Web Strategy Blog

The Social Web, Taking it Personally

As we rapidly approach 2010, it's hard not to consider the implications of social media's banner year: 2009. Brands continue to adopt social media marketing practices just as fast as populations join social networks and utilizes social media sites. It has become fairly clear that the rapid adoption of this technology over the last year will certainly give rise to a number of trends in the coming years.  Recently, David Armano wrote a very interesting blog post on the Harvard Business Blog outlining six social media trends for 2010. Here is a quick snapshot of the trends:

1.  Social media begins to looks less social

2.  Corporations look to scale

3.  Social business becomes serious play 

4.  Your company will have a social media policy (and it might actually be enforced

5.  Mobile becomes a social media lifeline

6.  Sharing no longer means e-mail

Already we can see many of these trends taking shape from the number of sites incorporating sharing tools into their web pages to the rise of mobile applications. One trend, which I hope will result in more discussion, is the idea of social media becoming less social.  David argues that with the advent of Twitter lists, the rise of niche social networks, and the clutter of web communication, people will begin to block out a majority of the social communication on the web.  While in some ways this may be true, I believe that the social web will in fact be more personal (and therefore more relevant) rather than less social.   For example, Twitter lists function on the same social principle as the platform yet they allow users to break groups of people into lists with a focus on relevant and valuable information.   Niche social networks function on the same principle: a strong focus on relevant information for a certain type of contacts. Individuals are now taking on personal branding, and as every digital marketer knows - your customers are now their own publishers, and they have their own personal networks - and they are syndicated. 

The important thing to focus on is the personalized nature of each of these components of the social web. People continue to find value in the web as a social communication platform, but users continually looking for a much more personalized experience. The implication of this trend is huge for marketers.  In the past traditional marketing methods have generally been based around the one-to-many principle. Marketers worked hard to create a message that would have universal appeal to a mass target audience. This type of marketing worked well when the media was in fact one-to-many i.e. television, outdoor, print etc.  Today, individuals use the web as an information source to research and maybe even connect with relevant products and services.   Therefore, marketers must keep in mind that the browser is also a very one-to-one medium, capable of delivering a highly personalized experience for the user. Online audiences are already seeking out personalization with customized home-pages, Twitter lists, bookmarked and tagged websites, RSS readers etc. to filter out the clutter of the web.   The social web will continue it's trend to becoming a more open communication platform,  but tandem communications will need to become more personalized so that users will continue to see value in leveraging it.  I predict in 2010 we will see more groundbreaking approaches with organizations utilizing social media to establish a valuable personalized relationship with the individual - on a mass scale. 

Creating Community: Organic vs. Engineered Growth

The rapid adoption of the social web, especially around social networks, has given marketers a unique opportunity to build vibrant online communities around a product, service, brand, or organization.   The process of turning that community into a self-sustaining and growing business asset remains the key challenge.  To meet this challenge, marketers must learn to strike a balance between so-called 'Engineered' vs. 'Organic' community development.   It is essential that a community have a clearly defined purpose and a number of goals to set the tone for the overall content strategy and member discussion.  Community managers must also work to enforce rules within the community to ensure that user generated content, discussions, and posts all meet an agreed upon terms of use.  The delicate balance exists when a community manager or marketing strategist begins to see the community take on a life of its own.  If all goes accordingly, the 'engineered' strategy may lead members of the community to interact and contribute as planned, but may only lead to slow and steady adoption. Community managers must then question whether there is a enough 'organic' growth within the community to really achieve critical mass. Creating a community that lacks a defined structure and purpose can lead to rapid adoption and growth. This type of community platform has a lot potential (Twitter for example), but if an organization were to try and brand this sort of community, they would surely lose control. 

Organizations and brands considering creating an online community need to understand how to orient the tools, content, and purpose of a community to establish both 'engineered' and 'organic' growth.  Most organizations choose to establish communities on easy-to-manage social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace etc.   Using these tools, organizations can achieve solid organic growth with already existing user bases, a number of unique features/functionalities, and limited financial commitment. So how does one implement some sort of 'engineered' growth mechanism into these already established networks?  One way would be to integrate Open ID technology within a branded URL.  This allows a brand or an organization to utilize the existing user base of social networks, such as Facebook, while also allowing the business to form the community around a centralized purpose.  

