Twitter has made its first foray into building a viable and sustainable business model. It´s recently launched a site called "ExecTweets", which is designed to allow corporate executives to message other Twitter users. The site aggregates tweets from the business leaders of major companies and organisations. Microsoft has not confirmed how much it has paid to sponsor the site.
But this is only the beginning. According to Eric Franchi, a senior bod at online ad networking firm Undertone Networks, there is much speculation that the company will sell premium versions of Twitter to companies as a marketing tool. Or, controversially, it may end up charging consumers to access the site...
"Monetizing social networking is not well done with standard, online display advertising," Franchi said. "That works better with general content sites."
We wait with bated breath for Twitter´s next leap into monetization...
You can read more here.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Facebook accounts for 1/3 of all social networking time
According to the latest comScore data, Facebook has been ranked as the sixth most popular website in the world with 275 million unique users each month. Last week it also reached an important milestone as the number of members grew to 200 milion, globally.
The social network accounts for 4.1 minutes out of every 100 minutes we spend online and accounts for 1/3 of all time spent on social networking sites, an improvement from 12% the previous year.
The stats show that Facebook is a very important site with a huge membership base across the globe, now where are those pesky revenue streams...I´m sure they were around here somewhere?
You can read more about this here.
The social network accounts for 4.1 minutes out of every 100 minutes we spend online and accounts for 1/3 of all time spent on social networking sites, an improvement from 12% the previous year.
The stats show that Facebook is a very important site with a huge membership base across the globe, now where are those pesky revenue streams...I´m sure they were around here somewhere?
You can read more about this here.
Some businesses "struggling to adopt social networking"
Despite the attention given to consumer-facing social networks, a lot of key decision makers within businesses are not giving the same attention when it comes to the application of these social networking technologies within their own business - according to a recent Burton report,
The report was the culmination of interviews with 21 companies in a variety of industries, including consumer goods, finance, technology and utilities.
So what are the reasons for this? Well, not surprisingly it´s nothing to do with the social networking tools themselves. Like most things, it´s actually to do with the people - i.e. the culture.
One major reason is that senior people, even if they use Facebook and the like, are just not fully aware of the massive potential benefits that a social network can bring to an organisation - and given that they don´t know a lot about it, they´re often out of their comfort zone and need even more convincing than usual.
We often experience this when selling in social networking as a tool for businesses to overcome certain challenges or meet certain objectives - which is why we have actually now developed a process in which we work with the initial client to help them sell in the idea to the key decision-makers within their own organisation.
You can read more about the Burton report here.
The report was the culmination of interviews with 21 companies in a variety of industries, including consumer goods, finance, technology and utilities.
So what are the reasons for this? Well, not surprisingly it´s nothing to do with the social networking tools themselves. Like most things, it´s actually to do with the people - i.e. the culture.
One major reason is that senior people, even if they use Facebook and the like, are just not fully aware of the massive potential benefits that a social network can bring to an organisation - and given that they don´t know a lot about it, they´re often out of their comfort zone and need even more convincing than usual.
We often experience this when selling in social networking as a tool for businesses to overcome certain challenges or meet certain objectives - which is why we have actually now developed a process in which we work with the initial client to help them sell in the idea to the key decision-makers within their own organisation.
You can read more about the Burton report here.
NEW BUSINESS WIN: Kinship working with sixpartswater
Kinship Networking is delighted to announce the addition of sixpartswater to its client rosta. sixpartswater is a new charity dedicated to helping us all live healthier lives by providing the information, education and support we need to become more aware, informed and involved in our lifestyle, health and healthcare choices.
The objective of the website is to give you the tools to give you greater control over your own health. The site will focus on delivering patient-focused, unbiased, trustworthy and up-to-date information about medical conditions, treatments and therapies, as well as helping you to record and manage your own health information.
The community section of the site will provide an environment where users can share their health knowledge and experiences with specific groups of people and get support from the community.
