Dan Gill, co-founder of Huddler, discusses the evolution of online communities focusing on interest-based networks versus social networks for monetization. He highlights that users are more engaged in interest graphs where their passions drive influence, resulting in longer-lasting conversations and brand advocacy. The document outlines strategies for brands to leverage these communities to change perceptions and amplify their reach through enthusiastic advocates.

1. VERTICAL SOCIAL
NETWORKS
BRIDGING SOCIAL AND
INTEREST BASED
COMMUNITIES

2. Who’s talking?
Dan Gill: Co-founder/CEO at Huddler
We are an online community Platform provider that partners with many of the largest
and most influential communities online to grow their sites’ influence, enrich the user
experience, and generate incremental revenue.
31 sites
24M UV/Mo

3. TWO MACROTRENDS WE NEED TO BE
AWARE OF FOR MONETIZATION:
1) SOCIAL
2) MEGA-SCALE
AS AN INDUSTRY, WE NEED TO
SPEAK A COMMON LANGUAGE
ABOUT THE VALUE OF OUR
COMMUNITIES AND CONTENT.

4. Friday night friends, are great on friday night
FRIDAY NIGHT GREAT
ON FRIDAY NIGHT
what’s the visual here? friends partying at a bar?
How do we tie it in to “liking” a brand so then
on the next slide we establish the lacking
substance therein

5. The Rest of the Time
UNRESPONSIVE: 95% OF BRANDED POSTS ON FACEBOOK GO UNANSWERED
UNDISCRIMINATING: 3.5 BILLION PIECES OF CONTENT SHARED EACH WEEK
UNENGAGED: ONLY 13% SAID THEY POST ABOUT BRANDS THEY LIKE
May 15 2012
BRAND
BASH!
Credit: Kyle T. Webster (Article by Gabriel Beltrone)

6. Sometimes you just have to let go

7. Consumers are again moving in
droves to Interest-based sites
...marketers are following

8. The Social Graph is who you like,
the Interest Graph is what you like
YOUR PASSIONS
YOUR FRIENDS

9. Our sites are nodes in the Interest Graph

10. Interest = Influence
So long as it’s Awareness
paired with Consideration
engagement,
search engine Preference
traffic is a very good
thing - search is an
expression of intent
Purchase

11. Interest graph creates a one-way follow
= Massive amplification
Interest sites are a one-way follow, whereas social is a two-way. One-way relationships
mean that USERS become influencers, so not only are they already primed to be
talking about product, but the people who are talking about them wield a lot more
influence in an interest graph than they do a social graph. As a result, interest allows
much more of a broadcast mechanism, where many people are eager to listen to one
w/ demonstrated expertise.

12. Amplification in action
5M ONGOING CONVERSATIONS
“Want a great breastpump...Ameda vs. Medela?”
18 replies, 17641 views
“Sennheiser HD700 Unveiled at CES 2012”
2079 replies, 204,329+ views
“OK - your plasma...Got a new one?”
2027 replies, 606,1 views
12
“Dreams Cancun - Questions for those married there”
6109 replies, 209,228 views
“Official Sony HX929 Owner’s Thread”
12,526 replies, 1,370,81 views
1

13. Interest graph creates Users are likely to return to their interests again and again, information
and output related to them will stay relevant much longer then ephemeral
lasting value social graph updates. As a result, interest site information and output
typically “sticks” much longer than social sites: the half-life of a link in
StumbleUpon is 400 hours (meaning half of all Stumbles occur after that
time) vs approx 3 hours for both Facebook and Twitter.
LIFE OF A LINK
HOURS
12 24 36 48

14. Interest graph anoints passionate,
knowledgable influencers
(and a guaranteed audience)

15. How to Let Brands in
Help to find and/or create
brand advocates
Amplify their enthusiasm
Change brand perception

16. Help Brands reach their advocates

17. Help Brands create their advocates

18. And Amplify Them
The enthusiasm of
5 testers leveraged
to reach 4.5M

19. Change brand perceptions: V-Moda
on Head-Fi.org
The founder and CEO of headphone
brand V-MODA wanted to demonstrate
his love for and credibility in the
audiophile market, so he gave away a
few headphones and asked for a
private conversation on Head-Fi. Since
that time, buzz about the brand has
increased and V-MODA has made
actual product modifications based on
the valuable feedback provided by the
Head-Fi members.

20. HOW CAN I HELP?