Communities & Products
I think it’s interesting to think about how communities are used to market products. In the past, one could ask their friends or family for product suggestions. If it was something more niche, one could go to a specialty shop to get recommendations from employees or other customers. Now, those communities are more widely accessible through online services like Instagram, Reddit, or Discord. For example, I like to brew coffee as a hobby. In the past, I would have visited a coffee shop or some other specialty store to find out information on products to help me brew better coffee. But now, I use Reddit to find recommendations from real people. A business could utilize Reddit (or Instagram) in its marketing mix to convince others to try their products. The important thing would be to stay honest and relatable. It’s a hard thing to balance, because as a consumer, I want to get honest thoughts and opinions. Accomplishing this without seeming fake would make for a great marketing campaign.