The beta site is launching at the beginning of May so the project is currently in build. We’ll keep you posted on its progress. Suffice to say we´re really excited about the opportunity and the real benefits it could bring to people everywhere. Health issues affect everyone after all.
To find out more please contact Charles Wells (MD) at charles.wells@kinshipnetworking.com or Matt Holt (Client Service Director) at matt.holt@kinshipnetworking.com
The objective of the website is to give you the tools to give you greater control over your own health. The site will focus on delivering patient-focused, unbiased, trustworthy and up-to-date information about medical conditions, treatments and therapies, as well as helping you to record and manage your own health information.
The community section of the site will provide an environment where users can share their health knowledge and experiences with specific groups of people and get support from the community.
The beta site is launching at the beginning of May so the project is currently in build. We’ll keep you posted on its progress. Suffice to say we´re really excited about the opportunity and the real benefits it could bring to people everywhere. Health issues affect everyone after all.
To find out more please contact Charles Wells (MD) at charles.wells@kinshipnetworking.com or Matt Holt (Client Service Director) at matt.holt@kinshipnetworking.com
Google eyeing up Twitter
According to sources, Google is close to buying Twitter. The last valuation put the company in the region of £170 million. And all this for a site that struggles to make a profit, even with the large numbers of people on the site, including celebrities such as Stephen Fry.
Having said that, experts have long been saying that the future of Twitter is in search, making an acquision by Google a logical one.
Technology reporter Stephen Shankland said: ´Google knows well how to treat new sources of information as signals that weigh into search results.The company has been gradually blending into its search results data sources such as blogs and news stories that reflect new information arriving on the web.´
Read more here.
Having said that, experts have long been saying that the future of Twitter is in search, making an acquision by Google a logical one.
Technology reporter Stephen Shankland said: ´Google knows well how to treat new sources of information as signals that weigh into search results.The company has been gradually blending into its search results data sources such as blogs and news stories that reflect new information arriving on the web.´
Read more here.
LinkedIn growing despite (or should that be because of) recession
By the end of last year, LinkedIn had amassed 33 million members - a massive total. But it´s not just the growth in members that´s impressive. According to Kay Luo, a spokeswoman for LinkedIn, the amount of time users spent online has increased by 22 percent since the start of the year. And recommendations have also soared by 65 percent.
It´s clear the recession has played a significant role in the continued success of the site. But is it actually succcessful yet?
"It´s rather successful purely in terms of the numbers of people who are on it," said Sharan Jagpal, a marketing professor at Rutgers Business School. "Ultimately, the question is, how effective is it?"
Only time will tell as to the site´s actual usefulness to the user. Watch this space.
Read more here.
It´s clear the recession has played a significant role in the continued success of the site. But is it actually succcessful yet?
"It´s rather successful purely in terms of the numbers of people who are on it," said Sharan Jagpal, a marketing professor at Rutgers Business School. "Ultimately, the question is, how effective is it?"
Only time will tell as to the site´s actual usefulness to the user. Watch this space.
Read more here.
Report shows enterprise social networks on the rise
Here at Kinship we are always banging on about the many benefits that internal social networks can bring enterprises. And it seems that we are not the only ones who have realised the transformative impact that internal social networks can have upon organisations. A recent Wainhouse Research report showed that sales of internal social networking platforms increased by 29 percent in 2008 with sales expected to grow by another 26 percent in 2009.
“Tough times require greater productivity while drastically cutting travel and other expenses,” said the author of the report. Social networks certainly can do all of the above.
Which is all good. A word of warning though. Most enterprise social network platforms are white label which means that the network is not customised to the specific organisation or its needs - what you see is what you get. Our approach is much more tailored, we believe there is rarely "one size that fits all."
Read more about the report here.
“Tough times require greater productivity while drastically cutting travel and other expenses,” said the author of the report. Social networks certainly can do all of the above.
