GroundSwell Chapters 5 & 6

Listening to  your customer is essential. I’ve found that many companies have a tendency to focus so much on selling their product or service that they forget to listen to what their customers are telling them. The goal for any business is to make money, but that goal is more easily attained when you listen to your customers and know and understand what their needs are. In a previous tip I talked about understanding customers’ needs before developing a product. The best way to do that is by listening to what they tell you. More often than not, in the course of a conversation, a customer will divulge information that is vital to your overall success.

1. What do they say their needs are? It sounds rather basic, but knowing what a customer needs is critical to closing any deal.
2. How do they talk about the services they’re using? What works, what doesn’t work for them, and why? The way a customer describes the service or product they’re using can tell you a lot about what they like and how your product can help them be more effective.
   What are their personal and company goals? Understand that, and you can point out and explain how your product will help them.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Chapters 3 & 4 GroundSwell

At the heart of Social Technographics is consumer data that looks at how consumers approach social technologies – not just the adoption of individual technologies. We group consumers into six different categories of participation – and participation at one level may or may not overlap with participation at other levels. We use the metaphor of a ladder to show this, with the rungs at the higher end of the ladder indicating a higher level of participation. (http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2007/04/forresters_new_.html)

Listening to audiences, customer panels, demographics you are trying to market is crucial with this new hierarchy of marketing in social media. Top level executives will need to start listening to the needs and wants of their customers and no longer "assume" according to false marketing trends analysts based on past trends. Social Media is a new trend and all businesses need to start listening.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SASsoftware?v=FtRHBMWHsgg&feature=pyv&ad=5038181436&kw=social%20media

Chapters 1-2

Can you dig it?

What is dig?

"Digg is a social news website that can help you share blog posts and web pages. If you find a page you want to share, you can "digg" it by submitting the URL and a brief description of the page through the Digg website. Other Digg users will see your submission and "digg" or "bury" it. Submissions that get a log of "diggs" are displayed on the home page of the Digg website where many people will see them and will be likely to click on them.

In short, if your blog post makes it to the home page of Digg, you can expect a huge bump in traffic. Since most bloggers want more traffic, hitting it big with a post that gets featured on the home page of Digg is like winning the lottery. Unfortunately, making it to the home page of Digg is difficult."

GroundSwell says, Groundswell comes from three sources: 

1. People
2. Technology
3. Economics

Social Media Stats;

Messaging/Bulleting Boards

2007: 33%
2008: 35%
2009: 28%

Social Networking

2007: 27%
2008: 49%
2009: 80%

Online Video

2007: 24%
2008: 45%
2009: 36%

Blogging

2007: 19%
2008: 39%
2009: 45%

Wikis

2007: 17%
2008: 27%
2009: 25%

Podcasting

2007: 11%
2008: 21%
2009: 12%

Twitter

2009: 52%

Companies are adapting to Social Media rapidly but many companies start these sites and say yes of course we are on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and then everything becomes apparent they are indeed on these mediums but they are not current with them and more importantly they are not using them the way they are intended. Recently I have been noticing a lot of jobs posted on Indeed.com, Craigslist that are specifically targeted to jobs in Social Media. Recently I applied for a position at TripAdvisor for a Social Media Project Manager since taking this course i figured my experience would be relevant. The position. The description for the position read as follows:

"Position Description 

Are you an avid Facebook user? Do you see the potential of social media in revolutionizing the travel planning experience? Do you want to be involved in ground-breaking product development? If so, then read on!

Reporting to the Director, Platforms and Applications, we are looking for a smart and experienced product management/marketing professional to serve as Product Manager, Social Media. In this role, s/he will be a champion of the consumer's experience by leading the definition, design, development and implementation of social media applications that allow users to experience TripAdvisor content on a variety of social networking sites, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance the value of the TripAdvisor brand. "

So as you can see companies, technologies are adapting their businesses to Social Media practices. They need to embrace the so-called "Groundswell" and flow with these changes in the world. In order to be successful and not lose speed of the momentum of these new media adaptations.

What social media is doing to the world

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

What social media is doing to the world

View more presentations from JulieCarn.

Facebook Aquires new Social Networking arenas.

Facebook buys $40 million worth of social networking patents


Mashable.com, August 5, 2010



Facebook has acquired a broad set of patents on social networking covering the basic functions of just about any social app, ranging from friend lists to the news feed.

