Dave Caroll was not a happy man when his guitar received bad treatment while he was flying with the United Airlines. Dave witnessed the airline employees throwing around his band’s instruments during a layover in Chicago – which later cost him $1200 to fix.

He talked to many employees from the airline and eventually was told that he would not be receiving compensation for all of those repairs he paid for. In the end he wrote a song and made a fantastic video to go with it – UA beware!

.

Research released by the Harvard Business School  examined the activity of a random sample of 300,000 Twitter users in May 2009 to find out how people are using the service. They then compared their findings to activity on other social networks and online content production venues.  Here are some of the findings which focus on gender differences. The results are fascinating:

Findings

•  Of the sample (300,542 users, collected in May 2009), 80% are followed by or follow at least one user. By comparison, only 60 to 65% of other online social networks’ members had at least one friend (when these networks were at a similar level of development). This suggests that actual users (as opposed to the media at large) understand how Twitter works.
• Although men and women follow a similar number of Twitter users, men have 15% more followers than women. Men also have more reciprocated relationships, in which two users follow each other. This “follower split” suggests that women are driven less by followers than men, or have more stringent thresholds for reciprocating relationships.
• Men comprise 45% of Twitter users, while women represent 55%. To get this figure, we cross-referenced users’ “real names” against a database of 40,000 strongly gendered names. Even more interesting is who follows whom.
• An average man is almost twice more likely to follow another man than a woman.
• Similarly, an average woman is 25% more likely to follow a man than a woman.
• An average man is 40% more likely to be followed by another man than by a woman. These results cannot be explained by different tweeting activity – both men and women tweet at the same rate.

The study then goes on to say that given what previous research has found in the context of online social networks the results are even more interesting. In a typical online social network, most of the activity is focused around women – men follow content produced by women they do and do not know, and women follow content produced by women they know. Read more about the research paper regarding Twitter. and gender differences.

Implications

The findings are extremely valuable for those looking at Twitter as either a knowledge-sharing exercise within organisations and also for marketers looking to utilise the tool to engage with consumers online.  For example if the way to reach a woman on Twitter is through a man the impacts on influencer networks are surely impacted. More analysis to come!

About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based research-led Social Media Consultancy .  Enjoy the article? please subscribe to the RSS Feed

Today marketing has been reinvented and the Ps are being replaced with Cs – Collaboration, Creativity, Connection and Communication.  Brands now need to tap into those online community connections and hence the term Swarm Marketing was born.

Recently Dell revealed Dell Swarm a new marketing scheme in Singapore. As discussed by the Ebiquity Blog it goes like this: If you agree to buy a laptop on Dell Swarm, the discounted price drops as others join your “swarm” and also buy.

Here’s how the Dell system is described:

-Start by picking the laptop you would like to purchase. Be the first buyer to join a Swarm and you’ll enjoy a price lower than Dell.com’s best discounted price (after cash rebates).

-Join a Swarm after, and you’ll enjoy a new, lower price – as will all previous buyers. 

- Once the swarms closes – which is when the limit of 15 buyers or 72 hours is reached, whichever is the earlier, the price is then finalised. This final, lowest price now becomes everyone’s purchase price – including yours!

-To get the maximum discount, grow the Swarm by Sharing with your friends. You can share via Twitter Or post a note on your Facebook® profile and tell all of your friends Point others towards your Swarm using Digg, del.icio.us and other tools. Or simply send your friends an email directly! Not ready to buy yet? You can also choose to Follow the Swarm. You’ll then receive updates via email. As well as through free SMS alerts.

What other examples do you have of swarm marketing? are there examples in Australia?

Could your business benefit from a Swarm marketing approach?

If your social media agency can’t talk across the business silos (ie not just pr or a quick viral campaign) maximisation of the dollars you spend on Social Media will be reduced.