Which is all good. A word of warning though. Most enterprise social network platforms are white label which means that the network is not customised to the specific organisation or its needs - what you see is what you get. Our approach is much more tailored, we believe there is rarely "one size that fits all."
Read more about the report here.
Facebook poll: 94 per cent of users vote against new layout
Facebook´s new layout has caused quite a lot of controversy with a lot of of users saying they don´t like it. And a Facebook poll has shown the extent to which users hate it with a whoppping 94% of those surveyed voting against the new layout.
Many critics (including this one) have observed that the homepage now looks like Twitter - with the focus of the page now on people´s status updates. Facebook has already tried to buy Twitter without success. Perhaps they just want to be more like Twitter? They do say that immitation is the best form of flattery.
It will be interesting to see if Facebook reverts to the old layout or whether it will just wait and see. I for one didn´t like the old layout when they changed it from the layout before that but now I can´t remember what that layout was like. Perhaps Facebook will just wait for the fuss to die down. Humans are remarkably adaptable after all.
Read more here.
Many critics (including this one) have observed that the homepage now looks like Twitter - with the focus of the page now on people´s status updates. Facebook has already tried to buy Twitter without success. Perhaps they just want to be more like Twitter? They do say that immitation is the best form of flattery.
It will be interesting to see if Facebook reverts to the old layout or whether it will just wait and see. I for one didn´t like the old layout when they changed it from the layout before that but now I can´t remember what that layout was like. Perhaps Facebook will just wait for the fuss to die down. Humans are remarkably adaptable after all.
Read more here.
Social media budgets on the up despite the recession
Great news for those in the social networking industry. Apparently 63% of "best in class" companies surveyed by the Aberdeen group, plan to increase their social media budgets despite the downturn. Forrester´s "Social Media Playtime is Over" study has also led to some revealing statistics. For example 53% of marketers plan to increase social media spending and 42% will keep it unchanged.
So why might this be? Well take the example of a large organisation with employees in many countries. They normally have an annual conference where thousands of employees come together to connect with other employees, listen to speeches from senior management, break out into project teams. The costs of such an event are astronmic. Whereas an internal social network would do a similar (if not better) job and could be set up for a fraction of the price.
But this is just one example. Internal social networks lead to improved connection, ideas, collaboration and loyalty amongst employees.
In fact, given the transformative impact a social network can have upon an organisation´s business, we actually think more of a company´s budget should be attributed to social networking . But then we would say that wouldn´t we!
So why might this be? Well take the example of a large organisation with employees in many countries. They normally have an annual conference where thousands of employees come together to connect with other employees, listen to speeches from senior management, break out into project teams. The costs of such an event are astronmic. Whereas an internal social network would do a similar (if not better) job and could be set up for a fraction of the price.
But this is just one example. Internal social networks lead to improved connection, ideas, collaboration and loyalty amongst employees.
In fact, given the transformative impact a social network can have upon an organisation´s business, we actually think more of a company´s budget should be attributed to social networking . But then we would say that wouldn´t we!
Friday, 3 April 2009
Social networks flourishing but still to solve advertising problem
Everyone knows that social networking is popular but probably not this popular - a recent Nielsen study has shown that almost two thirds of the global online community contribute to a member community at least once a month.
In terms of individual social networking sites, unsurprisingly facebook came out top. According to Nielsen´s figures, its global audience of 108.3m users each month is equivalent to 30% of the world´s web users. In the UK, Facebook is used by a staggering 47% of the online population.
However, despite the huge membership base of facebook and other social networks, none of them have really turned their membership advantage into major revenue streams. One of the reasons for this is that advertising (at the moment the major revenue stream installed into social networking websites) is not as profitable as was previously envisaged. The reason for this is that social networks are personal spaces, people go on to these sites to interact with their personal community, as such they are not in the mood to browse away from the site.
So what does this mean? Should social networks just abandon advertising? Well, it would be tempting to throw the advertising toys out of the pram but let´s not be hasty. It´s true that online advertising in its current guise may not work for social networks, but there must be another guise of online advertising that can work. Surely?
