News Update – Best of the Day – 250

Let’s celebrate…! This is News Update number 250! The plan was to write it every working-day. To be honest… A day has only 24-hours (it’s shame it hasn’t 36…!). Sometimes I do need some sleep. And I have the plan to write one post a day as it is a weblog and not a publishers magazine… ;-)!

We will be celebrating this special edition focussing solely on the future of social networks… AND…
I will be drawing an excellent bottle of Italian wine and 3 specially designed The Strategy Web aluminium keyring bottle openers for everybody answering one of the following question!

Location Based Services Social Networks
Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite were the first mobile location-based service social networks. Now, Facebook starts with their Places.
The question is… Who will survive and why…?

Business Networks
LinkedIn, Bebo, XING, Facebook, hi5, orkut.
The question is… Are “private social networks” winning against real business networks…?

Private Social Networks
Facebook, MySpace, friendster, Perfspot, Zorpia, Netlog
The question is… Will private and business networks merge in the future…?

Outstanding Countires – Social Networks
Tuenti (Spain), Bebo (India, Portugal, Brasil), Lokalisten and VZ Networks (Germany), Nasza-klasa (Poland), Vkontakte (Russia)
The question is… Will these networks survive against the global networks in the long-run…?

Looking forward to your feedback and Good luck for the draw on September 01st, 2010!

Google Ads: Marketers have more influence on brand name key words in the future

If your company runs a business in Europe using Google Ads, then the announcement of Google becomes of interest for you. From 14 September 2010 your company will be able to buy and include brand names in keywords in your Google Ads campaign which have been trademarked by other businesses. These changes are extension to the changes made in the UK and Ireleand in 2008. In the US, this has been possible since 2004.

Many companies use Google Ads in order to drive attention to their websites and increase visibility about their products and services. Up until now, it was a court issue for companies to stop third-party ads from being mentioned alongside the paid keyword results of a trademark name. The problem came up when the French luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton complained that only they have the rights to be able to use and buy such trademark terms in search offerings. The objective behind this cause is obvious: Brands wanted to protect their brand name.

And in the era of the social web, this also becomes an important impact on brands and the influence on their consumers. “Google argues that selling brand names as ad keywords to multiple bidders helps consumers because it allows them to find product reviews, sellers of second-hand goods and other information. It stressed that the new policy would not extend to the actual display text in search findings.” The idea is that users will find more relevant context connected to the brand name. The bad news for brand owners is that a hifi dealer will now be able to use the products brand names in its keywords.

Spot On!
Seeing this movement from a Google perspective it is a clever approach to boost their Google Adwords business. Although Google stressed that the new policy would not extend to the actual display text in search findings. Nevertheless, questions arise if Google has to watch out for Facebook as a competitor in the fight on search revenues. If more and more people are spending more and more time asking for the opinion of their friends (see launch of Google Questions) instead of searching the answer via search machines, the world of advertisers and brand might follow.

So, did your company already move budgets from Google to Facebook?

Social Networks – Are niche communities the future of networks?

More often people are fed up with all that self-referential talk of individuals on social networks. Or, companies which do not understand the idea of an online conversation, including clients and not just broadcasting the old-fashioned marketing and sales way. Just today, I had some people in my Facebook stream and my Twitter updates telling me how the weather was, what their kids had for breakfast, or that their wives don’t understand their affinity to social networks. OK, nice, fair enough… Interesting? No!

And then I hear my wife saying… “Why keeping up the contact to so many people if there is no option to even get actively into 10 per cent of the conversations happening in these online relationships?” True, but you never know when some contact might need you, or vice versa.

Checking Facebook and staying up-to-date on Twitter becomes challenging on a busy day, with kids that are happy to see dad in the evening for some minutes, and long-time friends complaining why they don’t hear anything from you anymore.

