Using social networks to strengthen your market position

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Folio 2009

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Using Social Networks to Strengthen Your Market Position:The User PerspectivepDate: March 2009

Prepared for FOLIO: Growth SummitPrepared for FOLIO: Growth Summit

Speakers:Cia Romano, CEO and Founder, Interface GuruAmanda MacArthur, Editor & Publisher, Mequoda Group

Proprietary and confidential. All contents © 1999/2009SymbolGroup, Inc.

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About Cia Romanoand Interface Guru and Interface Guru

Cia Romano￭ Chief Executive Officer and Founder￭ Developing Web sites since 1994￭ Developed the widely disseminated Usable Times 5™

criteria for ranking computer screen effectivenesscriteria for ranking computer screen effectiveness￭ Veteran of hundreds of usability tests￭ Frequent presenter at national conferences

Interface GuruInterface Guru￭ Founded in 1999, specializes in usability testing and

analysis, digital media strategy, and user experience design


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Thoughts from a social networking expert

How to socialize a brand￭ Culture: A sense of place￭ Integration: No community is an island ￭ Participation: You are what you have to say￭ Trust (transparency/authenticity):

Give up the control you don’t have￭ Leadership: Lead, empower, listen, follow

-Jay Bryant, Liveworld Inc.


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Social networks and the user perspective

Users bring existing expectations to your social network

￭ Users process information in a sequence￭ Usable Times 5™ is our proprietary metric, based on

h d d f h f bilit l b t tihundreds of hours of usability lab testing● Orientation (“Where am I?”)● Permission (“Did I ask for that system response/popup/new

screen?”)I t ti it (“Wh t I d h ?”)● Interactivity (“What can I do here?”)

● Relevance (“Does this information matter to me?”)● Speed (“How long will this take?”)


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Social networks and the user perspective: Usable Times 5™ Usable Times 5™

Orientation￭ Disclose level of activity in community￭ Offer limited preview of features (“What will it look like when I’m done?”)

Permission￭ User-to-user controls (privacy, block / ignore user, mark as spam)￭ Disclosure of terms of use (rights to material posted)￭ Security and usage of personal data


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Interactivity Once users log in, a customized windowi th i k ￭ Ease of use (setup, self-evident controls, cancelling

account, mobile access)￭ Interface with and push

content out to other

gives the user quick accessto community features

social networks￭ Locating natural affiliations

(other social networks, educational institutions educational institutions, interests)


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Relevance￭ Generational trends (your audience’s use of social

media)● Not every social networking activity is appropriate for your brand or

audience

￭ Usefulness vs. promotion (role of advertisers)

￭ Moderation / Self-policing to ensure quality of content ensure quality of content ● It is their content/discussion, but it is

your brand


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Speed￭ Quick access to most desired features/functions￭ Optimal SEO for social networking (make it easy for

users to find each other))

￭ Provide access to other social networks (ShareThis)￭ Custom URL

(e.g. http://www.linkedin.com/in/ciaromano)

Above, ShareThis allows instant access to


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,the “social Web”

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Speed￭ Active communities need

at-a-glance comprehensibility

Right, Jezebel.com’s community allows users to collapse comments, retaining user interest while keeping the user interface lightweight. Useful in cases where many users respond where many users respond.


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Conclusions: Respect your users Respect your users

￭ Respect user expectations of social media￭ Research your audience’s social networking needs ￭ Research your audience s social networking needs

prior to development or purchase of social networking products (user testing, survey, generational preference)P id i t f t i ti i l t k￭ Provide interface to existing social networks


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Conclusions: Building vs buying Building vs. buying

￭ Building ● Advantages: Support and development knowledge is in-house ● Advantages: Support and development knowledge is in house,

seems cheaper● Disadvantages: Higher overall cost, requires high degree of

technical skill to develop/deploy/maintain

￭ Buying / Licensing ● Advantages: Less overall cost, more technical support,

standardized tools● Disadvantages: Requires careful vendor selection, reliant on g q ,

external tech support

￭ Our recommendation: Buy or license in order to leverage an existing network


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existing network● Take advantage of standards users already understand

￭ Make sure you have an exit strategy!● What happens if you decide to change vendors?