As an example I will use an interesting travel site, whereivebeen.com. This is an excellent social travel site giving users the ability to pin-point places they've traveled on a map, share those experiences with friends, read reviews of destinations, and much more.  The site is completely integrated with Facebook Connect allowing users to share via the existing social network.   As the site continues to gain momentum, something interesting has occurred within the community.  Much of the user generated content on whereivebeen.com generally serves as a travel log or diary for individuals, citing interesting things that happened to them in a location or with people they met along the way.  The site organizes these thoughts as travel reviews, but most of the time the comments do not actually review the location.  So why does this disconnect exist between their 'engineered' community strategy and the 'organic' growth its sustaining?

 

Users generally consider Facebook as a personal network of friends providing information on personal experiences.  Clearly this association and integration with Facebook has caused the user base to utilize whereivebeen.com as a part of their very personal social network experience.  This is a good example of a community which has really taken on a life of its own. It also serves as an important lesson for marketers considering building a community.  Marketers need to consider how people use networks such as Facebook or Twitter in their every day lives. They must also consider the existing user base of networks like Linkedin, MySpace, and Facebook. Building communities that embrace their intended use and audience, will most likely lead to rapid adoption.  The 'If you build it, they will come' mentality is quickly fading as more online communities continue to take shape and users begin to expect certain features/functionalities.  It will be those businesses who understand how to successfully engineer and organically grow their online communities that will be able to deliver on the true value of online community. 

Building Community Through Member Recognition

Many organizations and their customers are finding more value in branded online communities. As the web continues to become a social communication channel, this relationship-driven marketing strategy is beneficial for both the business and customer when executed properly. Communities can offer a member answers to questions, interesting content, access to like-minded people, and a direct line of communication, while providing a business with a sales & marketing channel and a group of potential brand advocates.  Communities can be built to fit the needs of the organization and utilized to accomplish a number of marketing objectives.  Today's continued use of social networks and community platforms gives marketers a unique opportunity to easily utilize a number of options to create a community. Organically growing that community into a valuable business asset remains the critical challenge. Communities tend to fail when they are unable to stimulate long-term interaction and participation among their own members. Communities can only grow in value when community members contribute, providing more content for users, information for marketers, and creating strong community ties along the way. Businesses must find ways to encourage interaction and strong participation if they want their community to flourish. 

Many organizations choose to embrace their online community by recognizing and rewarding individual community members. Recognizing members allows companies to establish a deeper connection with the community, creating a personal experience and a sense of ownership among the community. Recognition also encourages members to contribute better content more often. A few companies have proven to be successful at using member recognition programs to encourage interaction. 

 

Point-based systems can be used to encourage members of the communities to participate in forums, answer other member's questions, creating content, replying to a post etc.  Points can be accumulated and exchanged for incentives such as waving a community membership fee, gaining exclusive access to portions of the site, or earning prizes and discounts.   Microsoft's Silverlight Developer Community functions on a point based system allowing users to accumulate different numbers of points for different levels of engagement. The site even features a hall-of-fame listing top contributors and their point levels. 

The Experts Exchange community depends on it's point based system to generate the site's content. Experts Exchange is a knowledge-sharing platform in which community experts are awarded points for answering other member's questions about technology problems and solutions.  In this system, members actually grade the expert's work and points are awarded based on the number of points the question was worth (may be assigned a value up to 500) and the quality of the expert's work. Experts are recognized by earning free memberships and special year-end awards. 

 

Peer recognition occurs within online communities when members of the community recognize other influential members. MyStarbucksIdea.com is a good example of peer recognition.  Members of the site vote on their favorite product improvements and unique ideas in hopes that Starbuck's may actually implement the suggestion. Members who have ideas implemented are recognized not only by Starbucks but also the community as thought leaders. Others aspire to come up with that next 'best' idea and continue to participate with their own ideas. 