So, is there another trend coming up in the future that might go for niche social networks, niche communities? Why? We had that offline for ages. Years ago, people have spend hours in their football club bar after a training session, or went to book readings to enjoy the discussion afterwards, or went to a vernisage in order to “philosophy” about the latest gallery exhibition with someone they don’t know. The reason for doing it was just their share of interest in something, a hobby, a passion, or a kind of affinity. So, are we seeing social networks for art geeks going on virtual gallery tours in the future?

My father was telling me that he uses a Bridge community and plays daily for one or two hours. A friend of mine is a DJ and he spend hours in communities for DJs like My DJ Space or Mix DJ. Some even still (or again?) love vinyl and become members in a community there. These music enthusiasts do nothing more or less than share their interest in being DJs, and obviously loving to mix tapes. The special interest is the centre of their community engagement.

Some years ago, somebody approached me with the idea of an international golfer network (http://www.golffriends.com/welcome/community). As I love playing golf (though don’t have enough time to play often…), there was some interest to become a member, if not more to become more engaged in the business idea. But then, time and the thought of managing many private interest networks -as I have quite some hobbies- next to my business networks and the top networks made me not investing too much time in that vision. Maybe I should have done…

Mothers share their passion for coffee on Cafemom, and if we think about all the Starbucks communities it does not surprise us. Games exchange ideas and thoughts on Raptr, or real social activists use Care2. Even more “nichy” is the passion of men for their moustache that they express online to the public. And others share their interest in Whisky or Wine networks.

So, my question is if niche networks could take a big portion of the market share of global social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc.) in the future? Can you see people going away from the self-gloryfying popular networks that the mainstream web user is engaged in? Tell us of niche networks you know and how you see this trend?

News Update – Best of the Day

Studies can open up new knowledge in the way countries see the internet. So, one says Britains trust in the internet more than in friends. The openness they divulge information to social media space is interesting…

Full name: 92 per cent
Hometown: 62 per cent
Date of Birth: 59 per cent
Relationship status: 49 per cent
Secondary school: 40 per cent
Marital status: 33 per cent
University/College: 30 per cent
Partners name: 28 per cent
Employer: 20 per cent
Job title: 18 per cent
Parental status: 17 per cent
Primary school: 16 per cent
Children’s names: 9 per cent
Full address: 5 per cent

Whilst another study shows how promising the future of ecommerce looks like in China.

“99% of university students and professionals ages 22 to 35—the key consumers of the future—are online an average of four hours a day. And they are already comfortable buying goods and services online. (…) Some 39% of university students and 49% of young professionals shop online, spending an average of $294 each in 2008. The majority go to the Internet first to get product information and compare prices.”

And sometimes, you just need somebody who is taking a close look at the social media world… i.e. in Japan.

The next big brother vision is created in real life: on the social web. If you read this investigation, then you might stop using social networks… or you might understand how and in which way companies work with your secrets. This post makes clear how important it is for companies to be transparant in the way they are working.

Kids are the future. Essential that we all help them - no matter where they are living. Shivers going down my neck on that Altius Foundation campaign. Great idea, great concept and fantastic delivery…

The 3 types of social networkers that influence the buying process

It’s been a rumour in the industry for quite a long time now: Facebook and Twitter are becoming indirect shopping platforms and their buttons can boost sales. A recent survey by the research firm Gartner Inc. discovered that most of the users appreciate and take suggestions from their friends through social networking sites before purchasing products. And furthermore, they rely on three types of social networking friends for their purchasing decision process.

The Gartner study asked nearly 4,000 consumers across 10 key markets. The interesting part is that people in the social networks are taking different positions inside the purchasing process when recommending products to people they are connected with. Gartner identifies three types of people and roups them into three categories: ‘Connectors’, ‘Mavens’ and ‘Salesmen’.

