Social media diary 31/10/2008 - Amex

Amex to launch online community for travel managers

One of the best examples I know of a brand using information they have to add a social layer to their site is the Members Know site from American Express. On this site Amex use the data from spending using their cards to highlight restaurants and hotels in certain cities that are popular with their members. Once you've signed up you can share your thoughts on these establishments and exchange travel tips with other business traveller. Today, they are launching a new online community, and this time it isn't aimed at the business travellers, but at the people who organise their travel for them.

Business Travel Connexion is aimed at corporate travel managers and will combine editorial from Amex and other suppliers with user-generated content. Amex hope to create a real-time resource for the members and also build a fairly homogeneous community of a group of people who would valuable to marketers. They will be able to share information and ideas with each other and also with Amex and other suppliers. The site includes a "Product Lab" area for feedback and co-creation.

So what can we learn from this?

Amex are a great example of how brands are adding social layers to their existing sites and products, delivering real value to people and making the most of the product and information they already have. With Members Know they took data that previously wasn't used externally (data on spending in hotels and restaurants) and repackaged this in a way that was both useful for members and encouraged them to interact and upload their own content. In the same way, Business Travel Connection, links a set of individual customers who are isolated (often working with no peers in their organisation) but who share a strong common bond (they all deal with the same problems). That they can be linked through the Amex brand is even more powerful.

When thinking about 'going social' - building online communities or using social media - too many firms build approaches that don't always address their unique position in the market or capitalise upon what they may have to offer. Amex have done things the right way. They've thought about their strategy and about why people would engage in an online community that they manage; and about what they have to offer that's different. These are important stages and ones that we at FreshNetworks spend a lot of time on with clients. Working out why people will engage and why they will engage on your site is a critical first step to any online community

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Community 2.0 vs. Focus Group 2.0

This post from ZDNet raises the interesting question regarding the boundaries of community 2.0. Recently Intel and Asus requested user feedback for a dream PC. The concept was that users come together, talk about what they want, vote about it, then Asus will build it. No one would argue that this is a community effort, and that it is an online forum, but would it really be considered community 2.0? So the author of the ZDNet post, Joe Brockmeier asked the question

"What do you think? Community, or focus group 2.0?"

Do you have an answer to his question? What are your thoughts?

Education and Community 2.0

Community 2.0 has entered the Education space with ePals, which encourages collaboration between classrooms. Growth of this new community has been significant with over 16 million members, in conjunction with 5,000 new classroom joining in as mentioned here. Recently the company was awarded with the 2008 Education Software Review Award granted from the ComputEd Gazette. Edmund Fish, CEO of ePals had this to say regarding their growth:

"Increased awareness of safe and effective web-based learning tools, and ePals' decision to provide these services without cost to schools, are important factors in this unprecedented growth. Our members have told us they have chosen ePals because of a combination of a safe, purposeful learning environment; powerful communication tools enhanced for collaboration; meaningful learning opportunities designed to build reading, writing and problem-solving skills that are easily implemented in classrooms; and a large, diverse community of like-minded users so that classroom 'matches' can be global or local, but always productive. This combination makes ePals unique, satisfies user needs and delivers meaningful learning outcomes."

Who Owns What?

Check out this very interesting post over at Britopian about the ownership of social media. The poster doesn’t spend much time actually thinking about who owns the social media aspect of companies—but they do delve into the “why and how” aspect of ownership.

“…is it marketing, PR or the business units who are out there building community? I really don’t know and I really don’t care. Implementing social media within in an organization requires a paradigm shift. It requires employees at all levels – starting at the very top – to change their thinking and embrace online relationships; as well as the conversations that blossom. It requires those who touch social media to communicate and share what they are doing internally.”

Who owns the social media aspect of your organization?

Social Media Reviews is the 2nd biggest Influence on Purchase Decisions

Matt Rhodes recently posted on socialmediatoday that for American adults, online reviews are only second to word of mouth in terms of influencing purchase decisions. The report was published by Rubicon Consulting, and it also goes into detail about how a consumer-to-consumer message is much stronger than a brand-to-consumer message.

