Has Twitter Jumped the Shark?

Oprah is using Twitter (in all caps unfortunately). So is Ashton Kutcher and his 1 Million followers. Now that Twitter has gone mainstream, is it in danger of jumping the shark?

I don't think so. According to Social Media theory, the more users there are, the greater the benefit to all. I agree with this theory to a point. And that point starts with Facebook. Do I really need to know at any given moment what my ex-boyfriend from 6th grade is doing? All those updates are really starting to clog my Facebook feed. But I digress. A fundamental difference between Facebook and Twitter is that I can easily unfollow someone (without hurt feelings) who is posting too often. This power makes it less annoying to me. I have over 600 followers on Twitter (most of whom I follow in return) and I hope the number keeps growing. On Facebook, I have around 70 friends and I hope that number doesn't grow exponentially.

From a business perspective, the recent spike in number of Twitterers should be welcomed. More people means more potential customers. TechCrunch estimated the Oprah effect to be almost 1.2 Million new users. Obviously they need to need to be part of your target market, but Twitter is growing so quickly that some of those new users are bound to be. More people also means a higher likelihood that your message will be passed along to others (AKA viral marketing or Buzz marketing). So perhaps all you business Twitterers out there, should send Oprah a thank you tweet. Just remember to turn your Caps Lock function off.

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Businesses Can Finally Yelp Back

Yelp, a recommendation website based on user reviews for everything from restaurants to dentists, is now (finally) making overtures to the business community. Starting this week, Yelp is changing a long-standing policy that will allow businesses to publicly respond to reviews. In the past, businesses could only contact the reviewer directly and beg them to change/delete the review. This approach has had varying degrees of success. As some businesses discovered, these reviews carry significant weight. Consider this: Online users prefer consumer reviews, 53%, to expert reviews, 40%, and traditional advertising, 11%. (Jupiter Research / Bazaar Voice Survey, Online Consumer Opinions/Use of User Generated Content, January 2008).

The impact of negative user reviews and the lack of a voice on Yelp has been a growing concern to businesses. In some cities, particularly mine (San Francisco), the relationship between Yelp and local businesses has been contentious and strained. So this shift in policy is welcome news to businesses. And as a Yelp user, I welcome this change because I can now get the whole story.

So if you own a business, what does this mean for you? In short, it means a lot. Here are three steps that you should take:

1) If your business is listed on Yelp (or any other website driven by user reviews), you need to follow very closely what people are saying about your business. You should know the following: the average rating for your business, the average rating for your competitors, the rating trend line for your business as well as your competitors, and the reviewers writing negative reviews.

2) If someone writes a scathing review of your product/service, reach out to that person directly. Ask for additional information about their experience and how your business could improve. Do not get defensive. Also, ask the reviewer how you can make it up to them. If you run a restaurant, you may want to provide a 25% off coupon or a free bottle of wine for the reviewers next visit. A chiropractor might offer a free session. If you offer a sincere apology and a way to make amends, the person will most likely change their review. The reviewer may do this in a variety of ways: by increasing the star rating, by providing an update to the review or by simply deleting the previous review. Some will refuse to make any changes. If you are dealing with one of those people, go to step 3.

3) Publicly respond to the critic. Do not attack the person. Correct any factual errors. Tell the world how you tried to rectify the problem. Even if the reviewer doesn't change their rating of your business, your response could lessen the fall-out from a negative review.

Any other suggestions you would offer to businesses on how to manage Yelp?

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What's the Difference Between Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0?

Last week, I attended the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco (March 31-April 3, 2009). I found the name 2.0 interesting because many at the Expo have started referring to Web 3.0. If you are scratching your head and still trying to figure out what Web 1.0 means, don't worry. Even those in the industry are still trying to figure it out. While there is no universally agreed-upon definition, here is a brief guide to the terminologies of the web:

Web 1.0: "The Information Web". Content is mostly static, not dynamic. Companies started creating websites, which were basicially digitized brochures. Mostly one-way and one-to-many communication pattern (similar to ads on television). Finding information or determing which products/services to purchase involves search engines (Google, Yahoo etc.) or specific websites offering "expert" opinions.

Web 2.0: "The Social & Personal Web". People wanted to contribute and technology made it easier to do so. As a result, Blogging, Podcasts, Wikis and social sites became popular. Interactive features, such as comment boxes and voting widgets started springing up everwhere. Finding information or determining which products/services to purchase involves looking at recommendation sites based on "the crowd's opinion" (such as Yelp and TripAdvisor) and asking friends through social sites (Facebook, MySpace etc.).

Web 3.0: "The Semantic Web". Basically, it's Web 2.0 on steroids. As more and more people join an ever expanding array of social networks, easily managing all of those networks becomes crucial. Companies are starting to offer solutions for this problem, such as push-button updates (i.e. you update your status once and it populates this information across all of your social networks at the same time).

While the world wide web is rapidly evolving, Web 3.0 won't necessarily kill off what came before. We will still be Googling for a long time to come.

