Sunday, November 4, 2012
The concept that resonated with me the most in Gillin's chapter 10 was that business have to understand their audience in order to be successful. It seems like a pretty basic and obvious idea, but I think it's something that many companies and websites do very well and many companies do very poorly. Gillin discusses how a site could have great content for it's chosen demographic, but if the strategies used to relay that content don't also coincide with the interests of that group of people, the overall message could be ineffective, leaving the site a failure. For example, if you're creating a network community for people who love to play Nintendo, the content on the site will need to be all things Nintendo. This could work great for people to share ideas and experiences about the game system. However, this community could easily fall through the cracks and fail if, let's say, the format of the site is catered more to a business environment. Nintendo gamers aren't going to connect with a site that allows them to send emails or formally discuss the topic; the site would need to reflect the gamers agenda and attitude with a more lighthearted appearance, possibly some games to play on the site, etc. Audience is crucial.
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Caroline,
ReplyDeleteYou are completely right. A site may have amazing content; however, that may not be good enough. Creative strategies must be employed in order to draw people to that site and get the content noticed. In order to employ creative strategies in the most effective way, companies must know their audiences. Companies must look beyond simple demographics and study an audience's psychographics as well. In other words, it is not enough for a company to know the race, age, and gender for audience members. Company researchers must find out what audiences like to do, how much money they make, what they spend their money on, what their belief systems consist of, and much more. In knowing this information, companies can create content and marketing strategies that conform to the lifestyles of the targeted audience. When audience members identify with the content and strategies, they are more likely to take action.
I totally agree that businesses have to understand their audience in order to thrive. If a site is uninteresting to people, or a social media sites target audience, there is no way that site will be successful. What many people don't get is that the audience is what makes the social media site. Without an audience to use the site, the site is basically nothing. I liked the example you gave about Nintendo. It really explains the importance of the audience and how it is the job of the people who built the site to make it appealing to the audience.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Raven that demographics no longer stop at simply race, age, and gender. There is so much more involved with that in today's society. However, I also believe that as much as things change, people are still driven by the same attitudes toward self-indulgence and personal satisfaction. That should be the ultimate goal of a community: to provide the user with an experience that is meaningful to them in the context of everyday life. I think, in that regard, the means may need to change but the ends remain constant.
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