Slides for Chapter 8, Part A of Web 2.0 and Social Media for Business: Business in a Connected World 3rd Edition, 2016 Dr. Roger McHaney, Dr. David Sachs http://bookboon.com/en/web-2-0-and-social-media-for-business-ebook

1. Web 2.0 and Social Media
Business in a Connected World
© McHaney and Sachs 2016
Social Buzz and Viral Phenomenon

2. Two Examples
Time and Geography Independence
Egypt’s 2011 Tahrir Square Revolution
Protests against former president Hosni Mubarak relied heavily on
Facebook pages maintained by a rotating staff of twenty during the
uprising (BBC News, 2011)
Franciscan Friars Flash Mobs
Group of Franciscan Friars gathered at
Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy
for their event, Missione Giovani Firenze
2015. Flash mobs were used to
encourage young people. Nuns and
friars used social media complete with
hashtags (#liberiperamare) and an
anthem, "Esci Fuori!" (Come out of
there!).
Web 2.0 has enabled crowd behavior to become independent
of time and geographic location. The manifestation can be
vastly different and triggered by social media.

3. YouTube Video
Example
Kansas State University Flash Mob

4. Flash mob dance troupes have emerged
Commercializing Flash Mobs
Commercial Flash Mobs
Dancers hire their services out to corporate clients wishing to draw
attention to new products or inject life into marketing efforts.
Bay Area Flash Mob
Dance groups like Bay Area Flash Mob, in San Francisco, which mainly did
free flash mobs for the fun of it, began getting inquiries from businesses
in about 2010.
Golf Shoe Launch
Nike paid about $1,000 to stage a flash mob at a San
Francisco golf-shoe launch. A YouTube video documented
the event and dancers pumped footwear in the air to
Lady Gaga's ‘Poker Face’.

5. People can be separated in time and space, or belong to
multiple crowds simultaneously through the use of social
media such as Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon and Reddit.
Time and geography are less constraining
Virtual Crowds and Business

6.  Someone may belong to communities
organized with social media tools
 Same tools may result in crowd-
inspired “waves” that move through
these communities at incredible rates
 Waves lack leadership or common
purpose
 Often referred to as viral
 Enormous Business Implications
Multiple Functions
Social Media

7.  Twitter, StumbleUpon,
Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest,
Foursquare and others
create an infrastructure
conducive to social buzz
 Tools such as Social
Mention and Klout help
businesses track social
buzz
 Big players: Facebook and
LinkedIn
Multiple Functions
Social Media

8. Visual Social Media
Pinterest

9.  Designed so users can organize and share images and
videos
 Shared media called Pins organized into Pin Boards
 Pin Boards 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
 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. By 2011, it had over 11 million
daily visitors making it a top social media site.
 Its co-founder and CEO, Ben Silbermann, defines it as a
catalog of ideas and not just another social network.
Visual Social Media
Pinterest

10.  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 important.
 Often 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.

11.  Businesses create
pages to promote
products and services.
 Pinterest business
pages can become
virtual storefronts to
be repinned on
customers’ pin
boards.
 Traffic driven from
Pinterest results in
higher revenues and
greater percentages
of sales than other
social media sources.
 Rich Pins
 Buyable Pins
Multiple sources of income
Pinterest Business Model

12. Six types of Rich Pins: app, article, movie, recipe, place and product.
More to be added!
 Do not directly provide a money
stream for Pinterest through
subscription fees or other means.
 For consumers, Rich Pins include extra
information about certain types of
items being pinned.
 Rich Pins automatically show current
pricing details and have direct link to
retailer’s product page to make
purchasing easier.
Provide data about items listed and sold to Pinterest users: BIG DATA!
Rich Pins From Pinterest and Consumer Perspective

13.  Rich Pins are the best way to
move potential customers to
where product or service can be
purchased.
 Pinterest has developer’s site
which provides details regarding
the implementation.
 Rich Pins must be validated.
 Retailer receives a validation code
to embed in their Website.
 Pin It Button can be added to the
company’s product pages.
 Pinterest users will be
encouraged to pin products and
spread the word.
Social Media Impact
Rich Pins From Retailers’ Perspective