 

Member spotlights are becoming more common on blogs and member communities. This sort of member recognition can often be as simple as listing top blog contributors and commenters on the community landing page or newsletter.  Organizations can also host user generated content contests or challenges.  For example, H+M clothing partnered with Sims 2 for a clothing design competition. More than 1,000 aspiring fashion designers and fans of The Sims submitted designs online that were voted on by more than 100,000 people and viewed by more than 500 million people in six weekly fashion shows on Yahoo.com.

 

As the web continues to become a more social and interactive environment, it is important to remember that individuals seek social capital on the internet just as they would in real life. Building communities with this idea mind and incorporating member recognition programs will create the organic growth necessary to turn a stagnant online community into a valuable business asset.   

CIO's: what would you like to ask Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer?

In wake of the recent economic stress, many businesses have begun to realize the importance of efficient business practices and streamlined operational processes.  As technology continues to improve and provide the tools and solutions necessary to improve efficiency, many IT executives still face the challenge of justifying large and even small capital investments in IT programs to key stake holders.   While budgets remain tight and consumer spending continues to lag, it stands clear that achieving efficiency needs to remain at the forefront of conversation.  Microsoft has taken the lead to facilitate this important discussion as part of a Virtual Launch Event in San Francisco.

Microsoft is hosting a special VIP Business Leadership Roundtable event, "The New Efficiency" on September 29, 2009 in San Francisco @ 9-10.30am PDT.  All IT and tech industry professionals are invited to tune in and join the conversation during this must-see event and hear top technology leaders and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, debate the role of IT during this economic reset.  Those attending are also encouraged to send Steve Ballmer questions of there own about how cost savings, productivity and innovation may come together to drive business growth. This event will be a great chance for executives and professionals to get an inside look at how real companies are justifying IT investments across the desktop, server, network and beyond.  The event will also cover topics such as the consumerization of IT, mobile and distributed workforces, as well as industry regulations and ongoing security threats.   Don't miss this excellent opportunity to gain valuable insight from some of the best and brightest in the industry! 

Visit www.thenewefficiency.com for more information and mark your calendars! 

Gamer 2.0 - Exploring the use of Gaming, Community and Social Media

Gamer 2.0, Exploring the use of Gaming, Community and Social Media

View more documents from Karen OBrien.

I've been watching the gaming space go social over the past few years and have been fascinated by how dramatically things are changing and evolving. The gaming industry has taken a hit during the economic downturn – many publishers finding for the first time in many years that they either have a mega-hit or a dog of a title. They are struggling with how to address new audiences that they have not served before – such as seniors or exercise enthusiasts. Gamers are demanding social experiences within games and a new wave of social gaming companies are stepping up to the plate.

I'm an enthusiastic gamer myself - I've spent way too many hours on Wii and mobile games - and many MMOG's. Recently I worked with Crimson Analyst Chris Terschluse on doing research on Gaming and the use of Community and Social Media. Even if you're not a gamer, I hope you will find the the research as interesting as we do.

Here is a summary of some of the trends we're seeing:

-   Gamer Demographics: new game experiences and casual gaming have changed gamer demographics. Families and seniors are now some of the highest growing segments.

-   New Gaming Experiences: Gamers want experiences that are deeply customizable and interactive.

-   Multiple revenue modelsare utilized to monetize games. Micro-transactions, pre-paid cards, game services are all creating strong sources of revenue.

-   Social: Gamers now demand social experiences within games.

-   Gamers are avid social networkers, sharing UGC such as photos, videos, or blogs.

 

What will be the next big online gaming platform? Some predict the gaming platforms of the future will be primarily social networks, but what about other platforms - such as Skype?

Microsoft Windows new IT Pro Campaign "Talking About Windows"

Microsoft just launched a new campaign called Talking About Windows focused on IT Pro's where they are opening up the conversation about Windows 7. It includes interviews with Microsoft's top Windows 7 Engineers including Jon DeVaan, Mark Russinovich, Gabe Aul and others as well as some great Windows 7 early adoption companies.

 

TalkingaboutWindows.com offers IT professionals genuine insight on Windows 7 from the Microsoft engineers who helped build the product. Featured are video's and discussions about why product decisions and feature trade-offs were made. Also, IT Pro's can get real-world commentary from IT professionals as they share their Windows deployment and adoption experiences. If you are an IT Pro, check out this forum to express your opinions, discuss Windows and share adoption stories.

