Page 161 - Social Media Marketing

146 Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

With the assistance of a computer and an Internet connection,
consumers can log onto the Internet at any time of day or night,
and check out what their peers have to say on social media sites,
like FaceBook, MySpace, Linkedln, YouTube, and Second Life. They
can instantly connect with one another using instant messaging
programs. They can even vote on the content they like or dislike,
rate businesses and products, and much more.

In a way, social media transform the consumer into the marketer and
advertiser, and that consumer can generate either positive or nega-
tive press for you and your products and services, depending on
how you present yourself online and on the quality of products and
services you provide to that customer.

In this chapter, you will discover the various forms of social
media, examine some of their benefits and drawbacks, and learn
techniques for attracting positive press from consumer-advertisers.

What Constitutes Social Media?

You can find plenty of complex definitions of social media on the
Web, but I define the term simply as collaborative user-generated on-
line content. Social media technologies and techniques enable people
to author content and share experiences, knowledge, insights, opin-
ions, and perspectives with one another.

Various Internet innovators are constantly devising new tech-
nologies and techniques for generating social media, so any list of
social media tools is likely to be incomplete as soon as it is written.
However, the following list covers some of the more popular social
media technologies and sites:

• Discussion forums: Discussion forums, message boards, and
bulletin boards have been around much longer than most other
types of social media sites. They cover every topic imaginable,
from caring for your car to training your dog (or cat) to knitting
socks. Here people can share their passions, ask and answer
one another's questions, and get connected.