I’ve been reading a lot of theories lately about why Myspace has been so successful. Despite some ugly graphics, and JUST OK technology, MySpace drives more page views than any other site. So what are they doing right? Some people think that focusing on music is the key to Myspace gaining adoption. Music provides context, they say. Others say its all about users’ egos - Myspace let’s users promote themselves. Others say it’s about making connections. People use Myspace to stay in touch with people. It’s about communication.
So how do we capture the same magic for our own social network?
And moreover, once we build a community, how do we make money from it?
First, we want fans to participate in our “community” and buy more tickets, merchandise, etc. Next, we want introduce those loyal fans to our sponsors, so that they can do business. We think this leap, from buying Colts to buying sponsor products can be accomplished by creating a digital platform of communication for fans to talk to other fans.
But we also realize that if we don’t think of what the fans want and need (first) and give them access to benefits they cannot get elsewhere, our community may never reach critical mass.
Fans tell us they want:
1. Camaradarie - Colts games are a communal experience - best enjoyed with friends.
2. Consistency - Colts games are rituals - there’s a certain way to prepare and enjoy.
3. Visibility - Colts fans want to be KNOWN and SEEN as the BIGGEST fans. There’s a pecking order.
4. Access - Colts fans want to feel like they’re getting behind the scenes and doing things that ordinary people don’t get to do.
I think our social network will help us deliver all of these benefits. Actually, we won’t deliver them as much as fans will create these things for themselves by using the platform. And hopefully, they’ll invite their friends. They’ll do it for the SOCIAL Currency it offers.
Social Currency and Digital Aboriginals
I’m reading a book called, “Digital Aboriginal,” by Mikela Tarlow and Philip Tarlow. The book was published back in 2002, and makes several observations about the way people and media interact, and it makes many predictions about ways to grow business in the digital future.
Eventually, dialogues becomes product
In the digital world, the one with the best conversation usually wins. And I assure you there are many dialogues out there still in search of a village square…And interesting question to ask yourself is: What kinds of conversations do your customers like to have and which of those conversations would be of interest to you? Almost any new idea can be reduced to who needs to talk to whom, and why. Once the dimensions of a new commercial dialogue are established, you have an elegant strategy for going forward. You have the critical social architecture that underlies any new product or service.
Yahoo! says the fastest area of growth on its portal continues to be conversation…People love the village square. They may also discover just how loud their voices can get…consumer tribes may eventually become the new point of entry for purchaes. They will eventually turn commerce upside down and you will be bidding for their business. Truly tribal companies are already looking ahead to develop models for accessing and reaching emerging consumer clans.
Our social network has to be about the fans, by the fans and for the fans. We (the team) need to be peers in the network, and give up control, even though we’re making the investment to build it. If we can do this correctly, we can earn the right to connect more deeply with Colts fans and (hopefully) show sponsors how to do the same.
Here are some articles I found about “social currency”. Very interesting stuff:
1. Anatomy of a successful social network
2. Social Currency
3. Behavior under the planning microscope
I believe I read somewhere that the average number of page views on MySpace was 34. 34!!! In other words, MySpace is built in such a manner that it requires frequent page views… which in turn, provides gazillions of ad views. My issue with this is that the people that are making the most views are probably least likely to click on ads because they are desensitized to them.
It’s a great page view engine… but is it really a great medium for advertising? They won’t release their conversion rates on their ads, but judging by the quality of the ads, I’m confident it’s a terrible medium. It’s like printing a million newspapers that nobody is reading. Great circulation… but someone needs to buy something before it makes sense!
To an extend that is true. However, sometimes advertising stirs the subconcious mind. You may not pay too much attention to the ads served everytime you create a new pageview, but subconciously, the ad, or brand associated with the ad, became lodged in your subconcious. It is part of brand recognition … and brand building.
Unlike major portals, Like Yahoo!, where heavy percentages of the page views come from E mail and the home page, MySpace page views are spread across millions of mini sites (profile pages), which challenges traditional “advertising” strategy. That’s the opportunity / challenge I’m trying to address. Forget about banner ads. What can companies do to engage in a social network to build brand and drive sales? And is the social network more or less fertile than traditional “advertsing” channels? That’s what I want to discover.
[...] Why does Myspace work? - Sports Marketing 2.0 | Pat Coyle I’ve been reading a lot of theories lately about why Myspace has been so successful. Despite some ugly graphics, and JUST OK technology, MySpace drives more page views than any other site. (tags: pageview myspace social-networking) [...]
Myspace works because people just want to be loved. They can create a new image, a new person, a new life on Myspace. It also helps that it is a popular site with a whole lot of great content
How many Colts fans do you think that are in the world? not that many from my point of view, but if you find a theme that can bring more and more users then you will probably have a successful business.