often.  I also lack some communication skills.  I tend to have a hard time saying what I want to or getting my point across the way I intended to.  I can get pretty distracted sometimes and want to veer off track.  

One of my favorite social media tools is Pinterest.  I think Pinterest is a great way express yourself, as well as hold all your favorite things in one place.  I also like Instagram though and I think that both of these sites are great ways to market for businesses and individuals.