Chapter 9. Week 2: Social Platforms

In this chapter, I'll help you evaluate the application and uses of social networks in a business context. Specifically, you'll see how social networks encourage interaction and conversation, and how these networks can provide useful, quantitative information about how your brand, product, or service is being viewed. You'll spend time on community platforms, including support forums and the "white-label" community tools that you can use to build your own social presence. I'll make the case for why you should consider being there and how you can use the online social communities in support of your business objectives.

In your exercises this week, you'll gain hands-on experience in key online social settings. The exercises are designed to highlight the business-oriented applications of these social spaces, and to provide you with both ideas and a firm starting point when adding these tools to your evolving social media campaign.

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