Is Twitter Really “Mainstream”?

By Mark Evans in Social Media 2 Comments Tags: , ,

According to Mitch Joel, “Twitter is mainstream”.

With more than 200 million users, there is no doubt Twitter is popular but is it really mainstream? For that matter is Facebook “mainstream” with 660 million users. What about LinkedIn, which has 100 million users?

They’re big numbers but I’m not convinced they’re mainstream because there are still large chunks of the population not using them or not aware of them. (Yes Virginia, there are people who don’t know what a Twitter or tweet is.)

E-mail is mainstream. The Web is mainstream. But Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or blogs?

One of the dangers of being within the eye of any hurricane such as social media is our view of the world can be torqued. It is easy for us to believe Twitter is mainstream because everyone around us is using and talking about Twitter.

I’m not suggesting Twitter isn’t popular and being embraced by new groups of users but I’m not sure it’s mainstream…at least, not yet.

How do Startups Avoid the Fickle Factor?

By Mark Evans in Search Engines, Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , ,

FickleThere was an article in the New York Times yesterday about how Blekko is hoping to establish a foothold in the ultra-competitive search engine market by taking a different approach that involves technology and people.

To be honest, I hadn’t given Blekko much thought since its launch last October. For all the good intentions to try new and different kind of services, it didn’t take long before I went back to using Google. One of the truths is I didn’t give Blekko much of a chance to unseat Google. Before long, Google had become top-of-mind again, while Blekko blurred into the startup background.

For many startups, this scenario is a harsh reality. While consumers like variety and the idea of shiny new things coming at them on a regular basis, there seems to be a limited ability to truly embrace new services. I suspect most users have a small group of services that meets most of their needs, and that it’s rare that a new service can join the club.

For a new service to resonate, it needs to do the following:

1. Have a powerful, yet, simple value proposition. It needs to fill a need or a perceived need in such a way that a potential users says “Yes, I need that”. Freshbooks is a good example by making invoicing easy.

2. The new service and the value it delivers has to be crystal clear and blatantly obvious. Most consumers are lazy; if they don’t understand a service right away, they’ll move on even if the service is something that meets an obvious need.

3. The process from registering, using and paying (if it’s a premium service) has to be user-friendly and grit-free. If, at any point, you force the consumer to do something that’s difficult or they’re reluctant to do (e.g. provide lots of personal information), they’ll back off. A good example of a grit-free process of NoteLeaf.com’s signup process, which is simple, clean and fast.

4. There should be regular communications (perhaps monthly) with the user that is friendly, helpful but not a hard sell. Let’s face it, people are busy so a friendly reminder from a service can often be enough to catch someone’s attention. This is particularly relevant if the service has a strong value proposition.

5. Encourage other people to spread the word by making it easy and/or giving them incentives. A great example is DropBox, which rewards its users with 500MB of storage if you share a file with someone, and then open a DropBox account.

Facebook: A Deal with the Data Devil

By Mark Evans in Social Media 6 Comments Tags: , ,

Unlike Julian Assange, I don’t believe Facebook is “the most appalling spy machine that has ever been invited” but I do agree with Niall Harbis Facebok has aggressive ambitions to dominate the Web.

Steadily, Facebook is appearing everywhere all in the name of the social graph. It starts with Facebook Connect making it oh so easy to register or log into a Web site. Then, it’s the “Like” button to show your friends the places you frequent. Facebook rolls out comments to the things you say on a blog can be streamed into your Facebook account. Now “Send” makes it easy to share articles or blog posts with your Facebook friends.

So what’s the end game for Facebook beyond global domination? The simple answer is: data. All the information and content shared and posted on Facebook, the “Likes”, the Facebook comments, “Send”, etc. are sucked into Facebook ever-growing server farms. The more you interact with Facebook directly or via a Facebook tool/widget on another Web site, the more intelligence they have on you – your likes, dislikes, job, favourite Web sites, hobbies, where you go (Places), etc.

By using Facebook to connect with friends and family, you’re making a deal with the data devil. A key part of using this “free” social network is you agree to provide Facebook with all kinds of data. Even if you’re super careful about your privacy settings – something most people don’t think twice about – you’re still providing Facebook with lots of data.

So why does Facebook hungry for your data? It’s simple: revenue. The more information they have about their users, the better job Facebook can do to serve the needs of advertisers who want to target specific groups of consumers. It’s a straightforward but brilliant economic proposition that will drive Facebook’s revenue growth much the same way that AdSense has turned Google into a money-making machine.

For anyone interested in Facebook’s ability to target consumers, go through the process of placing an ad on Facebook. One of the tools is the ability to target based on age, gender, interests, geography and even workplace. All of this information is provided by users, and then used by Facebook to sell ads.