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Conclusions: Questions you need to answerQuestions you need to answer

￭ Who are your users? What are their generational behaviors? behaviors? ● Define your user types● Be aware of generational behaviors re: social media

￭ Who are your competitors?Will i l t k l t dd t th i lif t l ?● Will you social network compel users to add you to their lifestyle?

￭ What are your requirements?● Conduct a competitive analysis ● Use your findings to create a must-have/must-not-have list

￭ Have you interviewed vendors and called references● Don’t buy based on a pitch

￭ Avoid wishful thinking - Is this realistic?● Be realistic about what you can maintain over time


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● Be realistic about what you can maintain over time

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Folio 2009

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About Amanda MacArthurand Mequoda GroupAmanda MacArthur

• Editor & Publisher, Mequoda.com

• Contributing Editor,Mashable.com

Mequoda GroupMequoda Group

• Founded in 2004, specializing in best practices and research for online publishers, offering consulting and web site development.p , g g p

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What’s the ROI of being social?What s the ROI of being social?

• How much are you actually investing? (don’t create new jobs)

• Think “customer service”, not marketing (social media isn’t a get rich quick scheme)media isn t a get rich quick scheme)

• Track your traffic with client-side tools (server-side can be deceiving)

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Who should be the voice of your brandi l kon social networks?

• Customer service, Customer service, marketing, editorial, sales

• Familiar with you brand• Familiar with you brand

• Familiar with your products

• Already using social media

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The Universal Social Media Tool: Twitter

• B2B and B2CB2B and B2C• Content distribution• Customer service• Product Marketing• Driving Traffic• Personal• Personal

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How Mequoda benefits from TwitterPersonal product recommendations

Article pass‐along & email circ buildingArticle pass‐along & email circ building

Re‐tweets (doubling & triple exposure)Re tweets (doubling & triple exposure)

Customer service

Networking

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Social Networks for Gardening Magazines￭ Blotanical.com

(Syndication, Links with Twitter))

￭ YouGrowGirl.com (Forum)( )

￭ GardenWeb.com (Network, Forums, ( , ,Syndication, Events, Galleries)

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Social Networks for Photography Magazines￭ Digital-Photography-School.com

(Syndication, Forum)

￭ Dpreview.com(Forums)

￭ Photo.net(Forums, Reviews,Content Sharing)g)

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Social Networks for Parenting Magazines￭ CafeMom.com

(Network, Blogs,Groups, Forums)p , )

￭ Family.Go.Com(Forums, Groups,( , p ,Blogs)

￭ BabyCenter.comy(Groups, Blogs, Forums, ContentSharing)

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Social Networks for Travel Magazines￭ WikiTravel.org

(Wiki)

￭ Wayn.com(Network, ForumContent Sharing)g)

￭ VirtualTourist.com(Forums, Content( ,Sharing)

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How to be successful on social networks￭ Follow the 60/40 rule – Marketing vs. Conversation● People who are collaborating understand that it’s a give-and-take relationship.

– Chris Brogan, Social Media Consultant, ChrisBrogan.com

￭ Engage like a consumer, not a marketer

￭ Direct traffic to pages that convert (free products: reports, webinars, etc.)

￭ Test your campaigns with 3rd party tools (bit.ly, Google Analytics, etc.)

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Tools to manage your online reputation

￭ SocialMention.com (everywhere you’re mentioned on the web)

￭ Trendrr.com (the “google trends” of your brand)

￭ HootSuite com (complete Twitter analytics package)￭ HootSuite.com (complete Twitter analytics package)

￭ BackType.com (monitors blog comments)

￭ Search.Twitter.com (monitors mentions of you on Twitter)

Technology

Using social networks to strengthen your market position