November 2008

Mobile social networking is increasing in popularity.  This is due not only to the introduction of smart phones such as the iPhone, Nokia N96 and Google Android, but also because mobile broadband is now a popular bolt-on for mobile contracts.  Mobile broadband providers such as Vodafone for example offer free access to the Facebook mobile operators platform.

On-deck social networks
In the UK, mainstream social networks such as Facebook available on-deck are most popular due to the critical mass of their online platforms that have migrated to mobile.  I know from first hand experience how popular Facebook mobile is, from the amount of use by staff and friends and when logged into my Facebook account I can see the large number of profile updates made via phone.

Off-deck social networks
Other ‘off-deck’ social networks are available as a software download to phone that allow users to set up group networks once installed.  One popular example is German based mobile social network platform Aka-Aki.
Aka-Aki is a location based social network and was founded by the students at the University of Arts Berlin in 2006 and has since achieved great success in terms of member numbers throughout its backyard of Berlin city.

Location-based social networking offered by Aka-Aki allows its community members to share their location using bluetooth. Members can add comments about a restaurant, inform friends that they’re going to a gig in town or just find out if anyone they know using the network happens to be nearby so weak-tie relationships form.
Aka-Aki is looking to introduce its location based mobile social network to the UK in 2009 and in my opinion it will easily achieve brand recognition through their cool ‘elk‘ icon, but the network faces tough competition from already established social network platforms available on-deck.

Chinwag MoSo Rising event 
Two weeks ago I attended the Chinwag event MoSo Rising in London to get the skinny on mobile social networks going forward into 2009.

MoSo Rising’s focus was predominantly a technology and software based discussion – I personally wanted to learn how brands can successfully use mobile social networks to engage with consumers as opposed to the technology behind the user experience. 
My key takeout from the event is that the mobile itself should not be seen as the ‘web in your pocket’ but as an extension to online activities and to assist in continuing the engagement with consumers around mobile activities and communities.  This is an obvious point and one that is important because the behaviour of mobile and web use is totally different.  MoSo content should be adapted and targeted to mobile use and applications.  For example developers and content providers should be looking to target those consumers that cannot access the web from their workplace but who want to engage and stay connected with their group networks.  So we’re looking at taxi drivers, nurses, building contractors, basically anyone away from a fixed line connection that have a phone they can use to network with.  
There is a great deal of potential for MoSo as pretty much everyone has a mobile phone, although not everyone has a smart phone and mobile handsets in the UK have reached saturation point.  Still it will be interesting to see if 2009 will finally be the year for mobile marketing, social media and social networks in particular.

Tagged as: Aka-Aki, Chinwag, facebook, marketing blog, mobile social networking, mobile social networks, MoSo, Tom Chapman

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Over the past couple of days I have been tinkering around with LinkedIn’s applications, in particular Huddle’s cloud based collaboration app.

Huddle Workspaces is a cloud based software-as-a-service product (SaaS) that is currently free to use for small collaborative projects - so if you do not use Google apps and have a LinkedIn profile it is well worth a look.

The great advantage of bundling collaborative tools with social networks as LinkedIn have done, is that it allows users to quickly set-up discussions that are private and secure, at the same time offering functionality and control which is what all businesses demand.

From a marketing perspective social networks and cloud based collaboration tools offer huge potential.
For example I was thinking that LinkedIn and Huddle is a useful way for barcamps to engage further with its attendees.
Picture the following scenario: You rock up to a barcamp discussion. As part of the entry requirements you register with your LinkedIn profile and you are automatically assigned to the event group on Huddle. Any notes you make during the discussion can later be uploaded to the event’s collaborative workspace and further discussions can take place beyond the meeting, extending the engagement far beyond the physical event. All presentation slides from the event are also uploaded and shared amongst the attendees. That way a repository of information around a particular subject can be built up and possibly even a wiki can be formed from tagging content and ideas contributed by all members.
All this collaborative information held within the cloud, could eventually lead to developing best practice and industry standards around certain issues that may well be pushed out into the mainstream.
The next up-and-coming barcamp will be promoted via LinkedIn announcing a new discussion topic and pre-event info and slides will be shared via Huddle and mashed up by attendees to discuss at the physical event. The whole process is then repeated – true engagement.

