Chapter 9: Social Buzz and Viral Phenomena: Part C

Web 2.0 and Social Media for Business 2nd Edition

Roger McHaney, Kansas State University

Tumblr

Tumblr refreshes the medium of the blog and renews it with a better format, centralized management, and higher levels of interactivity.

Tumblr• Does not require posting media on other sites (for instance no need to

post on YouTube and embed video in a blog entry) • Allows material to be uploaded directly from a number of sources

including mobile devices

Tumblr• Fills the gap between Twitter’s microblogging features and Facebook’s overarching social media capabilities.

• First launched in April, 2007

• Grown to nearly 50 million blogs with over 18 billion posts

• 85% user retention rate and over 13 billion views per month

Tumblelogs

5Tumblr populated with tumblelogs. These ‘blog entries’ may take the form of a stream of Tweets

Entries also may appear as multimedia blog entries

Many people use a tumblelog to represent a personal view of their lives (like an online diary or journal) Tumblr users can follow each others' blogs and restrict viewers with privacy settings

Tumbler for Business

6Not traditionally envisioned for business use

Poor choice for many industries

Banking, financial services and those seeking to develop a traditional business reputation might not find the ‘flash and glitter’ of Tumblr compatible with business objectives

Tumbler for Business (con’t)

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Excels in business seeking fast paced, social network optimized for quick consumption

Best with multimedia

Mainly concerned with photos, videos, quotes and questionsMembers known for being edgy, artistic, and inspirational  

Example Tumblelogs that

Work!

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Tumblr Users

9• Easy for users to find and view material on mobile devices • Offers minimal customization options• Does not permit self-hosting• Most businesses view Tumblr as supplement to primary Web

site• Ideal for reaching user demographic hard to contact via print

media • Tumblr’s demographic is under 34 years old and mobile device

users• Organizations find coupons, product information, sales notices,

and other material. All are shared among users on Tumblr

Pinterest• Social media Web site designed so users can organize and

share images and videos• Shared media are called Pins and typically organized into

Pin Boards• Pin Boards generally relate to a theme and can be

followed by other Pinterest users• Content can be RePinned, Liked, and shared• Users follow each other as well as specific Pin Boards• Like Tumblr, Pinterest is visually-oriented and suited for

use on mobile devices• Pinterest opened for beta use in 2010, making it a young

and rapidly growing site

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Pinterest (con’t)

Users pin interesting items they find on the Web (or that they create for themselves) Community aspect becomes important as individuals rely on others with similar interests to help find new relevant items Popular in areas where a visual component is importantOften is used for interior design, art, fashion, recipes, food, cake decorating, and shopping. Businesses benefit because traffic is driven to their Web sites Users communicate by reposting content, sharing pins on Facebook, tweeting pins, or embedding Pinterest material on blogs

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Foursquare and Location Based Services

Location-based mobile platforms enable users to “check in” via a smartphone app and share their location and other details with friends and businesses.

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Location Based Services (LBS)

Seen as the next big area for business expansion with more than six billion mobile users in the world.

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Almost 20% of mobile device owners already use LBS, creating a huge untapped market. Popular LBSs include Foursquare, Yelp, and Living Social.

TNS Global

Login and Work Behind the Scenes

Foursquare creates competition between users by encouraging them to earn points and badges for leaving tips, information, and photos of their current location. Other use this information to create to-do/to-go-to lists. Merchants and brands leverage Foursquare presence by offering specials and VIP information to users

Foursquare FactsFoursquare is a young company, founded in 2009 by Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai. Over 20 million users as of June 2012.

Foursquare User Activities

Foursquare Badge Examples

Plenty of themes---custom, free, or premium (cost) exist

Badges are sponsored by organizations, send users messages and give bragging rights.

Foursquare for Business

Foursquare specifically designed for business use. Software allows businesses to find, interact with, interest, reward, and retain customers

Businesses control and personalize their venue and have access to user traffic, comments, and other statistics

Businesses can create specials to reward loyal customers using Foursquare services

Business have access to free data services to better understand customers

Foursquare’s Business Model

• Foursquare charges a nominal fee for creating badges• Fees based on business size and other factors• Seeks to evaluate partnerships and form mutually beneficial

agreements with particular interest in helping new and small businesses

• Provides free data analytics including customer demographics (male to female ratio, regular customers); time-related statistics (check in times); and information comparing customer check in to loyalty program memberships

• Working to create more powerful data analytics to provide more customer information for businesses

Foursquare Business Activities

Foursquare Special Offer Example

End ofChapter 9 Part C

Web 2.0 and Social Media for Business 2nd Edition

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Slides Prepared by Professor Roger McHaney Kansas State UniversityTwitter: @mchaneyBlog: http://mchaney.comEmail : mchaney@ksu.edu