As a marketer, I am very interested to see the conversation around Windows 7 and the IT Pro customer is a great place to start.

What Do Obama and David Hasselhoff have in Common?

In the theme of "do we really need another social network?" comes a bold move by celebrity David Hasselhoff who has started his own social network called Hoffspace in late August. Since then I've been watching it to see the reaction and have been surprised by both the response and the amount of activity its getting. I won't get into the multitude of social tools, UGC and activity in his social network - because we all know its not about the technology - bottom line is his fans have enthusiastically responded. The user experience is train wreck - but that doesn't seem to matter, from my experience when you have an enthusiastic following people will tolerate a lot of UX issues. Its been publicly reported that over 13,000 users signed up on the first day.

Whats so new about a celebrity doing social networking? Many celebrities are prominent on large social networks and many leverage social tools/ social marketing in their promotions. The difference is that I haven't seen celebrities building a dedicated social network around THEMSELVES as a brand! I suppose you could argue that the current politicians running for election are doing just that EG: Obama. It begs the question - is the Hoff just another self-obsessed celebrity or a social networking pioneer?

   

On the business side - will we start to see social networks created around CEO's or tech celebrities? Or are the Robert Scobles of the world already social networks unto themselves? Who would you like to see create their own social network? Is this the end or the explosion of social networks as we know it?

Starbucks - MyStarbucks Idea

So many companies are now using social media to communicate more effectively with their customers - and Starbucks is no exception. I spent some time today on the MyStarbucks Ideas site - which to me looks suspiciously like Dell's Ideastorm concept...but I give Starbucks credit for creating a forum for consumers to share ideas and vote /comment. 

In summary the site features allow you to:

- Post an idea (in areas like products, experience and involvement)

- Vote for idea's that you like

- Comment on ideas

Not surprisingly there are a lot if ideas along the lines of "become a coffee house" or "offer free wifi" - but there are also a multitude of interesting ideas for new products, process and customer experiences. Interestingly the top rated idea is to foster conversation at Starbucks and to use new media to drive it...

"Great conversation at Starbucks?(Top rated idea from the MyStarbucks idea site)

My idea is simple - Starbucks does a lot of things well - good coffee, interesting locations. One of its challenges though I believe is to create a sense of conversation and community within its locations.

One way of doing this would be to use the power of media and wireless new media in particular to foster a sense of conversation about the arts, current events, etc. In other words to stimulate Starbucks patrons that wish to interact as part of a 21st century "cafe society" such as they have in Europe traditionally - people gathering together to discuss the arts, world events and culture.

I've seen some interesting programs in new media that to me would be a great step forward in terms of promoting this kind of engaging conversation. For instance one of the ones that springs to mind is a new online program called "The Alcove with Mark Molaro" which is based in New York. They have wonderful conversations with fascinating world-class guests and it seems to me that this sort of program is the kind of thing that would foster subsequent conversation and community within Starbucks locations.

The key is to provide cultural leadership through media to promote conversation and community within Starbucks locations. That would be a quantum leap in terms of engagement and experience at Starbucks. Thank you. "

 

If more companies opened up the conversation directly to customers to allow them to share ideas the insights would be phenomenal. What will be most interesting to see is what Starbucks does with these ideas - how will they review and implement?

 

What Flavor of Web Strategist Do You Need?

I've been working in web for 12 years now - I built my first community strategy for a client in 1996. If its one thing I have learned its that everyone considers themselves to be a "strategist". Having said that, when you are working on web initiatives of any significant size you are working as a part of a team, an eco-system of people who all bring something important to the table.

In a conversation with a client we were reviewing just how many different flavors of web strategists there are - and how do clients determine what kind of web strategist they need?

General Web Strategist - this kind of web strategist has a broad and deep experience base, has usually come from an agency or consulting background... has really "been there and done that" with almost any kind of web project or business model. They are experienced enough to be flexible to work on most kinds of web projects and the best ones have implemented their strategies.

Web Marketing Strategist - a strategist who is focused on outbound web marketing techniques. They live and die by data and results.