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Darwinism on the Web: Surviving & Thriving in a Web 2.0 World

That catchy title isn't my own, but rather one of the topics being discussed at the Web 2.0 Expo I am attending in San Francisco (March 31-April 3rd). Thought I'd share a condensed version of the learnings with everyone who couldn't attend. The discussion was led by Soren Stamer of Coremedia.

Like the Dodo bird, businesses are in danger of extinction due to the rapid evolution of disruptive technologies, specifically Web 2.0. Soren asserts that there are several things a company must do to avoid that fate. Here are a few ideas mentioned in the session that will enable a company to not only survive, but also to thrive.

1) Empower your community: Listen, really listen to what your customers are saying. One easy way to find out what your customers (and non-customers for that matter) think of your brand is to set-up an RSS feed. It's a good idea to add the names of your competitors to that RSS feed.

2) Create Feedback Loops: Let your customers write what they think on your website. I know it's tough to let go of the control, but they are writing it elsewhere so why not open up to show that you value their opinions? Then, show you care by actually responding to comments. Tell your customers/prospective customers not only that you value their feedback, but that you actually use it (i.e. by making your product/service better etc.).

3) Engage in conversations: Be emotional and personal. This is quite a switch for most companies, especially larger organizations. People tend to tune out "corporate speak" though and they want to interact with real people.

4) Enable multiple touchpoints: Mobile, Web, Set-Top Boxes etc. People want to be able to engage with your brand when, where and how they want. So make it easy for them to do so.

5) Find ways to offer a great service for free. No doubt, this one is probably the toughest to swallow. If you are a for-profit company, your purpose is to actually make a profit, right? But what happens when several other companies set-up shop doing exactly what you are doing and they give it away for free? The time to think about the consequences is now, before your company goes the way of the Dodo bird.

Click here to learn more about Coremedia.

Also, there are still two days left for the Expo. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, click here to find out how you can score free tickets:
http://www.web2expo.com/webexsf2009/public/content/free

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My New Twitter Obsession

Yesterday, my Social Media Marketing professor sent me a link to the Twitter grader. The tool analyzes your twitter feed and gives you a score out of a possible 100. I initially received a score of 71, which is better than average, but nothing to write home about. The website doesn't mention how to improve your score, so I started playing around with it. I added a couple of tweets and a few more people started following me. Just checked my score again. It went up one point between yesterday and today. I'm warning you now...this tool is worse than crack.

Another useful feature of the this tool is the ranking of fellow twitterers by location. I looked at the San Francisco Bay Area ranking and found several interesting people I wanted to follow.

You can also grade your Facebook page through the website.

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Social Networking Stats -- Facebook & Twitter Rising, Myspace Declining

Compete.com recently released their ranking of social networking sites for January 2009*. Ranked by number of monthly visits, Facebook overtook Myspace to grab the top spot for the first time. 

This reversal doesn't surprise me. While Facebook has been innovating, Myspace has been stagnating. Facebook finished rolling out its feed-focused redesign last Fall; since then the average number of monthly visits has increased from 11 to 17. Meanwhile, Myspace also introduced feeds, but not in key areas like the profile page. Since then, Myspace visits have remained flat at an average of 14 per month.

*Statistics are based on US internet traffic.

I have to say that I don't really get the point of tagged.com and I'm surprised to see it in the number 6 position. I am also really tired of getting spam telling me I need to respond to my tags.

With all the innovation taking place in the social media space, it will be interesting to watch how the rankings change over the next few months. I believe that Myspace will continue to lose steam and drop in the rankings. Ditto tagged.com. I also predict that Twitter will rise to the number two spot in the next six months. I am a big fan of Linkedin.com and expect it to move up the rankings to the fourth and perhaps even the third spot within the next six months.

For more information, see the article in Venture Beat and compete.com.

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Want Your Customers to Pass the Word Along? Get Them into a Loyalty Program.

Customers who participate in loyalty programs are 70% more likely to recommend a product or service than the general population, according to a study. Of the people in a rewards program, 55% described themselves as brand champions. 68% of that group said they would recommend the brand associated with the rewards program within the next year.

When asked why they participate in word of mouth activities, respondents stated the following reasons: to tell manufacturers what I think (73%), to get smart about products and services (68%), to be the first to discover new items (68%), to get free product samples (63%) and to share my opinion with others (61%). 

The author of the study recommends that Marketers analyze their loyalty-marketing databases to find, build relationships with and reward brand champions. I agree that Marketers should make better use of customer databases; understanding who your customers are, properly segmenting (actives vs. non-actives, demographics, psychographics etc.) and then marketing to them has always been a critical marketing function. I also agree that companies need to build stronger relationships with brand champions.  70% of study participants stated they want to tell manufacturers what they think. Companies need to make that conversation an easier process. Use social media to listen to and talk with, instead of at, your customers to strengthen the relationship.

However, I disagree that customers should be rewarded for engaging in positive word of mouth activity. The risk is that the message becomes tainted and disingenuous. Marketers can make it easier for customers to recommend a brand by providing free product samples and an open space to share (i.e. through Twitter, Facebook etc.), without directly compensating them. 

See the full article in Brandweek

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