I personally think as I am sure many others do, that 2009 will see SME’s utilize SaaS tools more. I know from experience that traditional collaborative tools such as Microsoft’s Hosted Exchange are extremely useful for sales and marketing team use and coupled with social networks it opens this type of collaborative working wide open for all, as they are very easy-to-use.

Many companies if they have not done so already will shell out for enterprise social network platforms with collaborative tools (IBM BlueHouse, Trampoline and Huddle Enterprise). They will encourage all business units to plug into them – corporate Web 2.0 will become the norm and the wikinomics mantra (openness, peering, sharing and global) will become mainstream business practice. The opportunities that SaaS, the cloud and social networks combined are endless, as are the financial opportunities for data centres!

Tagged as: Cloud Computing, Collaboration software, Huddle, LinkedIn, marketing blog, SaaS, Tom Chapman

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I would like to share with you a great example of Twitter micro-blogging by UK VoIP provider www.gradwell.com.  At the same time I will also look to apply marketing concepts and principles to Gradwell’s use of Twitter and it would be great to have your feedback on any other marketing theories that apply, so feel free to comment.

 

Background to Gradwell: Gradwell is one of the UK’s leading VoIP service providers and is a strategic business partner of Tiscali.  

Prior to the withdrawal of Twitter’s free SMS alerts service in August 2008, Gradwell was already an active user of Twitter’s micro-blogging service. Gradwell also saw an opportunity to assist UK Twitter users by introducing its  www.twittex.com service – a simple prepay service that delivers updates from your friends to your mobile phone, but this is going off subject.

Gradwell’s use of Twitter: Gradwell’s use of Twitter is for publicly responding to its customers’ need for information used to support their business critical applications.  

Gradwell openly identifies network problems and alerts users through tweets, responding faster than telephone or personal e-mail.

At the same time their Twitter service helps reduce helpdesk and support costs that can be a drain on the company’s resources.

Example of Twitter in practice: you are a CTO interested in monitoring your VoIP network supplied by Gradwell.  You will be interested in keeping track of any possible upgrades, repairs, system maintenance, basically anything that affects the performance of your VoIP network that will in turn affect your company and ultimately the bottom line.  If you have a call centre which is your main customer touch point then it is essential that it delivers the promised service level.

By following Gradwell’s VoIP Twitter feed you can be alerted to important network information as well as being given the opportunity to respond directly to Gradwell’s tweets, questioning further details. 

In total Gradwell provides 6 Twitter feeds for its core services (Gradwell Status, Broadband Status, Email Status, Hosting Status, Infrastructure Status, VoIP Status) all of which have been integrated within the corporate site. http://www.gradwellstatus.com/twitter-feeds/ There are only 36 followers so far, which is small in comparison to their customer base, but they could well be the largest customers of Gradwell so this service is vital.

This use of Twitter is an example of true transparency in terms of showing existing customers, potential customers and competitors the service level of Gradwell’s network.

Applying the marketing: The ‘Listeners’ (customers) use Gradwell’s service feeds as a monitoring tool.  The ‘Talker’ (Gradwell) uses the service to communicate latest network status.  This is a two way flow of communication, so the Listener and Talker personalities can be reversed.  The product/service in question that is being discussed can be defined as the ‘Hub’.

From a marketing perspective this is a great example of using a social media tool to deliver an additional level of customer service.  By supporting services via Twitter feeds it allows Gradwell to enhance customer satisfaction that in turn meets and exceeds customer expectation.

We can apply Porter’s generic strategies model to Gradwell’s use of Twitter.  The strategic direction for Gradwell’s services is ‘product differentiation’.  Twitter is an additional customer service element, contibuting to improved brand performance and customer loyalty.

In Gradwell’s case, the use of Twitter as a customer service tool can help to form an integral part of the company’s ‘customer value proposition’ further enhancing Gradwell’s competitive advantage.
This can be seen as a unique selling point and additional benefit to CTO’s who require immediate service status updates as part of their VoIP service.

Gradwell’s Twitter service also offers an opportunity for engagement through customer self-service. Customers value the status updates via Twitter as a form of transparent communication.

The success of this social media engagement can be measured in terms of customer loyalty/re-purchase of Gradwell’s twitter followers as well as monitoring the content of conversation from followers’ tweets.

Tagged as: Gradwell VoIP, marketing blog, Micro-blogging, Social Networking, Telecoms, Tom Chapman, Twitter

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