Social Networks Are / Social Networks Aren’t
(Originally posted on Open Source CU)
I thought it’d be nice to start the week off with a rant inspired by three things:
- Jim Bruene’s recent post about the scrappy usage (his word: ‘anemic’) of financial apps in Facebook.
- My disagreement with this quote from the CUES Nexus blog (sorry, Lisa):
If you want to reach Gen Y, why not be where they are? The more than 68 million Facebook users (many of them young people) spend an average of 20 minutes a day on the site. And about 250,000 new users sign on every day. Some CUs are already there, waiting to greet them.
- That there are still high-fives given for corporate MySpace pages.
Social networks…
Are Not:
Real estate. If you look at online communities as an opportunity to park your caboose and head people off at the pass, you’re missing the point. Go buy a TV spot, pop up or newspaper ad – stick to the proven, tried and true methods of interrupting and annoying people.
To brands who treat conversations like billboards: you’re not just old marketers, you’re also posers. (And I should note that I’m not talking about Lisa here at all.)
There are 140 Facebook apps added every day. This is Noise 2.0. The apps that are the most successful are those that help Facebook users do what they came to Facebook to do rather than react to the fact that they happen to be there. More on that in a second.
Are:
Communities. If you bust in on that without immersing, participating, understanding, you are a door to door salesman. If you show up, you and your toothy grin, you’d better be adding value to the community by helping them interact, grow, and have a deeper connection with each other (that’s why they’re all there in the first place). The Cluetrain Manifesto said communites are groups “of people who care about each other more than they should.” And each community/platform is unique, but also interwoven. Engaging the Facebook community looks different from engaging the Second Life community looks different from engaging the Twitter community.
For Example:
Why is Facebook’s iLike so successful (361,568 daily active users, $15.8 million in funding…for a Facebook app)? Because people use Facebook to communicate themselves, learn about and connect with people. iLike enables that and, as a result, enhances Facebook for its users.
This is shown across the board in the numbers too. According to Adanomics data (made sense of by Asi Sharabi) the most widely used apps (44%) are “Identity Formation / Social Comparison.”
Why do I think Fiserve’s MyMoney will not succeed as it is right now? Because, frankly, who cares that you can access your account within Facebook? It is not that difficult or time consuming to open a new window or tab and get to my online banking login. Thank you for saving me three clicks, but until MyMoney brings more to the table I’d rather keep my applications clean.
What if you could use MyMoney to visualize your progress as you saved for a vacation, a new toy, or the secret to time travel. What if a few trusted friends and I could use Facebook’s social tools to build a cross-FI collective overdraft protection account that auto transfers cash in a time of need, notifies each person on the account, and in doing so: 1) saves me fees and 2) builds in the obligation to replace that money as soon as I can?
By the same token, Financially Fun Island™ (not a real thing, but almost a real thing) in Second Life will, at best, attract a lot of industry insiders who are interested in this “innovative new tactic.” But the citizens have better things to do than go to your island and play money games. They’re building an active economy. However, a financial institution that offers home, land, and small business loans in Second Life for Second Life is enriching the in-world experience…not just capitalizing on it.
I’d much rather be enabled than greeted.
Alright, that’s all I’ve got. You can yell at me now.
6 Comments, Comment or Ping
truthseeker1234
Great article. Things that do well are those that enable people to do what they want more efficiently.
Mar 24th, 2008
Chad
Can you elaborate on this? “To brands who treat conversations like billboards: you’re not just old marketers, you’re also posers.” Also, do you disagree with the quote from the Nexus blog or feel that it is just incomplete? The idea is there, but the execution is what you focus on in your analysis of a CU’s interaction on Facebook. I agree that CUs should not invest more of their marketing budgets on social media than traditional tried and true forms of advertising. I get tired of older generation leaders asking me as a Gen Yer to find a way to advertise for them in any way on social media when the industry the are in does not lend itself to anything buzz worthy on a social network level or offer anything of value on a social network. (ie. The high-fiving CEOs that like corporate MySpace pages. What is that?)
Mar 24th, 2008
Brent
truthseeker -
Thanks for the comment and the kind words. I couldn’t agree with your point more.
Chad -
My “tried and true” comment was tongue and cheek. Social media can be relevant to any industry, as long as the business is culturally ready for it.
I don’t think it’s enough to plant yourself in front of eyeballs anymore. But, as a brand, you obviously have to be present to add value - so I guess I think the NEXUS comment was incomplete. There seem to be a lot of marketers who feel they can treat marketing through social media in the same way they treated mass marketing. For example:
• There was an influx of brands in Second Life who did little more than create a visible brand presence…a “billboard.” Because those businesses didn’t add value to the experience, they failed.
• Wal-Mart tried to pull off three fake blogs but was caught and took a huge media beating. As did their PR firm.
• Like I said, I feel like almost any corportate MySpace page is probably present because some old board member or detached CEO wanted to to grab those “sweet, valuable Gen-Y eyeballs.” It’s like mass marketing, but less creative.
The problem with all of these is that social media is opt-in/opt-out. So when you pull something lame out of your hat, people tap out.
An example of a solid social media campaign with real-world implications that I give in a lot of talks is Vancity’s ChangeEverything.
This comment has gotten long, but my last point is this: Coke is brown sugar water. McDonald’s is poorly-cooked burgers. They’ve all become something greater than themselves. And so they are buzz-worthy. Any industry is buzz-worthy.
If you read through this whole comment, I owe you a beer.
Mar 24th, 2008
Brent
Just stumbled on this presentation by Paul Isakson, titled “What’s Next In Marketing & Advertising.” It explains this topic nicely.
To quotes slides 23 & 26: “How Can You Create Brand Fans? Make People’s Lives Better.”
Mar 24th, 2008
Chad
Describe how a business can be “culturally ready” to enter the world of social media. Do you think that the majority of business models and industries can achieve this cultural readiness?
Super 2nd life example. Also, you would be surprised at the age of some marketing managers etc. that have tried to “post-up” in myspace. Some of them I have come across use myspace daily, if not hourly, and still thought that having their corporate smiley face stamp on myspace would drive in business for free.
My final thought is…McDonald’s is candy flavored like food.
Mar 25th, 2008
Bryan
Brent you owe me a beer.
Mar 25th, 2008
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