assembled web and social media
DESCRIPTION
Overview of how social media, social networks, and mobile overlap with or can be understood in terms of the Assembled WebTRANSCRIPT
The Assembled WebGetting Started with Social
25 August 2009
John Eckman, Sr. Practice Director, Optaros Labs
Agenda
Context: The Assembled Web
Social Media: How to Get Started
Mobile: The iPhone Effect
Social Networks: Facebook
3 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Three Previous Eras of Web EvolutionContext
Era Characteristics Limitations
Web of Documents
Content-centric
Static HTML experiences / lightweight CMS
Focus on eyeballs, stickiness
“The web is a giant universal library for information”
Results in Brochure-ware
Experiences are not engaging
Not digitally native
Not interactive / immersive
Web of Transactions
Transaction-centric
Focus on conversion rates
“The web is a giant universal marketplace for buying and selling things”
No loyalty to merchants
No depth of experience
No social interaction
Transactional focus often resulted in weak content – don’t distract the buyer
Web of Communities(aka “Web 2.0”)
Community-centric
Focus on “engagement”
“The web is a giant universal cocktail party / high school reunion / community”
Struggle to find business models
Community for community’s sake
Herd mentality
Cost of community management underestimated
4 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
The Assembled Web
The Assembled Web incorporates those eras:• From the “web of documents” it inherits
– The core innovation of the hyperlink– The importance of SEO and findability– The ability to present rich, multimedia
experiences (video, audio, graphics)• From the “web of transactions” it takes
– The ability to manage complex transactional workflows
– The core innovations of SSL, commerce, forms
– The requirements of usability, accessibility
• From the “web of communities” it has learned– The importance of social connections– The desire for two communication– The key notions of “social objects” and
“the social graph”
And introduces two major differences:• The Three C’s
– The integration or convergence of the three previously separate domains: content, commerce, and community
– Neither of the three by itself is ever enough, though in most applications one of the three is most prominent
• The Digital Footprint– What’s important ultimately isn’t your
site or sites, but the distribution of content, commerce, and community to your audience(s) pervasively throughout the web
– Customers expect to be met where they spend time, and have a great degree of flexibility in how they interact with you
5 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
The Assembled Web
6 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
The Assembled Web
Agenda
Context: The Assembled Web
Social Media: How to Get Started
Mobile: The iPhone Effect
Social Network Applications: Facebook, Open Social
8 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
What is Social Media?
http://twitter.com/avinashkaushik/status/1270289378
9 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Social Activity in Context
Understanding the Assembled Web means:• Not focusing just on content
(“let’s create a bunch of viral videos”)• Not believing that community in the abstract is
enough (“people can’t wait to talk about how much they love us”)
• Not ignoring the transactional elements (“we’ll create engagement first and then someday figure out the business model”)
All three Cs must be in sync for any social media strategy!
10 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Two Models for Getting Started
P.O.S.T.:• People: Assess your customers social
activities• Objectives: Decide what you want to
accomplish• Strategy: Plan for how relationships with
customers will change• Tactics: Decide which social technologies
to use
Forrester Research, in Groundswell
L.E.A.D.:• Listen: Understand what’s being said
about you across the web in various contexts
• Experiment: Engage with customers in a controlled but real fashion - pilots
• Apply: Make those experiments useful, connect them to your existing web presence
• Develop: Build on existing successes, integrate more over time into core experience of the brand
McKinsey Quarterly, “Managing Beyond Web 2.0”
11 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Getting Started
What kind of listening can you do?• Real Time Search Engines: Scoopler, One Riot, Social Mention, Topsy, Twitter Search,
Radian6, ScoutLabs, dna13• Alerts: Tweet Beep, Tweet Later, Google Alerts, Technorati• Existing Public Communities: Where is the conversation happening?• Hosted Private Communities: Customer council, advisory board, beta users group
What audiences are you after? What do they want?• No longer any rational excuse for guessing• Decision makers & buyers versus end-users• Broader community of interest
What do you hope to accomplish via social media & social networking?• Better awareness of consumer attitudes, perceptions, feedback on programs?• Influence over brand awareness?• Increased enrollment in programs by eligible end users? (More users / more use?)• Increased pool of eligible users / better market penetration?