That means that consumers are turning to blogs, social communities, peer reviews, forums, and other forms of social media to help them make an informed decision before they go out and spend money on a product or service. Some of the areas in which the web has a greater influence on purchase decisions is consumer electronics. Companies like BestBuy and Circuit City have incorporated customer reviews next to each product in order to aid potential customers in making the right decision.

Is your business using social media to help your customers make a more informed decision?

Social Network Ad Spending: Still a Small Picture

Yesterday I posted some data on demographics of an online ad clicker; I figured I would end the weekend by leaving some more interesting data recently taken by eMarketer here. According to eMarketer, social network ad spending, which is a little over $1.4 billion, still represents a small percentage of total online ad spending which is estimated to reach $24.9 billion in 2008.

What does this mean for companies thinking about investing in social network advertising? Now’s a great time to dive in and experiment with ads using social media. What’s important here is listening to feedback and fixing mistakes.

It will be interesting to see how social network ad spending will change over the next couple of years.

Demographics of an Online Ad Clicker

Earlier this morning, I came across this post from eMarketer that displays some data on Online Ad Clicker Demographics. What’s interesting here is that nearly two-thirds of all users who click on online ads are daily visitors of the website in which the ad appeared. Fifteen percent of people who clicked on ads were first-time visitors and only 6% went to the site sporadically.

It also comes as no surprise that users that are most likely to click on video ads are below the age of 25; whereas users aged 45-54 tend to click on text links more frequently than others. It will be interesting to see how social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn will cater to different internet users. Here’s the survey conducted by iPerceptions Inc. below.

Is Blogging Being Replaced by Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr?

I came across this post on Wired in which Paul Boutin mentions that people should pull the plug on their blogs if they already have one, and stop considering launching one altogether if you were previously thinking about it.

Part of his reasoning here is that it is almost impossible now to get noticed because of cut-rate journalists who are now drowning out the voices of the few authentic amateur wordsmiths. He believes that you are better off investing your time with other social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr. The Technorati list of top 100 blogs includes some of the more professional blogs like the Huffington Post, TreeHugger, and others. Most of the personal blog sites have been shoved aside by these professional ones.

Audiences are slowly turning away from text-based sites and are instead turning to social media sites that incorporate pictures, audio, video clips, and other multimedia. It will be interesting to see how blogs will be affected over the next couple of years. Do you agree that blogs are going out of style and are being replaced by social multimedia sites?

Troubling Times Proves to be a Good Time for Blogging

According to this post on The Inquisitr, Six Apart CEO Chris Alden believes that the economic crisis might boost people to start blogging as they look for alternatives to work. The point seems logical since startup costs for blogging are lower and that most people will have excess time on their hands. Does this mean that businesses will also spend more time and energy reaching consumers on the blogosphere? I will leave you off with an interview with Wired in which Chris Alden used unemployment to support of his argument:

…a bad economy will probably lead to an overall uptick in blogging, Alden says. “When you don’t know where else to invest,” he explains, “you invest in yourself.”

Which is kind of a slick way of saying that when you get laid off or your company goes under, it’s a good time to build your personal brand by blogging. Or, for that matter, if you suddenly find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, you might blog to fill the empty spaces. “You look for a way to reassert control,” Alden points out. “That’s a reason blogging surges in down times.”

Building Communities for Insight and Consumer Advocacy

One of our sister events Voice of the Customer has put together a free webinar which I thought I’d pass along on this blog. Aliza Freud, the Founder and CEO of SheSpeaks will be presenting Building Communities for Insight and Consumer Advocacy on Thursday, November 6, 2008 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST. Mention priority code G1M2039W1BL when you register. Here’s a brief recap of the webinar:

The SheSpeaks platform creates community and connects brands to our members to capture consumer insights, build word-of-mouth recommendations and brand advocates. SheSpeaks has developed an expertise in building community among women that inspires them to become brand ambassadors.

