The App Gap FGIBI Webinar Slideshare 2008-06-25

June 25, 2008 “ Should Your Business Be Friends with Facebook?” New research on how businesses are using Facebook and other social networking strategies -- what’s working, what’s in the way, what’s next? Jenny Ambrozek, Bill Anderson, Victoria Axelrod, Conveners & Facebook Group in Business Investigation Participants Eric Edelstein, Francois Gossieaux, Kimberly Samaha

OUR FACES

FGIBI Overview
What we did, when, & why
What we learned about Facebook Groups in Business
3. Discussion
4. “Should your business be friends with Facebook?”

Facebook Group Growth Percent of global Internet users who visit this site May 25 Facebook open platform to developers

Starting Premise “ Facebook may, but also may not, become THE enterprise social networking platform, but it's here, use is growing, so we need to understand the phenomenon and learn from it.” Study Description 2008-02-08

FGIBI Co- Convener William L. Anderson

Activity Data Tracked

We also wanted to know about group member ties

Investigation Tools Ecosystem Email Main means of group participant communications Private Wiki Stored participant information, data, reflections & industry information Private Facebook Group Posted updates. Related links 21 st Century Organization Facebook Group A participant. Study updates posted. 21 st Century Organization & Praxis101 blogs Project announced here . Google Docs Tried sharing activity data with investigation team members

What We Learned

Eric Edelstein
Owner:
South African based retail chain,
eSquared Fashion
Participating eSquared Facebook Group
“ Facebook can offer rewards, can result in sales, but is not an easy marketing avenue for beginners to Internet Marketing”.

Eric Edelstein Reflections
Have to be active to make the Group active
We changed from using Facebook Groups to Fan Clubs
Better business marketing vehicle
Facebook Groups have communication limits
Internet Marketing learnings:
FB is one channel/medium of many; need to use them all
Try it. Be prepared to make mistakes
Facebook opened up social networking space
Internet marketing gets more exciting the more you do
We’re now experimenting with Twitter

Kimberly Samaha
Founder, Bordeaux Colloquium
Administrator Participating Facebook Group
Sustainable Energy - Innovation & Technology
Facebook Researcher

Facebook Group Study: Initial Objectives
Create an on-line platform to connect ‘off-line’ members of the Bordeaux Energy Colloquium for exchanges during the year
Create outreach to ‘concerned citizens’ – a link between policy makers and consumers
Network with other energy professionals
Find interesting energy projects & technologies

Created 5 Facebook Groups
Bordeaux Energy Colloquium : closed, private – members of Colloquium only
Sustainable Energy: 3 topics, open to public, used ‘advertising’ to attract new members
Innovation & Technology
Case Studies
Universal Access
Sustainable Energy Futures : event page for a ‘virtual tradeshow’ and on-line case study competition
open to public used ‘advertising’ and word-of-mouth recruiting to attract new members

Conclusion: Off-line to On-line Results disappointing
Facebook reputation still an obstacle for professionals (college or ‘kids thing’, company blocks, privacy concerns)
Facebook limitations: not able to send business type documents only video and photos
Over half the BEC members who went on-line are inactive
One action initiative launched: Hold an on-line case study competition on the event page. Over half of on-line members joined the group.
Most members are interested to hear status but slow to join or facilitate action

Conclusion: On-line Topic Groups Smaller groups but more committed members
Most topic group members are early adopters: found group through searches; involved in the energy industry or sustainability movement
78% found group vs. 22% through friends
92% of IT group became facebook ‘friends’
35% of group members are ‘very active’
Majority of topic group members also joined the Event group

Conclusions: On-line Event Group W ord-of-mouth works
Active recruiting is KEY to growth
Averaged 70 new members per week
44% of member growth from recruiters
33% from the top 5 recruiters
16% from one recruiter
Friends of Friends
47% of new members found group through friends
See others join through Facebook ‘newsfeed’ and ‘groups others have joined’ pages
Weak Links are harder to maintain
Group drop out rates averaged ~ 5% across the 4 active groups
55% of drop outs were friend of friend invites

Important Strategies to be Learned No easy way: High time level involvement required
Find other ‘like-minded’ individuals and ask for help
Actively facilitate group and group page
Members don’t check group pages often
Members do respond to ‘message all members’ emails
Weave a larger network
Reach into non-affiliated groups: establish presence and ‘friends’ to create ‘weak links’
Strengthen weak links around common areas of interest among other groups using surveys, links, etc.

Conclusions: On-line case study competition
Facebook is about joining more than action
Facebook creates a unique way to diffuse influence; but few advocate or invite “all” to join their activities
Facebook groups: more like mailing lists than places where people actively participate
Group emails regarded as ‘advertising’ or ‘spam’ and often go unread
Recruiting others to join the group was successful: > 60% of the group was invited by a friend
Evidence of the “Influentials theory”: top 5 recruiters accounted for 30% of the group membership

Conclusions: Business expectations
Facebook groups are like mailing lists: ~ 15% of total membership participated in the contest
Facebook limit on messaging groups is 1200: this is a BIG limitation
1-click campaigns can bring in big numbers but action or education does not go deeper than the click
Outreach can be successful: create a few good connections to new advocates and new channels for communication
Viral growth is not the norm in Facebook: slowly expanding mission or cause by reaching a reasonable number of new people is achievable

Number 3 in member growth, up 124% Sustainable Energy - Innovation & Technology Facebook Group Analysis by Accession Media

Francois Gossieaux Founder, Beeline Labs Administrator Largest Participating Facebook Group

You can tap the benefits of communities once only reserved for companies with deep pockets Community development and management has to be considered a real investment Pay attention to what you name your group The Marketing 2.0 Group: Lessons to be learned

Patti Anklam FGIBI Contributors Network Analysis

Network Forming Around the Study
A simple social network analysis (SNA)
Each participant asked:
Which other participants they personally knew prior to the study
Which participants they interacted with during the study

Before and After – Full Group The role that the researchers play in connecting the people in the network is revealed. Network analysis by Patti Anklam

Victoria G. Axelrod FGIBI Co- Convener

Related research
2. Tool transience
3. Beyond the face value of the numbers
Victoria’s Caveats

Facebook Today: What’s Next? Source : www.alexa.com

Alexa.com: Facebook vs. Twitter Extracted 2008-06-23 Source : www.alexa.com

Participating Facebook Groups Membership Growth

Over to You- Your Questions Please Discussion

Facebook Groups in Business Investigation – The Bottom Line

“ Should your Business be Friends with Facebook?”
Perhaps … Context
Business purpose determines focus
The technology extends our reach
Must meet stakeholders where they are
Demands design, resources & active facilitation

Continue the Conversation
Visit TheAppGap Blog www.theappgap.com
Webinar audio is available here:
http://www.theappgap.com/recording-of-facebook-for-business-webinar-now-available.html
Join the 21stCenturyOrganization Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2436782733
Email jenny at sageway.com

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The App Gap FGIBI Webinar Slideshare 2008-06-25

by Jenny Ambrozek on Jun 26, 2008

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