The patents were acquired from Friendster, which has been awarded a wide array of social networking patents over the last decade. According to VentureBeat, there are 18 patents in all; GigaOm reports the price of the portfolio was $40 million.

As with many technology patents, the Facebook patents are rather broad (some might say ridiculously obvious, too). For example, one of the patents, as we wrote back in 2006, covers “a system, method, and apparatus for connecting users in an online computer system based on their relationships within social networks.” Another covers the slightly more innovative concept of photo tagging.

For its part, Friendster didn’t do much in the way of enforcing its patent portfolio, even as it fell from prominence in the U.S. It remains to be seen what Facebook’s intentions are for its newly acquired IP, but the patents will certainly make it more challenging for others to go after the world’s biggest social networking site with claims of infringement –- at least on the core features of the product.

With numerous cases (and a movie) exploring the origins of Facebook, owning the basic patents that make social networking possible undoubtedly strengthens the company’s position.

Web's Cutting Ege

Here is a familiar article for our class because this link talks about ways companies are tracking our trends. This article specifies how companies are "cracking the code" on consumers and certain things we type or look up seem to track our age and interests.

Final Project- Will Social Media end Oppressed Nations?

I was having trouble coming up with an article. The image above comes from a NYT story http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/business/global/02berry.html?ref=technology  regarding the use of devices and how things CAN NOT be monitored in countries such as Dubai and Saudi Arabia. I took a trip to Dubai about a year and a half ago and I was shocked by this new rule. Dubai for those of you who do not know is the city of dreams. Anything that you have ever wanted or dreamed of is pretty much here (within reason it is still a strict Muslim country) This City is the supposed to be the place to be, the place to see and most imporantly a business hub. Now my question is How in the world you can conduct business without email or texts messages.

 This city has been constucted over night and is fascinating. Fun facts of Dubai are the following:

1. Foreigners constitute about 80% of the Dubai population.

2. Latest survey showed that Dubai’s population has crossed the figure of 1.3 million.

3. The Dubai Emirates Mall is servicing foreigners to ski indoors during shopping.

4. Al Maktoum Dynasty has been the ruling family in Dubai since 1833.

5. Amazingly, you will not see street addresses in Dubai.

6. One of the most speedily developing cities in the world is Dubai.

7. Dubai government doesn’t levy any kind of personal or income taxes on its citizens.

8. After completion, the Burj Dubai will break all the previous records of tallest building and tallest man-made structures in the world.

9. In Dubai, 1 out of 5 persons purchase 5 pieces of gold jewelry every year.

10. Dubai is also building the man made islands; it would be the first one of its kind. They named them Palm Islands.

11. Dubai is a part of United Arab Emirates (UAE).

12. Dubai’s average annual precipitation is just 13 cm.

13. Monetary unit of Dubai is the dirham (Dh).

14. The world’s largest horses are here in Dubai.

15. Dubai is listed in the countries having highest per capita incomes in the world.

Now how in the world can all this be happening and yet women account for 1-2% of the UAE’s high executive positions, 20% hold administration positions, 35% are in the national workforce, and 80% are classified as household workers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates). 

Another story that happened recently was the election of the new Iranian President. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_presidential_election,_2009#Censorship This story made national headlines through places like Twitter and Facebook.  

Blocking of communications (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_presidential_election,_2009#Blocking_of_communications)

Mobile phone communications were interrupted in Tehran on election day and the BBC has stated that "heavy electronic jamming" was being used to halt their broadcasts. On 23 May 2009, the Iranian government temporarily blocked access to Facebook across the country. Gulfnews.com reported that this move was a response to the use of Facebook by candidates running against Ahmadinejad. PC World reported that Mousavi's Facebook page had more than 6,600 supporters. Access was restored by 26 May 2009.

^{I am looking forward to sharing my final project with everyone and share some interesting Social Media Data.}

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/technology/03blackberry.html

Take the Social Media Quiz

Social Media Marketing Monitoring Assignment

I chose to do my Social Media Marketing assignment on TravelZoo. According to Wikipedia, Travelzoo is a discounted travel sight. You can go to Travelzoo and sign up for a weekly email with the Top20 travel deals of the week. This deals are extremely inexpensive but the catch is they tend to be last minute. TravelZoo has a Twitter page  http://twitter.com/Travelzoo According to TravelZoo Twitter the following are their stats.