This presentation will describe the four components that are required to create a strong community and how each component functions in that process. We will provide examples of how brands have used these components to achieve success and how we integrate each component in our process at SheSpeaks.

What you will learn by attending:
- What is SheSpeaks and how does it work?
- Why should a brand build a community?
- What are the four components of creating a strong community?
- How can you build community for your brand?

As always, check back regularly as we will be posting community related webinars here. Register for this webinar here.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/760721425

Flip flop at Twitter

In recent news at Twitter, the CEO and Chairman of the Board will be switching places. Jack Dorsey, the current Chairman of the Board, and Evan Williams, the current CEO of Twitter will be switching positions. Read more here.

They had this to say in a recent posting at Twitter:

"We're entering a new phase now and there are new kinds of challenges ahead. Healthy companies acknowledge the need for change even during the best of times. As Twitter grows both internally and externally, we took a good look at our path forward and saw the need for a focused approach from a single leader."

Parents get their own social network

DePaul has created one of the first social networks for parents of their university students. Read the press release here. This is unique, because it allows parents to connect to other parents. The Quad features everything from participating in a live question-and-answer session with a financial aid officer, to discussing plans for family weekend, to making connections with other DePaul parents from the same state, region or hometown.

Dara Crowfoot, director of marketing strategy at DePaul, had this to say about their new social network:

“Studies show that more than 70 percent of parents are very active in their student’s college search process. Roughly half of them want new technology to access information about their student’s college, so the Quad addresses the important role parents play in their students’ selection of a college and their lives once they arrive on campus. One of the goals of this community is to provide parents with resources to connect with one another to get the most out of their educational experience at DePaul.”

Salaries by region of online community

In a recent study done by the Online Community Report, they took a look at the compensation for those working with online community members. I found these two facts to be particularly interesting:

• The highest average / median annual salary in the USA comes from the research participants located in the northwest region. The average salary for the northwest region was $90k with a median of $90k.
• The lowest average / median annual salary in the USA comes from the research participants located in the southeast region. The average salary for the southeast region was $72k and the median was only $67k.

They also provided this graph:

Could Twitter be the next big marketplace

Shel Israel recently brought up an interesting topic on his blog. Although the web is known as a marketplace with eBay and Craigslist leading the way, Twitter is up and coming. eBay and Craigslist are forums where buying and selling go on, but Twitter is a true community of members. Israel shares several stories about how people have heard through items through Twitter, and it's resulted in new jobs and the purchasing of homes. Although Twitter is not intended to become a marketplace, it may set the stage for community members to interact and connect consumers to the products they need.

New Advertising Platform From MySpace

In latest news from MySpace, they have released a beta version of MyAds Service. It provides businesses with a tool to create customizable banner advertisements using HyperTargeting technology. This allows advertisers to create specific ads based on user demographics and interests. Relating back to the economy, Jeff Berman, President of MySpace Sales and Marketing, stated: "We're giving businesses better ROI ASAP and in today's economy, that's a must-have."

Is the End in Sight for Facebook

I came across this interesting article questioning the future viability of Facebook. As the article mentions top executives have left the company leaving some wondering if the end is in sight. Also, Facebook will be allowing employees to "cash out" their stocks beginning November 1st. As the articles states:

"In theory, Facebook could turn around and sell the former employee shares - and more - to outside investors. The trouble is, funding may not come easily in tough financial times."

This previous post on our blog discussed the effect the economy could have on Community 2.0, and it will be interesting to see if it will take down the largest online social network.

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From The New York Times to your local news, what do you comment on and why? We’re interested in finding out how popular these outlets are for our readers and your thoughts on the future of this practice. Feel free to comment here or on one of our groups.