How can you achieve those objectives?• List of potential platforms is large and growing • Align target platforms and actions to objectives
12 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Key Social Computing Principles
Primary Utility• The best (and most sustained) social applications first provide value to the individual,
even if he’s the only one who ever uses it
Mutual Benefit• The user(s) have to see benefit (in their terms) or they won’t return• The host(s) have to see benefit (in their terms) or they will stop participating
Social Media is not a Cure-All• If you have an image problem, social media may be able to help; if you have a reality
problem, social media will only make it worse• If your core business fundamentals are poor, fix those before (or at least in parallel with)
focusing on social media
Social == Two Way• If you are not as an organization willing to actually engage with users in the broader
community, social media may not be for you• If you intend to use social media purely to broadcast and not to listen, the community
will learn (and quickly!) to ignore you
Agenda
Context: The Assembled Web
Strategy: How to Get Started
Mobile: The iPhone Effect
Social Network Applications: Facebook, Open Social
14 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
The iPhone Effect
15 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
The iPhone Effect
This slide and previous from: http://www.slideshare.net/ravenme/kleiner-perkins-ifund-presentation-at-iphonedevcamp-3
16 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
iPhone Considerations
Mobile Web versus Installed Application• iPhone native applications are developed with Apple SDK, have access to all native APIs
(location awareness, push notification, orientation, stored data)• iPhone mobile applications leverage existing web infrastructure and target Safari mobile
browser• “Best on this device” = Native; “Most leverage for all devices, lower cost” = Web
The importance of constrained design• Don’t make a stripped down version of the web application – focus on key scenarios,
activities• What’s the minimum set of interactions which, if enabled, would make the application a
compelling supplement to the web applications, first – then what set would make the application a compelling replacement
Beware Shiny Object syndrome• You do not need to have an iPhone application simply because others do• It’s easy to get lost in the App Store, or on the phone once installed• Be sure to align mobile strategy to broader business strategy
Iterate• Release early and often• Prove out baseline functionality then build on success
17 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
What about the rest of mobile?
Easy to over-focus on the iPhone• Blackberry, Palm Pre, Google Android, Symbian,
MobLin all viable platforms• Simple mobile web interface may “just work” across
many browsers
SMS and Mobile-Friendly Email also important• Part of Twitter’s success was that it enabled posting
via simple SMS message• Adoption curve for “send and receive email” well
ahead of “browse the web” and “install applications” across most demographics
Plan for the long term now• Even if you build only on the iPhone now, ensure that
server-side APIs and lightweight SOA approach are used, for later reuse on other platforms
• Don’t assume same uptake rate on other platforms – iPhone uptake will likely be highest by large margin – but that doesn’t mean others can be ignored
Agenda
Context: The Assembled Web
Strategy: How to Get Started
Mobile: The iPhone Effect
Social Network Applications: Facebook, Open Social
19 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
20 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Facebook Demographics
Facebook goes mainstream• Fastest growing segment in
most of 2009 has been 55+• Increasing prevalence of
“my parents friended me on Facebook”
Major retailers and media companies trying it• NBC Universal adds
Facebook Connect• Starbucks has over 3.7
million fans of its page, Coca Cola over 3.5 million
• 83 of the top 100 advertising spenders in the US use Facebook
If Facebook were a country it would be the fourth largest in the world• 250 Million active users
21 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
Facebook Opportunities
Applications on Facebook Platform• Your custom web-based application running inside
Facebook “Frame”• Barrier is getting app installed, used• Potential engagement is high, reality is generally
much lower• For users who grant permission, you get quite rich
data (except email)
Facebook Connect• Facebook JavaScript API running in your web
application (Application inside out)• Leverage Facebook friend relationships,
authentication• Enable publishing out to FB activity stream
Caveats about Social Media all apply!• Must offer value to user on her terms• Must connect to business value for provider• Don’t let tactics distract from strategy
Groups• Enable broadcast
communication• Enable large numbers of
users to express and intent or affiliation
• Tend to peak quickly• Tend to be started by users
Pages• Enable users to become
“fans” of products• Enable marketers to
communicate to fans• Tend to be very one-way
and static• Better for spreading
awareness than for deepening engagement
• Dipping your toe into social
22 © 2009 Optaros, Inc. Some rights reserved.
The World Beyond Facebook
Distributed Social Networking• No single point of failure, no single point of control• Like email, DNS• More complicated, takes longer, but we’ll get there
eventually• Simple set of connected open standards – IETF model
over W3C model – Open Web Foundation, OpenID Foundation, working groups
Open Social Application Containers• LinkedIn• iGoogle• Yahoo! Application Platform• MySpace• Xing• Orkut• Ning• Hi5• etc
Facebook API containers• Facebook
Thanks
John Eckman
http://twitter.com/jeckman
http://www.optaros.com/
http://www.openparenthesis.org/