As report author Alex Burmaster notes media companies should be innovating in such a crucial space:
"The magic bullet will be forged advertisers and publishers partnering to developing new and creative ad formats and inventory models," he said. "That advertising will be based on the notion of having a conversation with consumers that is candid, authentic and adds value."
It surely won´t be long before the magic bullet arrives. But will investors in social networking sites be able to wait that long? That´s the big question.
You can read more about this here.
In terms of individual social networking sites, unsurprisingly facebook came out top. According to Nielsen´s figures, its global audience of 108.3m users each month is equivalent to 30% of the world´s web users. In the UK, Facebook is used by a staggering 47% of the online population.
However, despite the huge membership base of facebook and other social networks, none of them have really turned their membership advantage into major revenue streams. One of the reasons for this is that advertising (at the moment the major revenue stream installed into social networking websites) is not as profitable as was previously envisaged. The reason for this is that social networks are personal spaces, people go on to these sites to interact with their personal community, as such they are not in the mood to browse away from the site.
So what does this mean? Should social networks just abandon advertising? Well, it would be tempting to throw the advertising toys out of the pram but let´s not be hasty. It´s true that online advertising in its current guise may not work for social networks, but there must be another guise of online advertising that can work. Surely?
As report author Alex Burmaster notes media companies should be innovating in such a crucial space:
"The magic bullet will be forged advertisers and publishers partnering to developing new and creative ad formats and inventory models," he said. "That advertising will be based on the notion of having a conversation with consumers that is candid, authentic and adds value."
It surely won´t be long before the magic bullet arrives. But will investors in social networking sites be able to wait that long? That´s the big question.
You can read more about this here.
Report shows enterprise social networks on the rise
Here at Kinship we are always banging on about the many benefits that internal social networks can bring enterprises. And it seems that we are not the only ones who have realised the transformative impact that internal social networks can have upon organisations. A recent Wainhouse Research report showed that sales of internal social networking platforms increased by 29 percent in 2008 with sales expected to grow by another 26 percent in 2009.
“Tough times require greater productivity while drastically cutting travel and other expenses,” said the author of the report. Social networks certainly can do all of the above.
Which is all good. A word of warning though. Most enterprise social network platforms are white label which means that the network is not customised to the specific organisation or its needs - what you see is what you get. Our approach is much more tailored, we believe there is rarely "one size that fits all."
Read more about the report here.
“Tough times require greater productivity while drastically cutting travel and other expenses,” said the author of the report. Social networks certainly can do all of the above.
Which is all good. A word of warning though. Most enterprise social network platforms are white label which means that the network is not customised to the specific organisation or its needs - what you see is what you get. Our approach is much more tailored, we believe there is rarely "one size that fits all."
Read more about the report here.
Facebook cashes in on friends
We wrote a news story a few weeks ago about how 2009 was the year that social network sites would be forced to develop revenue streams and money-making opportunities. They´d have to - or they´d perish.
Well it looks like Facebook have found a critical revenue stream. And it´s not from advertising, which a lot of people mistakenly believe is the major reveneue stream for social networks. The real goldmine for social network sites is the rich data that they have for all the users. And Facebook will soon allow companies to conduct market research for their products/services amongst the facebook base.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook´s global markets director said multinational companies had been very impressed by the abilitiy to get rich real-time feedback from the million of users on the site.
"I had tonnes of people saying ´this could be so incredible for our business´. It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don´t have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses," she said.
Good news for Facebook and social networks in general. The thing with social networks is that they´re not "normal" websites. Therefore the "normal" means of monetising a site (e.g. advertising) don´t apply. It would seem that Facebook are innovating in this space. It´s up to the other social networks to do the same.