14. Pinterest Future Capabilities
According to Danny Maloney, CEO of Tailwind
Virtual Database
Soon, Pinterest will be able to introduce smart tags which will leverage its
visual database with knowledge acquired from smart pins.
Data Analytics
Pinterest will have the capability to use image recognition technology to
group pins of similar images for brand analytics and be able to add those
smart tags as a service.
.
Services to Purchasers
Pinterest will be able to provide potential purchasers with tagged items
that include links about where to buy even if the pin didn’t come from
that retailer’s site.
Monetization
Pinterest will monetize this service by syndicating its product search
to e-commerce sites, making social commerce a reality across the
Web.

15. Pinterest announced the addition of
Buyable Pins---a simple, secure way
to buy products pinned on Pin
Boards. Customers are able to shop,
checkout, and buy without leaving
the mobile app or Web site. Pins
with blue prices are an indicator that
the items shown can be purchased
right through the app.
Announced in 2015 and now in use
Buyable Pins

16. Web sites such as StumbleUpon and Reddit have become giants on the
Web. Both provide venues for finding and sharing interesting material. For
a business, this can mean publicity, new customers and free exposure.
http://www.mysocialagency.com/social-media/how-to-drive-website-traffic-from-stumbleupon
Examples: StumbleUpon and Reddit
Alternate Social Media Approaches

17. Driving traffic to the rest of the Web
StumbleUpon

18. StumbleUpon Approach
Discovery for Fun
Designed to help a user “discover new and
interesting stuff on the Web”.
Data Repository
Users provide basic information about likes (a
marketer’s dream come true) and are given a
journey to relevant Web sites, videos, blogs, photos
and other material.
Stumblers
The more other users like a page, the higher it is
rated and it is more likely to be viewed by more
‘Stumblers’.
Monetization
User profiles become more specific and better
tailored as they provide feedback on pages.

19.  StumbleUpon drives over 50
percent of its traffic to the rest of
the Web
 Offers a great way to get people to
link to a business site for comments
and to boost subscriber numbers
 Surpassed 25th million click in
August 2011
 Tracks over 3 million sites
StumbleUpon Facts

20. From the Hatcher Group
Business Uses of StumbleUpon

21. From the Hatcher Group
Business Uses of StumbleUpon (Continued)

22. From the Hatcher Group
Business Uses of StumbleUpon (Continued)

23. Businesses can pay to have their sites discovered
Paid Discovery

24. Popular forums for discussion and venting!
Reddit

25. Premise:
 Users submit content (text-based posts, images, links or
other items)
 Most posts are discussion related or controversial
statements
 Users vote posts up or down
 Most popular posts reach the Reddit’s front page
 Comments to the posts can also be voted up or down
 Web site divided into subject areas called subreddits
 Often used to raise public awareness regarding issues
 Often considered revolutionary
 Provides a platform for individuals to build a following
 Reddit users turned off by self-promotion
Known for openness and diverse user communities
Reddit

26.  Used by businesses to promote blog
or other content.
 An article can be submitted and
voted up resulting in even more
readers.
 Reddit works best with well written
informative content, particularly
when it has a social conscience .
 Negative side: Reddit communities
criticized for hive mindset and
negative aspects of group
interaction, crowd psychology and
collective consciousness.
Imgur linked to Reddit for image storage
Reddit Comments

27. Why Reddit?
Unique and interesting to businesses: Reaches engaged individuals
Why Reddit?

28. Provides paid advertising service. Allows business to reach those reading
and posting in particular subreddit areas. Reddit ads also include comment
threads where viewers can discuss the ad and the product being
advertised.
Paid advertising
Reddit

29. Reddit Business Hints

30. Reddit Business Hints (Continued)

31. Contact: Roger McHaney, Kansas State University, mchaney@ksu.edu