PR Strategist - a PR professional who leverages social media and web marketing as an integrated part of PR strategy. Could include monitoring conversations, identifying influencers, syndicating content using social media for PR purposes

Brand Strategist - usually focused on more of the creative, UI and brand elements of web. These strategists usually come from a creative or agency background.

Advertising Strategist (Media, SEO, SEM, WOM) Focused on media and online advertising.

CRM/ Web Strategist - a strategist focused on the customer contact strategy, customer touchpoints and CRM. A sub-set of this can be relationship marketers or database marketers. It will be interesting to see how this role evolves given how social media has changed the touchpoints companies have with customers.

Web Analytics Strategist - focused on the measurement and analytics of web. Could encompass everything from basic web analytics to rich media, community and social media analytics. Like web marketers, for this strategist - data is king.

User Experience Strategist - a strategist that looks at the audience in detail and optimizes the overall user experience. Often these strategists come from an information architecture or creative background.

Content Strategist - plans the overall content in a web site - which could include editorial, third party content or user-generated content. Considerations such as assessing audience content needs, publishing strategy, licensing, syndication of content are all considerations.

Technical Web Strategist - sometimes referred to as a "Solutions Architect" Looks at the technology and infrastructure needs, technical requirements and informs the development needs. Typically these strategists come from a consulting or developer background.

Subject Matter Experts - Web strategists focused on a specific industry (SMB), point solution (wikis. blogs) or audience segment (Gen Y).

Community Strategist - A strategist that understands the complex interactions between community members and the ongoing needs, opportunities and dynamics of online communites. A sub-set of this could also be Community Managers who are very hand-on yet closely tied to the strategy of how to build, grow and manage the community.

Social Media Strategist - focused on leveraging social media for marketing purposes. In my opinion the best social media strategists are those that walk their talk - they actually blog, they use Twitter, they belong to social networks and communities.

I don't agree with Steve Rubel that the need for these roles will eventually disappear - I think that’s a wishful-thinking PR perspective. I have seen increasing demand in our enterprise client base for web and social media skills. While I do agree that these skills will eventually become required for all marketers, I believe that there is always room for experienced, quality consultants. Jeremiah Owyang did a post on the need for the social media manager and two distinct roles that Forrester sees emerging: the social media manager and the community manager.

Most enterprise marketers are just beginning to experiment with social media and I believe its a long way off before they acquire deep skills. In the meantime, when leveraging the skills of a web strategist, its important to ensure that you are engaging the right kind of strategist to meet your objectives.

Events, Social Media and Chocolate

Today I spent the morning attending an amazing event in San Francisco: The Chocolate Salon at Fort Mason and it got me thinking about how dramatically the promotion of local events has changed in the past few years with the prevalence of social media and Web 2.0 technologies. Its a topic that appeals to both the chocoholic and web strategist in me.

The event itself was fantastic - a chocolatey, gooey and somewhat indulgent day for people who love everything chocolate. I checked out the Chocolate Salon site and hit cacao nirvana when I discovered TasteTV's "Chocolate TV" video segments!!! On it you can see every imaginable story around chocolate and the event: some examples of chocolate couture, chocolate hairstyles, stories about some of the fantastic chocolate manufacturers and retailers that we have right here in San Francisco.

How does social media play into it? For starters, like a lot of things I go to these days I learned about the event from both upcoming.org and meetup.com from my friends listing it as something that they were going to.

Here is a list of basic social tools that likely will (or should be used) to promote and report on the event before, during and after:

- Blogging - I'm blogging about it and so are others

- Comments on the event sites, blogs, etc.

- Twitter - attendees were twittering about the event

- Flickr - I uploaded photos to Flickr from the event and many others did too

- Groups , reviews, ratings and forums were formed in sites such as Yelp

- Video's and podcasts were created around the event

- E-Commerce - of course a lot of the local manufacturers and vendors have websites with e-commerce

and then there is the use of so many "sharing" tools that are inherent in many of the above that create a viral effect: "send to a friend", tagging, send a message, get link, get code.

What else could have been done? Social bookmarking on sites like Delicio.us or Ma.gnolia, recipe sharing, links to food or chocolate blogs, a wiki on chocolate related topics, mobile alerts, FaceBook groups ...the list goes on and on. What social tools do you use for events?