The Value of Social Networks and Facebook

The Value of Social Networks and Facebook

Bill EagerBeager.com

Bill EagerAuthor, Speaker Web Expert

“Bill Eager estimates there will be as many as 250,000 sites that call themselves social networks within a year, compared with about 850 today.”

"Everyone will reposition their site to take advantage of this phenomenon. It happened before with portals..."

Social MediaLike Any Advertising Channel

• Brand Awareness• Get New Customers • Viral Messaging • Move People to Your Web Site• Special Offers• Reach Target Demographics• Market Research

Getting a Facebook Page and having lots of Fans IS NOT the Value Proposition

Do you care if you have 250,000 fans if they’re not your target market?

Translate Connections Into Sales

BUYER SELLER

Multi National CorporationChain of RestaurantsReal EstateLaundry MatUsed Car

You want to rapidly connect a buyer and seller at the right valuation.

VALUE PROPOSITIONof SOCIAL NETWORKS

• The fastest way for you to find and reach your target market.

• A mechanism to get other people to want to find you and your businesses.

• Take a message “I represent an incredible pet supply store” and virally (i.e. rapidly) share that message.

• Access functionality that you do not have on standard Web Sites. Interaction, relationship building, content sharing, video and multimedia.

To Leverage Social Networks you need to understand:

1. SOCIAL INTERACTION

2. HOW NETWORKS WORK

Why Do People Socialize?

• Communicate• Create relationships• Share information and

knowledge• Business

Real World / Virtual WorldThe explosion of Social Networks is based on the fact that humans are social creatures. We enjoy networking. It is the foundation of business transactions.

Second Life Apple Store Avatar Salesperson

Social Relationships Move Through Ever Deeper Layers of Interaction

Social capital is defined as the value that is created through the application of social networks during non-organizational time. Social capital when added to human capital define economic capital.

Networks

Railroad Network

Telephone Network

Airline Networks

Neural Networks of the Brain

The Internet“A network of interconnected networks.”

Partial map of networks on the Internet

Connections in a Social Network

Connections BETWEEN Social Networks

Networks BETWEEN Firms

Swedish Telecommunication Companies

What do these Networks have in common?

QUALITIES OF NETWORKS

• Networks EXPAND over time.• Networks can INTERCONNECT with each

other.• Networks have HUBS. These hubs (think of a

PERSON or a FACEBOOK PAGE as a HUB) are the connection points where signals, goods, people and information congregate before moving on.

QUALITIES OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

• People form relationships with those they have multiple contacts with and TRUST

• People that have numerous TRUSTFUL relationships become HUBS for rapid communication

• TRUST and RECIPROCITY are essential for knowledge exchange.

Different Types of Hubbers

A. People that know a significant number of people.

B. People that know a smaller number of people but the people they know are in a niche, or are extremely powerful and well connected themselves.

QUANTITY AND NARROWCASTING

EACH ARE USEFUL

Business Usage of Facebook

• 42% of Marketers Say Facebook Is Important to Their Business.

• The Number of Businesses Who Deem Facebook Critical or Important Has Increased 75% in the Last 3 Years.

• 62% of Markers Report that Social Media Became More Important to Their Marketing Campaigns in the Last 6 months.

• Social Media Has a 100% Higher Lead-to-Close Rate than Outbound Marketing.

2012 Business to Community.com

Business Usage of Facebook

• A whopping 77% of B2C companies and 43% of B2B companies acquired customers from Facebook

• 80% of Social Network Users Prefer to Connect with Brands through Facebook.

• If You Really Want to Increase Engagement on Facebook, You Can Not Automate.– Auto-posting to Facebook decreases likes and

comments by 70%.

DemographicsWho Is Using Facebook?

Demographics Tell Us

• How old are you?• Are you male or female?• Where do you live?• What level of education do you have?

Demographics

• Among Facebook users, 57% have completed some college, and 24% have earned a bachelor's or master's degree.

• People 45 and older make up 46% of Facebook users.

• The average Facebook user is 40.5 years old.• Women use social media more than men. More

women are on Facebook and Twitter. About 57% of Facebook and 59% of Twitter users are women.

Demographics

• Women gravitate toward Pinterest and young, techie men hang out on Google+. Pinterest has the heaviest gender imbalance 82% of users are women

• Google+ is dominated by men (71%) and early adopters, engineers and developers. About 50% of Google+ users are 24 or younger.

• About 200 million Facebook users check their Timelines from their mobile devices every day.

PsychoGraphicsWhat are the Attributes of These Users?

Psychographics Tell Us

• What are your attitudes?• How do you use technology?• What are your activities, interests, opinions?• What are your behaviors?

You’re a marketer who can target all the molecular biologists in the United States who work for Fortune 500 companies and enjoy movies and skiing.

Facebook Lets You Target BOTH Demographics and Psychographics