Facebook’s need for more data is a financial necessity because it still needs to convince advertisers that spending money on ads is a smart thing. Facebook is hoping ultra-targeting is a way to get around the problem that many Facebook users ignore the ads because they see it as a way to stay connected with friends and family rather than a way to learn about new products and services.

But if Facebook can deliver super-targeted and relevant advertising, maybe consumers will start to pay more attention.

In the meantime, Facebook will continue its data jihad by rolling out new services that provide value to consumers and, at the same, help the social network collect more data about you. It’s a much more palatable approach than having to focus on privacy settings with far more economic potential.

The Fascination with Influence and Influencers

By Mark Evans in Social Media 1 Comment Tags: , ,

If there has been a key theme within the social media landscape this year, it’s been the influencer. We have moved beyond quantity – blasting out content to everywhere and anywhere – to quality, which means targeting fewer people but those who have a major impact on lots of other people.

It’s an interesting change in direction given everyone was so obsessed with the Long Tail, which is all about harnessing the power of lots of people who are not seen as influencers because they don’t have a big following. The Long Tail is out, the influencer is in.

Jeff Jarvis has an intriguing post about how influencers don’t exist, which completely goes against the grain. Shirky’s believes it’s the merit of messages that influence people rather than people who are influencers. It’s a theory that, in many ways, makes sense but it also dismisses the idea there are people who are influential in specific areas.

For example, Bill Clinton could be seen as an influencer in politics; just as Steve Jobs is a high-tech influencer, and LeBron James is a sports influencer. What these people do and talk about is highly regarded and has an impact on lots of people, regardless of the quality of their messages.

The discovery and identification of influencers has become the new Holy Grail within social media. We have moved beyond being fascinated with monitoring and analysis, which measures how much and where activity is happening. Now, we’re far more interested in who matters (aka influence).

A good illustration of this fascination with influence is Klout, which has become a leading benchmark for measuring influence. Everyone is interested in their Klout scores. It’s part vanity and part a growing recognition influence matters or, at least, a growing number of people think it matters.

The major brands – Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Starbucks – using Klout to engage with influencers is more evidence influence is a key consideration for marketers. Their decision to use Klout also suggests there are challenges in identifying influencers given the digital lanscape is so fast-moving. One day, your’re a modestly successful musician in Eastern Canada (Dave Carroll); the next you’re having a huge influence on what people think about United Airlines.

This is perhaps the biggest challenge and opportunity within the influence game. No one has cracked the nut on determining an influencer because the criteria is a moving target. One minute, you’re seen as influential; the next you’re yesterday’s news.

Despite the challenge and the questions about the role of influencers, the hunt for the influencer continues unabated. We want to believe there are influencers and they do matter because it would make the life much easier for brands that want to have a major impact by less doing work.

Maybe we’re looking for a shortcut or maybe we’re lazy. Perhaps it’s an attempt to engage and have conversations in a more efficient way. However you want to slice it, we want to believe influencers exist, and no one – not even Clay Shirky – is going to persuade us otherwise.

A Chat with Klout’s Joe Fernandez

By Mark Evans in Social Media No Comments Tags: , , ,

KloutLast week, Klout.com unveiled its new look and feel that should enhance it status at the leading way to get a handle on online influencers – influence, of course, being a subjective phrase.

Aside from some more bells and whistles, Fernandez said the company’s strategic focus has shifted because it has built a rock-solid platform upon which it can quickly iterate and, as important, start to transform what has been a fascinating project into a “meaningful company”.

“We have become the standard around measuring influence, and we want to keep driving that home because people care about their Klout scores,” he said during an interview last week. “People talk about their Klout scores, and brands see people with high Klout scores are the ones they want to connect with. The strategy is still around trying to create ubiquity in that score, mainly through people caring about their score.”

“Admittedly, when you look at [the site] right now, there are some new features but what is more exciting is the positioning changes and we have laid the groundwork to iterate quickly. With the old site we were saddled by the fact, it was the beta version and something that got bandaged together as we grew really fast and it was hard to build on top of it for a while. We put 98% of effort in analyzing data and creating score. We didn’t put much emphasis on the user experience. For the first time, we are concentrating on and thinking about the user experience and having a platform to iterate quickly. Every week, you will see a new feature rolled out on Klout.”

Despite Klout’s popularity and progress, Fernandez said its business model is still work in progress. While Klout has 2,000 companies using API, including larger brands who are paying for it, he said the API is generating little revenue.

So, where’s the money going to come from? Fernandez said a source with lots of potential is helping brands connect with influencers. Nike, for example, was launching a new Kobe Bryant basketball shoe, and approached Klout to help it reach out to people with influence in the basketball shoe world, as well as related areas. How Klout gets paid by brands is also being worked on. It could be on a project basis or a fee per influencer.

“It is still so early, we haven’t figured out how much per influencer,” he said. “We are working with the brand, understanding the brand, really experiential. The brands are liking it, and we are seeing all of them signing up to do again.

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