So, how do they differentiate from each other?
The ‘Connectors’ are defined as those who “perform a bridging function between disparate groups of people and enjoy introducing people to each other”. The ‘Mavens’ are “knowledge exchangers or information brokers”, who are experts in particular area and people go to them for advice. But they are not people who wish to convince people to buy certain items; they are more interested in acquiring new knowledge, it said. The ‘Salesmen’ are those, who have “extensive social connections” and the personality trait that persuade people around them to “act on information in highly directed ways”.

“Our survey results showed that one-fifth of the consumer population is composed of Salesmen, Connectors and Mavens. These are three roles that are key influencers in the purchasing activities of 74 per cent of the population.” (…) “Salesmen and Connectors are the most effective social network influencers and the most important groups for targeted marketing based on social network analysis.” Nick Ingelbrecht, Research Director, Gartner

Gartner advises companies based on the findings of its survey to pro-actively engage with these different types of people on social networking sites. Not surprisingly, they define these categories of social media influencers as the “critical, but underutilised, aspect of the marketing process” for the future.

“Companies attempting to use social networks should develop relationships with key customers over a period of time and progressively refine the social network profiles of those individuals.” (…) “Retailers who run small shops have instinctively done this with their best customers for years with the intention that these ‘VIP’ customers will not only buy the new products but recommend them to their friends.” Nick Ingelbrecht, Research Director, Gartner

Spot On!
For me, there is a strange thing about this study. It causes a Deja-vu, I have never had before in my life. Two years ago, I published and explained -in German- in a long post the importance of these three types of people in business networks for business decision makers, and how businesses should focus on them when talking about their social media approaches. And guess what: Two years ago, I came to the same conclusion and refered to the same types of people. In these days, I have read the book “Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell for the second time. And in this book you will find the same categories of people, and you are told to rely on them and work with ‘Connectors’, ‘Mavens’ and ‘Salesmen’.

The main question is now, how to address these social networking influencers? Can you call them up and talk to them directly? Send an email? Invite them for dinner or lunch? What is the best way to start the conversation with them?

News Update – Best of the Day

Every social media expert out there loves talking about The Cluetrain Manifesto and it’s impact on the future of our marketplaces. Now that the Cluetrain is more than 10 years old, I am trying to follow it’s creators in order to see how their views have changed. One of the founders Doc Searls -after Christopher Locke and david Weinberger some weeks ago- was writing last week about the main drivers of the open marketplace transaction, conversation and relationship. “Marketing is now all gaga over “social media” as well, in part because many believe that Cluetrain was all about “social” markets”, he says, and I have to admit sometimes I do see it that way, too. Having agreed with him, I do have to add: Technology changes quickly but it is difficult to change a market situation – no matter if social or open. Why? In the first place, it is driven by human beings. And it takes them a long time to adapt new culture. Haven’t we seen this 10-15 years ago when all this internet hype started? In some way, we seem to be on this learning curve again. Don’t you agree?

There are many valuable Twitter tool lists. Vadim Lavrusik created one of the (in my eyes) best Twitter tools top 20 lists that will help you improve your Twitter experience.

Adbands has become a classic event in the last years. And the commercial which was produced for the event tells us why. No more to say…

News Update – Best of the Day

Have you ever heard of the X-treme shopper? Well, the amopunt of people that fit in this personalized power shoppers category increases. A new study by GFK research shows that already 31% of Americans find themselves in this category. They use all emerging technologies and information resources available in order to take control of their shopping and purchase experience.

“By mixing and matching information and shopping resources to meet their specific needs, consumers are now continuously creating unique pathways to purchase. This presents an unprecedented challenge for marketers who must take special care to ensure their various touchpoints work together seamlessly to help guide XTreme shoppers on their quest for the best values.”

Mike Kassab, senior vice president of Innovation and director of the Future Buy study, GFK

Did you know that the world population according to the United Nations is 6.8 billion people? And how many have a mobile phone? A new study by Ericsson says 5 billion…!

And what would people do if Facebook was closed tomorrow? A recent study by Andreas Weigend, former chief scientist of Amazon at Stanford, suggests that 40% of respondents would backup photos and 38.7% said they would backup contacts.