You can read the full article here
Well it looks like Facebook have found a critical revenue stream. And it´s not from advertising, which a lot of people mistakenly believe is the major reveneue stream for social networks. The real goldmine for social network sites is the rich data that they have for all the users. And Facebook will soon allow companies to conduct market research for their products/services amongst the facebook base.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook´s global markets director said multinational companies had been very impressed by the abilitiy to get rich real-time feedback from the million of users on the site.
"I had tonnes of people saying ´this could be so incredible for our business´. It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don´t have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses," she said.
Good news for Facebook and social networks in general. The thing with social networks is that they´re not "normal" websites. Therefore the "normal" means of monetising a site (e.g. advertising) don´t apply. It would seem that Facebook are innovating in this space. It´s up to the other social networks to do the same.
You can read the full article here
Oil and gas professionals: social media important for productivity
According to a new Microsoft and Accenture survey released on the 18th February, more than 70% of oil and gas professionals believe social media, including social networking sites, would boost productivity on the job via enhanced knowledge sharing and collaboration.
However, paradoxically, it seems that in spite of this, organisations are still using "old school" methods of collaboration such as face-to-face meetings, emails and conference calls.
This is especially disappointing given that the survey found that 61% of respondents said that they spent at least one hour a day searching for knowledge necessary for their job. There are an estimated 65,000 engineering professionals in the global oil and gas industry, so 1 hour a day represents a potential loss of almost 10 million people-hours a year among engineers alone. In money terms, this represents an average net annual loss of a whopping $485 million for the oil and gas industry (calculated according to U.S. Department of Labor salary statistics).
"In the oil and gas industry, collaboration is a key strategy to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and promote collaborative working relationships among oilfield asset teams located in remote locations around the globe," said Jill Feblowitz, practice director at Energy Insights an IDC company.
But it´s not just the oil and gas industry that can be profuoundly impacted by the use of internal social networks - ALL industries have this potential. We´ve done a number of internal networks in the media, advertising and publishing industries and are working on using similar tools in industries as wide-ranging as construction to tax advice.
The future´s bright, the future´s internal social networks (true the strapline doesn´t have the same ring, but you catch my drift...)
You can read more here.
However, paradoxically, it seems that in spite of this, organisations are still using "old school" methods of collaboration such as face-to-face meetings, emails and conference calls.
This is especially disappointing given that the survey found that 61% of respondents said that they spent at least one hour a day searching for knowledge necessary for their job. There are an estimated 65,000 engineering professionals in the global oil and gas industry, so 1 hour a day represents a potential loss of almost 10 million people-hours a year among engineers alone. In money terms, this represents an average net annual loss of a whopping $485 million for the oil and gas industry (calculated according to U.S. Department of Labor salary statistics).
"In the oil and gas industry, collaboration is a key strategy to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and promote collaborative working relationships among oilfield asset teams located in remote locations around the globe," said Jill Feblowitz, practice director at Energy Insights an IDC company.
But it´s not just the oil and gas industry that can be profuoundly impacted by the use of internal social networks - ALL industries have this potential. We´ve done a number of internal networks in the media, advertising and publishing industries and are working on using similar tools in industries as wide-ranging as construction to tax advice.
The future´s bright, the future´s internal social networks (true the strapline doesn´t have the same ring, but you catch my drift...)
You can read more here.
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About Me
- Matt Holt
- London, United Kingdom
- Matt is Business Director at Kinship Networking. Kinship Networking is a completely new type of marketing agency, dedicated to using social media to help businesses to build stronger social relationships with their customers, employees and shareholders. After graduating with a degree in Management Science, Matt occupied various marketing roles for companies such as Microsoft and Reuters. He then joined Ogilvy where he worked above and below-the-line on BT, Cancer Research UK and First Great Western. Most recently he joined Stephens Francis Whitson, a specialist direct marketing agency, where he worked on a number of accounts including O2, More Th>n and Rocco Forte. Matt has worked on a number of new business ideas within the social networking arena, including the development of a site aimed at helping people stay in touch with their various groups of friends, at the start of 2001.