Why are social networking sites successful? Unsuccessful?

• Goals– Ability to stick to them

• Needs/wants of user’s– Making adjustments

• Secure• Large user base

How do the social networking sites intend to make money?

Venture Capital

• Firms provide startup financing• Assume investment will pay off with IPO• Facebook– $27.5 million investments

Advertising

• Pay social network to display their ads• More people view ads on popular sites• Twitter Posts• Facebook– Moves ads from sidebar to newsfeed – More likely to notice / interact– “Likes”

Entertainment

• Zynga– Purchase virtual goods with actual money– 30% of revenues to Facebook– 12% of total revenue in 2011– $445 million

• Facebook Gifts– Innovative way to earn money

Premium Offerings

• Offer more options in addition to free site– Premium v. Freemium– LinkedIn

• Membership fees– Match.com– Pandora

How are businesses & companies using social networks to make money or manage?

Business Facebook Applications

• New business, not marketing• Integrate and generate revenue directly from

app• Other companies pay for users– Jobster Career Networking

• Users pay for services– Lending Club

Threats and Issues

Competition

• Startup Costs• Excess of Players• Facebook• Perception of the public

Marketing

• “As Marketers Move In, Users Move Out”• Gaining Advertisers• Measuring success– “Likes”

• Ensuring the message gets across

Privacy

• User Anonymity• Identity Theft• Spamming• Malware• Corporate Espionage

Ethical Considerations

• Addiction• Filtering

Emerging Trends in Social Networking

1. Changing Corporate Culture2. Internal and external implementation

3. Mobility of Social Networking4. Outsourcing of Social Networking

CEO’s Embrace It

Corporate Benefits

Implementation Drivers

1. Employee Collaboration

2. Efficiency in locating people and resources

3. Idea Generation

Mobility

• BYOD Programs• Half of Americans use Smartphones

Outsourcing

IN CONCLUSION…