Another Look at Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
This is something of an updated review of Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff as, by the time I got to the ICM 522 Social Media Platforms class at Quinnipiac University, I had already read this seminal work.
But no matter. Because this is still a terrific work by Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li, and it remains more than a little relevant.
And in fact, I think I understand it better than I ever have.
Changing the Way You Think about Online Marketing for Good
For Li and Bernoff, the online world is a rich and diversified community. And in that large umbrella community, there are several smaller communities. But unlike in the case of the classic Matryoshka (Russian nesting dolls), there is an enormous amount of overlap.
Above all, they put forward the idea of a system called POST. And if you read nothing else, read this part of not just my review but of their book itself.
- Personae – who are your potential buyers? Who are your readers? And who makes up your audience?
- Objectives – what do you expect to get out of going online, and continuing online, or going in a different direction online?
- Strategies – how will you implement your ideas? What comes first? In addition, what must wait?
- Technologies – which platforms will you use? How will you use these differently as your strategy begins to click into place?
So the last time I read Groundswell, I suspect that I did not really understand POST.
And now I know never to start a social media campaign without it. So thanks to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff! This work is a classic for a damned fine reason. It really is that good. Because you need this book in your social media library.
Five Years Later — are Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff Still Relevant?
Social media platforms come and go. Fads rise and fall. Yet through it all, the lessons of the POST strategy, and why it’s so vital? Those are a rock, an anchor in an online world that sometimes feels like just so much jello stuck to the wall, ever sliding downwards.
Ew, sorry for that image, folks.
But never mind that for now.
I think the biggest and most vital part of POST is the first initialism, the P. The buyer persona is someone who we should be thinking about all the time. Not just sometimes, and for God’s sake not just when there’s an exam at school or the boss comes around at work.
It’s even a vital concept in a place that you would least expect it — a personal blog. And even in our own social media postings.
For if we are flinging those pixels out to the universe, then we are expecting an audience. We are wishing and hoping to be read! But if we don’t take that buyer persona into account at all (even when we aren’t selling anything and not expecting anyone to ever want to buy anything), we should still account for our audience.
Social media is exceptionally performative. We curate our photos and our words and our stories and our snark. If we want any sort of a reaction, then we have our audience in mind. Even if that’s subconsciously.
Being offensive is bad. Being unfunny is worse. But being unread? Quelle horreur! That is the worst.
Rating
Review: 5/5 stars.