TravelZoo Annual Report

According to Forbes in 2006 TravelZoo was heading on the up and up 

The 200 Best Small Companies
#6 Travelzoo
10.12.06, 6:00 PM ET

CONSECUTIVE YEARS ON 200 BEST 2 ( 2005 RANK 3 ) Travelzoo ( TZOO ) operates Internet-based travel search engine. INDUSTRY Other Consumer Services 590 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 phone: 212-521-4200 http://www.travelzoo.com/		RANKING 5-YR AVG ROE 12 SALES 180 PROFITS 164 MARKET VALUE 135 12-MOS SALES GROWTH 27 12-MOS EPS GROWTH 92 5-YR SALES GROWTH 3 5-YR EPS GROWTH 12
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RATING 1 3 GROWTH EPS 5-YR AVG 88% LAST 12 MOS 37% SALES 5-YR 53% LAST 12 MOS 51% PROFITABILITY RETURN ON EQUITY 5-YR AVG 46% LAST 12 MOS 18% DEBT/EQUITY 5 0		2007 ESTIMATES EPS $1.15 PE 25 MARKET DATA RECENT PRICE $28.82 MARKET VALUE 2 $440 mil ENTERPRISE VALUE 3 $445 mil ENTERPRISE MULTIPLE 4 19 INCOME STATEMENT LATEST 12 MOS SALES $62 mil LATEST 12 MOS NET INC $12 mil OPERATING INCOME 6 $23.4 mil

• Name Travelzoo
• Location New York
• Web http://www.travel...
• Bio Travelzoo’s 100 deal experts research and evaluate hundreds of deals each week, selecting only the best to endorse and publish.

29,054following

58,814followers

1,779listed

• 4,056
  
  Tweets
  I currently subscribe to Travelzoo and enjoy receiving the emails they send. I thought their website could use some sprucing up. They do have RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter and their tag line is
• 
  

"Tired of scouring the Internet for the best travel deals? Let Travelzoo's global team of deal experts do the research for you. Travelzoo researches and evaluates hundreds of deals, selecting only the best to endorse and publish."

The following YoutTube video shows you the ins and outs of TravelZoo and what you can expect from their  services. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikxxa6UEUIQ 

In this economy everyone enjoys a great deal. Forrester Research http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/us_leisure_travel_sale_seekers_are_on/q/id/53221/t/2 that when the economy had a landslide the travel business went right along with it. Travelzoo is a great place to land a deal but as mentioned before the site may not be for the planner since most deals are last minute and will not give you a ton of notice. The con would be for someone who does not have a flexible employer where you need to give at least a month or two notice at your employer. However, the deal is not always that you need to travel within the month but you do need to book within a week and then travel within the next three months and I found a lot of the deals to be during the week or when you go onto to the site to book you may find that they are already sold out. But TravelZoo is certainly worth the money and give you a chance to stay at a hotel or resort you might not be able to afford any other time of year. 

TravelZoo currently uses Trackur –" more concerned about your online reputation?  Or perhaps you are a little more cost-conscious, then Trackur might be what the doctor ordered.  With over 16,000 clients including Travel Zoo and Fly.com, Trackur is an online reputation & social media monitoring tool designed to assist you in tracking what is said about you on the internet. Trackur scans hundreds of millions of web pages–including news, blogs, video, images, and forums–and lets you know if it discovers anything that matches the keywords that interest you.  Prices range from a mere $18/month to $300/month.  Developed by reputation management and SEO expert Andy Beal, this is a great little tools for monitoring your social media presence."

From the Founder – "What is a recommended deal?"

Dear Internet user:

Thank you for visiting Travelzoo today! Our mission is to bring you the best recommended travel deals from the best companies. – What is a "recommended travel deal?" When we at Travelzoo publish and recommend deals to our 20 million travel subscribers, we apply the most demanding quality standards.

1. We never recommend a travel deal that we wouldn't book ourselves.
2. We have our Test Booking Center^® research every Top 20^® deal before we publish it.
3. We are independent in our reviews.

If you like Travelzoo, please recommend us to your family and friends.

Happy Travels!

Ralph Bartel, Ph.D.
Founder