Key element in social networking

What is s ocial glue? It is a basic thing that enables communities to function ascommunities. It is the shared interests that are relevant to members of the community.Soccer is the social glue for Latin and South Americans. Rituals are the social glue forsome religious communities. Texting is the social glue for teenagers.Their social glue, then, was not the coffee itself, but the experience of drinking coffee. Bedbury describes Starbuck’s brand touchstone as ‘rewarding everyday moments. This touchstone helps us understand what being part of the Starbuck’s community means: the coffee experience as a reward that happens as part of one’s daily life.Once you have decided the role of your community, the social glue that yourcommunity will offer, you need to invite the right people to join your community: Invitethose customers with a common interest in your community, who hopefully have apassion for the ‘social glue’ and who are willing to participate.When you have a community that is open and honest, where all input is valued, andwhere people are encouraged to speak their minds, it is likely that you will hear badthings about your store. Your first reaction when conversation turns negative willnaturally be to stop it: to change the subject if you are with your community members inperson, to cut off an online chat if your community is online. But squelch that impulse!

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"word of mouth spread offline is more positive and more likely to be interpreted as credible than wom spread online, according to a recent research study from womma member company the keller fay group. fifty-nine percent of those surveyed indicted they found wom transmitted face-to-face and on the phone was "highly" credible, versus 49% for online wom. the study also found that 66% of face-to-face wom communication was "mostly positive" versus 57% of the impressions on blogs and chat rooms. offline wom was also found to be 7% more likely to lead to purchase intent, according to the research." marsha t., advertising agency, baton rouge. la.

“we use newsletters to get information from our customers. have a poll or a survey. it can be short, and even fun: where are you going on vacation? what tv show are you enjoying this summer? then post results in a future newsletter. people love taking polls.of course, always best to use a poll topic that is of interest to your audience.our customers are into new bands, especially hip-hop. we like to poll about "who's hot" in order to let them chime in about their favorites, and it also let's us get a sense of trends.”anson l , natchez, miss clothing store

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