• The Australian newspaper industry is outperforming its counterparts in the UK and US, with advertising revenues only falling marginally from 2008.
• In the advertising scenario, there is a global recession, and it is forecasted that Australia will have a soft 2009, after two strong years of performance.
• According to market researcher Aegis Media, the advertising industry in Australia will increase 1.7% in 2009. However, with a price inflation of 5.2%, spending will actually drop 3.5%.
• Only the online sector will mark a real growth of 9.7%, but the figure is cut to 5.7% if price inflation is considered.
•  The convergence of the Internet with television, the growth of wireless communication, and the increasing use of digital video recorders all offer new avenues and challenges for advertisers.
• Further consolidation across national borders is also expected as ad firms try to deliver global capabilities in an increasingly competitive market.

 About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based Social Media Consultancy .  Enjoy the article? please subscribe to the RSS Feed

Internationally ‘influence’ was also being discussed in a  paper by the Harvard School of Business and in the latest issue of Business Week where the cover page stated “What’s a friend worth”.

The Harvard Paper

The Harvard School of Business paper entitled  Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network? (by Raghuram Iyengar, Sangman Han, and Sunil Gupta) undertook research to to look at the influence of friends on purchasing decisions.

The Study

Using data from Cyworld, (a very popular Korean social networking site) the study empirically assessed if friends indeed influence purchases. Using 10 weeks of purchase and non-purchase data from 208 users they built an individual level model of choice (buy-no buy) and quantity (how much money to spend).

Findings

The key takeouts of the paper were:

• There is a significant and positive impact of friends’ purchases on the purchase probability of a user.
• The study identifies three distinct group of users
• However, there are significant differences across users. Specifically, this social effect is zero for 48 percent of the users, negative for 12 percent of the users, and positive for 40 percent of the users.
• “Moderately connected” users exhibit “keeping up with the Joneses” behavior. On average, this social influence translates into a 5 percent increase in revenues.
• Highly connected users tend to reduce their purchases of items when they see their friends buying them. This negative social effect reduces the revenue for this group by more than 14 percent. This finding is consistent with the typical fashion cycle wherein opinion leaders or the elite in the fashion industry tend to abandon one type of fashion and adopt the next in order to differentiate themselves from the masses.

The researchers said: “…The members in high status group have an influence on those in the middle status group for the diffusion of a new product. However, a successful diffusion in the middle status segment may make high status members lose interest in the new product.”  

The findings naturally have implications for the way you engage differing users within the social networks.

You can download the full report  to read more.

Business Week

In addition to the Harvard paper above the cover story on the June 1 BusinessWeek edition,  asks “What’s a Friend Worth?” 

The article examines how  “Companies are working fast to figure out how to make money from the wealth of data they’re beginning to have about our online friendships“.

The article is of note as it not only examines networked relationships in the external world (around social networks and marketing) but also examines them within companies from a knowledge management – KM perspective (ie how can we more effectively transmit knowledge around the organisation). 

Many years ago when I was involved in developing Knowledge Management strategies understanding social network analysis theory and identifying the ‘connectors’ within an organisation was vital in understanding knowledge flow and who would ideally make the ideal ‘knowledge champion’ within each companyand division.

The same connector/influencer knowledge was then applied when I crafted Internal Communication plans – particularly around ‘Change Communications’ or introduced a new decentralised Intranet that need the ‘influencers’ involved.

Social Network Analysis (SNA) has been around for many years its not new but with the focus on online social networks researchers are now scrambling to crack the code.

About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based Social Media Consultancy .  Enjoy the article? please subscribe to the RSS Feed

I recently read a fascinating  interview from econsultancy with Laura Nestler, Community Manager of Yelp. Yelp is an online review site that started in the US in 2004 and recently launched in the UK with new features. It is interesting to see how the site has been continually developing and adding new elements over the years.

The most interesting aspect of the new version of Yelp is the additional functionality that gives business owners the opportunity to respond to reviewers favourable or unfavourable reviews.  This is a key development and I believe much overdue. The ’two way dialogue’ model that forms the foundation of Social Media needs to occur to ensure continual dialogue and transparency.

So what else is new for Yelp? as with many online applications they have now launched our most recent iPhone application – Yelp for iPhone – and they expect to roll out further apps for other devices in future.

Review Sites in a Tight Economy

As the economy tightens consumers are spending more time on the internet researching product purchases before they buy.  Online product review sites are one of the leading types of user-generated content on the web today and their role will become increasingly important.