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Effect the Economy Will Have on Community 2.0

The main topic of conversations and thoughts running through everyone's mind, seems to be the economy and how it will affect them. The Community 2.0 industry is not above these concerns. This article, discusses the web 1.0 bubble that burst, and how that may be mirrored in today's time with Community 2.0. As we have reported before marketing on social network sites has not been proven as valuable yet, and, as this correlating article mentions, "social networks are struggling with how best to monetize their millions of users". The article further provides this quote from Debra Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer, as saying:

"As in many other developing advertising markets, much of the spending on social networks is driven by leading-edge marketers who are willing to take risks"

Since organizations are still unsure of implementation methods that will maximize their ROI, and are taking a harder look at their budgets, do you think that the world of C2.0 will see a large decrease in their advertising revenue? In risky times, trends are generally to follow tried and true approaches as opposed to risking money on new concepts. Conversely, some feel that it is important to take risks at exactly times like these. What are your thoughts?

Mobile Community 2.0

In perhaps unsurprising news reported here, at MarketWatch, MySpace and Facebook are leading in number of visits to a Social Network through mobile phones. Of the approximately 46% of social network subscribers who have accessed a network using mobile phones, 70% had visited MySpace, and 67% had visited Facebook. Those are the only two social networks who have had success at passing a 15% mobile adoption. As Michael Wolf, research director for ABI explained:

"As in the online social networking space, there is clearly a large gap between the big two (MySpace and Facebook) social networks and the others. ABI Research believes this is because consumers do not want to recreate entirely new and separate social networks for mobile, but rather want to tap into their existing social network and have it go with them via the mobile phone. For most, this means MySpace, Facebook, or even both."

What are your thoughts? Have you been accessing your social networks through your phone? How do you think this will impact the Community 2.0 space?

Social Media Eruption in Africa

Popular belief might stray us to believe that investing in social media in Africa is a complete waste, but this post on ReadWriteWeb shows us that this continent is undergoing a web revolution of gigantic proportions.

Even though the continent suffers from disproportionate amounts poverty, it is making huge strides in providing internet connectivity to its people, even in areas that don’t have electricity! Here’s a couple of example of social media projects that have succeeded in Africa.

Afrigator
This site can be defined as a social media aggregator and directory that is built especially for African citizens. Afrigator was created by Justin Hartman, Stii Pretorius, Mike Stopforth and Mark Forrester.

Zoopy.com
This social media tool allows its users to upload videos, podcasts, and pictures and share them on the web. Although usable by everyone, it is targeted to the niche local market of South Africa.

Ushahidi
Ushahidi is a web application that maps reports of incidents of violence. This application was built after the aftermath of the Kenyan 2008 elections.

These are only a few examples of many social media applications that are benefiting from the growing tech-savvy population of Africa. Is it time for investors, entrepreneurs, and corporations to re-evaluate social media in this continent?

Social Networks: The New TV?

In this post on Social Times Robert O’Neil calls “social networks the new t.v.” Robert bases this trend on a new agreement between Slide, Warner Brothers, News Corp, CPS, and Hulu that will allow Slide to distribute premium content over platforms.

Most social networks out there are opting for the partnership model; MySpace is a great example of this model. Slide has the most popular application on Facebook, but unfortunately for Facebook it doesn’t amount to much profit, only increased pageviews. Will Facebook as a platform try to gain more profit from popular applications in the future?

Mzinga: Building White Label Social Networks for Businesses

Researching the web this morning I came across this post on Mashable in which they have a conversation with Mzinga about their recent success of building white label social networks for companies. In case you haven’t been keeping your eyes on Mzinga, they have over 14,000 communities in 160 countries worldwide. These numbers are impressive!

We’ve also produced a webinar with Barry Libert and Aaron Stout from Mzinga titled “Building a “WE” Company: The New Competitive Edge” where they demonstrate how to reap business benefits and real value from business social networks. Make sure to watch the archive here. Barry Libert was also a speaker at last year’s Community 2.0 Event which will now be held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA from May 11-13, 2009. Check back for regular updates on this blog for confirmed keynotes and other news across the community industry.

Here’s the recent conversation video from Mashable with Mzinga. Enjoy!