Igniting the social graph

‘Igniting the social graph’ was just one of the catchy take home phrases from the Habari Media ‘tuongee’, or mini-symposium, which was hosted by the digital media house last week, in association with BBC.com, Facebook, Vodacom, BDFM and MTV.

A select group of the country’s digital marketing elite sat down to discuss matters related to digital marketing and how brands can better leverage off the available platforms.

Jonathan Labin, commercial manager for CEEMEA Facebook, started the Social Talk by asking the audience who had a real personal profile on the Internet five years ago. Not one member of the digitally astute audience had. Today we all do. Using real identities online is a key social change we have seen in the last five years and it has enabled social media marketing and untold opportunities for brands, Labin explained.

Labin went on to illustrate the dramatic shifts that have occurred in the web’s short history. In the ‘80s the web was used for browsing; in the ‘90s it was used for searching. Today the web is definitely about sharing information.

Recent statistics from Comscore reveal time spent browsing sites has decreased by 21%, search has increased by 1% and time spent on social media platforms has increased by 52%. Our real friends are making our experiences better online just as they do in the physical world. Social platforms are facilitating these connections and making the world a more open and connected place.

The social graph, a term coined by Mark Zuckerberg to describe the network of connections that exist between users and through which people communicate and share information, continues to grow at an impressive pace.

According to Labin, Facebook user sharing has doubled over the last year alone.

Fifteen million people connect on Facebook every day, but even more impressive is that there are now 50m ‘likes’ daily (searchengineland.com) – friends sharing their preferences with friends. Not only does this demonstrate the importance users place on sharing information, it also illustrates that the web is now being built around people.

This shift is changing businesses; they too are re-organising around people. A good example is a recent campaign by ASB Bank in New Zealand. The bank created a virtual banking experience on Facebook, effectively using the social media platform as a conversation platform knowing that this is where their customers spend their time. ASB has succeeded in bringing the boring, but important discussion of loans and deposits, to the fun environment of Facebook.

Not only are businesses changing, but also shopping is re-organising around people (Groupon, Amazon, Dealify), as is news re-organising itself around people – 43% of news is now shared via social media in the US (study by CNN, October 2010).

Social by design

When people are the central pivot around which your business revolves the importance of word of mouth, or social advocacy, is critical.

Labin says that advertising today needs to be ‘social by design’; it needs to be built around people and be shared. Ask yourself, is this something people want to share. Will this campaign spark a conversation? Will this ignite the social graph?

He advises marketers to not channel their thinking by creating platform specific strategies, rather to consider whether the communication they envisage is social by design. Is it good enough for users to want to share it with their friends?

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube can be used to amplify paid-for media and in so doing, maximise the media landscape.

Belinda Carreira, senior manager: interactive marketing at Standard Bank complemented Labin’s presentation by giving a client perspective on social media.

Carreira is a firm advocate of social media, believing that it provides excellent opportunities, but that the trick is to find how it can drive value for the business.

Converting the engagement on social media platforms into a tangible result is what is now expected from social media campaigns, which means that your measures need to extend beyond collecting followers and fans. To achieve this, Carreira advises that social media requires thought and a well planned strategic approach. “Social media should support a campaign’s overall objectives but the message needs to be tailored specifically for each social media platform, all of which need to have a solid content strategy.”

The action or engagement that you drive on each platform should also be tailored to how the communities prefer to use the platform. For example Facebook users tend to prefer to remain within Facebook but Twitter users are used to clicking out, so tailor your activation appropriately.”

She added that social media should not be used just for campaigns, “social media is for all the time. Your community will not sustain itself in-between activations, you need to invest in your platforms and your communities consistently”.

On the topic of social media and reputation management, Carreira had some interesting insights. “Your reputation is what people say about you when you are not in the room. Your social reputation, however, is what people say about you whether you are in the room, or not!”

Carreira advises businesses to firstly “choose to be in the room, or risk becoming irrelevant”, and secondly, ‘”o use a good social media reputation management company to help you track what is being said about your brand and help you manage your reputation appropriately in this space”.

“Social media has shifted businesses into a more vulnerable state. Businesses are no longer in control of their messages, of their reputation and, even in some cases, their products and processes. Their customers have a more powerful voice and can find each other, they have rights and they are more discerning. This power shift means that businesses’ shortcomings are being exposed every day so this needs to be managed,” she says.

Once a business is tracking they can decide to respond or not. Carreira advises businesses to listen first, and then analyse. “Identify your opinion leaders. Identify your agitators. Measure your response.” And brands shouldn’t get defensive. “Don’t try and win the argument.”

Share and Enjoy

The Hawkeye: Facebook: Friend or Foe?

   Everyone knows Facebook, the famous networking site that came from the mind of college graduate Mark Zuckerberg. With 200 million plus users, Facebook remains the top social networking site in today’s world. But the question that many people don’t think about is how Facebook can be used against you; and it’s important to know how real that possibility is. Many colleges hire individuals to specifically search through applicants Facebook pages to see what they are actually like. So lookout everybody! Your scandalous photos may be the end of your college application…

   A survey of 500 colleges from last year showed that 10% of admissions admitted to looking at social sites such as Facebook and MySpace when evaluating college. Out of that percent, 38% of admissions officers said that applicant’s social networking site pages influenced their decision negatively. It is a scary truth we as students need to come to realize.

   Many companies are stating that this will be something to worry about in the future, and one that is being tailored to the right degree. Think of this process as a new frontier; know to have a true value to the world, but it has yet to be perfected. Even though only 10% of colleges now use this in their application process, if it is proven to be effective; it will surely be implicated by the rest of the school across America.

   Many of you might ask however, what do we have to worry about? Honestly, it is just the basics. The administrators do not search any and every post you have ever made: but they do take notice of pictures and posts with R rated material. For example, if a Facebook or MySpace page is covered in status and pictures of parties showcasing complete irresponsibility, you are likely to be getting a denial letter back from their application.

   So students beware! If you looking into applying for college, or even a job to start your future career, make sure you’re Facebook and other social networking sites are free of anything that might upset your administrator.

  

Share and Enjoy