The following figures show the significance of review sites for consumers.

Does your website have a review element?  it might be a great way to start engaging with your customers today.

Review Statistics

Article of note: Tips on building your review site

About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based Social Media Consultancy .  Enjoy the article? please subscribe to the RSS Feed

“Google recently introduced its so-called Wonder Wheel as an addition to its normal results page. .. this new feature shows how Google might be slowly stepping into the search visualization space. You should be able to see the graph for yourself, either by following the link above, or by choosing the “Show Options…” link immediately under the search box on a results page.”

As a digital marketer this is a tool I will be using to examine  relevant keywords  and find niches for my clients online.

How will you use the Wonder Wheel?

About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based Social Media Consultancy . Enjoy the article? please subscribe to the RSS Feed

In a previous post entitled Social Media Why Its Not All About You I discussed the fact that the application of Social Media technologies to business is far more impactful and beneficial to all areas of a company not just the marketing department. 

This week New Media Age published an article regarding the UK Marketing Society ( the 50-year-old institution of senior and board-level marketers) launching a Digital Network in an attempt to help blue-chip companies develop their digital marketing strategies.

The article said “ The Digital Network has been launched to give senior marketers a forum in which to meet and exchange views and advice on implementing digital marketing strategies bought into at board level”

Simon Waldman, Guardian Media Group digital strategy and development director, said of the initiative, “A huge amount of the commercial health of the internet is going to be driven by the decisions of chief executives at blue-chip companies, influenced by their marketing directors. The digital agenda has to hit all areas of firms’ marketing and business strategies.”

Digital Network chairman Scott Gallacher said, “A lot of the case for digital has been proven but there’s a challenge regarding delivery of results in a blue-chip corporate environment. This initiative is designed to let the digital industry recognise the needs of corporate organisations and help them understand the role digital can play.”

The initiative certainly looks well founded. Will the Australian Marketing Institute follow up with a similar initiative?

About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based Social Media Consultancy . Enjoy the article? please subscribe to the RSS Feed

- “Social Media is so hard to get over the line’  and -’Its hard to demonstrate the ROI of Social Media’ or

-’The CEO is just not on board with the Social Media idea’

These comments typically come from individuals that do not have the full business picture in mind when they are talking with their client.

As marketers we often think of Social Media as part of our own personal toolkit – albiet a growing and quickly developing one. Via Social Media we have the capacity to reach consumers,  with some prs still aiming to get a few messages across  (yes very old school) and ideally raise the brand profile and ultimately sell the item that we are marketing.

So what is wrong with that notion? After working in traditional media, online pr, market research 2.0 and knowledge management it is clearly evident that we need to recognise that Social Media touches all the above disciplines within a business including R&D and CRM.  As individuals within those disciplines we need to step outside our own areas and look at how we deliver business value across many areas of the business  – a much more wholistic approach.

So how is this relevant to you as a marketer? First understand that the Twitter account that you are trying to sell in for pr purposes can also be used for CRM and that means working with those relevant internally to support customers if complaints arise.  That branded Online Community that you are thinking about will provide ROI for many elements of your business including innovation and R&D. It is not just about your big shiny idea or your pr/marketing silo, or for that matter (and this is positive) the marketing budget.

Finally social media strategies can be devised and initially implemented by agencies but collaborative maintenance must come from the company itself.   What is maintenance? after the initial burst of creative activity is the hard yakka of continuing the conversation with your consumers, listening to them and embracing what you learn. If your social media marketing agency is simply selling you a one-off campaign and not educating you along the way they are doing you a disservice. Sure campaigns such as World’s Best Job have a finite time period but most customer engagement strategies should be for the long-term.

Social Media has the power to transform a company,  break down internal silos, deliver excellent ROI, engage with consumers and deliver more relevant products to the marketplace but we need to first recognise its not all about us.

About the Author: Jenni Beattie is the Director of Digital Democracy a Sydney based Social Media Consultancy . Enjoy the article?please subscribe to the RSS Feed .

Update May 9 Mashable produced an excellent article using Twitter for customer service well worth a read!