Reading Reflection No.2

The book I chose for this assignment was Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan.

1) The overarching theme, or overall argument of the book was that the traditional ways of marketing to attract customers are phasing out. This includes spamming physical mail, phone calls, e-mails, and other old ways that businesses used to reach out to customers. These traditional marketing tactics are being replaced by the rise of the internet's interconnectedness -- especially social media. This book analyzes the psychological and societal changes that influence the dynamic regarding consumer reaction to marketing -- and explains how entrepreneurs can make the most out of these new marketing trends.

2) This book correlates very well with course material for this class, especially the lecture topics that were covered this week -- as the marketing aspect of entrepreneurship is one of the most important. Marketing your product to consumers is an incredibly intricate process, and every small decision made by the entrepreneur regarding the sale of their product/service can yield drastic effects. Everything from your business' image, reputation, pricing, structure, marketing tactics, and more are very important when it comes to market competitiveness and consumer appeal -- and this book goes into detail on that.

3) If I had to design an exercise related to the book, I would probably make something fun and interactive.
Every person in the group would create and upload a short advertisement (or elevator pitch if they'd like) that can take any kind of format (picture/poster, video, audio, anything) to be hypothetically posted online through social media. The ad or pitch would attempt to sell something very basic -- like "sell me this pen" if anyone has seen Wolf of Wall Street. At the end of the week when all the media is posted, everyone in the group has to vote for ONE ad/pitch that they found the most convincing and would be most likely to purchase. Afterwards, there would be a reflection on the good marketing strategies used in the ad/pitch that had the most votes -- what was effective about the marketing message? Why was it the most appealing to the potential customers, and what marketing tactics made it different than the rest?

4) I didn't really have any significant "aha" moments -- as I had already been aware about the increasing importance of marketing through social media platforms such as blogs, and Google search relevance. Growing up in an age where interconnectedness has grown as never before seen due to the Internet, I've been exposed to how businesses adapt their marketing plans in response to these technological and societal developments. However, something new that I did learn was the importance of building an online community -- instead of merely plastering a popular website with ads. Fostering a sense of community where businesses interact with consumers at a more connective level than before can really improve the quality of marketing and business image -- which continue to evolve alongside innovation.