News Update – Best of the Day

Many people are producing and publishing advice for social media in businesses these days. It becomes more and more difficult to find the best content resources. Some of my business contacts asked me to set up a list with my favorite Twitter accounts. Here it is: The Twitter Digest.

We all would love to know how the future digital world looks like in 2020. On a future world conference in Boston technologist Michael Rogers shared his view on how kids will take awareness of the offline world compared to online which is definitely a remark that needs to be discussed…

“To kids born in 2019, we’ll have to tell them what offline is,” said Rogers. “Online will be the normal course of things.”

As a client service director Matt Rhodes from FreshNetworks gets to know the issues that arise when companies are trying to develop a social media strategy for European markets. In this video he shares his thoughts on different countries in Europe and good social media tactics.

Product strategists think social innovations could increase

If there are more and more people engaging with brands on the social web, the opportunity to collaborate with the social community becomes a lucrative meaning for brands – and their product strategists. These managers could open up a new “external R&D department” when they use social technology in order to increase product innovations by integrating their customers in the process of product creation and development.

A recent Forrester study of 181 consumer product strategy professionals from companies around the globe states that product strategists in companies strive for social innovations. Though Forrester makes clear that social innovation is not yet where it should be from the product strategist’s point-of-view. The study shows the familiar picture that we see in more or less all departments in companies: It is still early days also for product strategists to work with social media. And only some leverage social media in favor of social innovations.

Still it seems to be a big challenge for companies to find their way from being engaged with their customers on the social web to understanding the impacts and chances to social innovation management. This becomes clear when we see that 83% of the companies use social media to drive customer conversation but then not even half of those have product teams that influence product design, creation, or strategy by using social media.

It is also surprising for me to acknowledge that it is not the resources that are lacking. More than two-thirds of the responding product strategists have dedicated social managers or teams. On the one hand, it lacks the right technological connection bridges between the different company departments. On the other hand, when not more than one-fifth have formal policies in their companies for sharing data from social technologies with product teams, the road to succeed with social co-creation efforts seems to be long.

Spot On!
The best way to produce the right products for your customers is to ideally let them inspire a business. In the past, we had focus-groups which were cost-intensive, time-limited and time-consuming. The concept of social creation and social innovation can work on a day-to-day innovation platform. Just think of Dell Ideastorm, MyStarbucksidea, Adobe’s ideas lab or the IKEA Hacker approach. Nevertheless, companies should be aware that customers very often need or want some kick-back for their inspirational efforts. So, in my eyes the point of giving away some form of incentive will be necessary to get such communities started and make them sustainable.

Or will customers in the future co-create for free to receive better product-price-quality? What do you think?

News Update – Best of the Day

What is the effect of web 2.0 technology on business results? It seems to be proven that it increases business results. This is the main insight that the latest survey by McKinsey offers, derived from asking more than 3.000 business executives. 31% of the respondents whose companies use six or more Web 2.0 technologies increased market share above their nearest competitor compared to 20% of respondents using just one or two technologies. 60% indicated that Web 2.0 had some impact on bottom-line profitability. From a technology usage perspective these decision makers favor Social Networking (63%), Blogs (48%), Video sharing (42%), Wikis (35%), and Podcasts (32%). See more results in this post by Michael Hamlin.

BUT… New findings of studies show the importance of freshing up relationships and networks by meeting offline – and not only staying in touch (via email and social networking) with friends and business contacts in the social digital space. While we may be gaining time with social web technologies, we cannot rely on their connecting power. The quality of relationships may suffer from too less offline networking, says the TIMES Magazine.

Nevertheless, when looking back at our social web activities in 2020, 85% of Americans will say that web socializing -the way we know it today- has impoved their lives. This is the result of a Pew Internet study.

Could be interesting to see how the rest of the world would evaluate web socializing in the future. Don’t you think?

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