Mediaboss Marketing

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

University of Utah researcher Xiao Fang and his colleagues were faced with a mystery: What factors have fueled the explosive growth of Facebook and other social networking sites over the past two years?

On October 4, Facebook reported it had topped 1 billion users, while runners-up Google+ and LinkedIn cleared 400 million and 175 million accounts, respectively. For the worlds most popular social network, Facebook, the past two years have seen user totals more than double.

Still, while retailers, game designers and marketing and sales executives salivate over the business potential of the burgeoning, worldwide social media space, no one has been able to decipher this phenomenons DNA. Even more of an enigma, Fang said of the revelations contained in a new paper he co-authored along with fellow Information Systems instructors Paul Hu and Weiyu Tsai and doctoral student Lionel Li, is how acceptance of opinions or products on one social media site spreads to another.

This social contagion is the fundamental feature driving the new dynamic for business marketing and sales, and for the democratic ideal of the public forum, Fang explained, citing the recent ability of freedom fighters to spread political messages and defeat regime media controls during the Arab Spring.

The paper, Predicting Adoption Probabilities in Social Networks -- accepted for future publication in the Information Systems Research Journal -- not only explores factors behind social media users choices in products and opinions, but proposes a novel and highly effective method to predict future adoption probabilities for individuals who remain undecided, Fang added.

The novelty of the proposed method lies in its consideration of a more complete set of factors driving adoption decision in a social network, Fang explained. Traditional methods focus on the factor of peer influence for adoption prediction. Our proposed method seamlessly integrates a more comprehensive set of factors, including peer influence, profile similarity between individuals -- such as similarities in age, gender, or taste, and the structural position of an individual in a social network -- for predicting adoption probabilities.

Such theoretical and analytical tools could revolutionize social network-based targeted marketing, bolster viral marketing techniques to better overlap numerous social networks, and give teeth to product demand predictions within specific social networking groups.

So informed, firms could predict the expected number of adopters in the next time period, allowing them to gauge whether an offering is likely to go viral, Fang said. If the offering is likely to go viral, the firm could act proactively to leverage it with appropriate marketing strategies, such as product bundling or cross-selling.

The paper used data from two large but otherwise unidentified social networks, in one case incorporating nearly 15 million records and tens of thousands of users over a one-year period. From that information, Fang created 52 snap shots of client adoption trends and interactions from which, along with other findings, he used to extrapolate his findings.

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New Study Explores Mysteries of Social Media Growth

Fifteen years ago, we could hardly gauge the benefits of professional/social networking platforms, though the Internet and e-mail already existed. People's understanding and usage of technology and the Internet have evolved over the years. And although it looks like we have come a long way, the rate of development indicates that innovations in social networking are just getting started.

Present Scenario

Professional social networking is the order of the day, and nobody can defy its benefits any longer. We all know that the trend setters in this domain include LinkedIn Corporation ( LNKD ) and Facebook Inc. ( FB ). However, other companies like Ning are coming up fast and helping people socialize on the net.

Though online networking is at a nascent stage, these new players have realized the potential of this business and are coming up with innovative and customized solutions to grab a major share of the market.

"Netizens" have started understanding the dynamics of an online network, either professional or personal. Again, corporate and business houses are trying to make a foray into this business as they have realized that the end users are evolving every day and are increasingly adopting the social network sites.

Headhunters have been able to use the professional networking platform to look for suitable candidates for job openings. A case in point would be networking company XING's new collaboration with a career website Kariyer.net. The companies will be using special software that automatically matches job postings published at Kariyer.net with XING members irrespective of the fact that job searchers may be active or passive in their approach. This is attracting HR professionals as they are getting a readymade database of candidates.

Growth Potential

According to the latest available data from the Internet research site eMarketer.com, as of December 2011, more than 1.2 billion people worldwide used social/professional networking sites with a frequency of at least 1 hit per month. eMarketer.com expects 1.5 billion Internet users by the end of 2012.

The research suggests that although the segment witnessed the highest growth of 23.0% in 2011, the growth rate may be expected to moderate over the next few years. However, the growth rate is estimated to remain in the double digits.

Growth in the Internet networking business is expected to come largely from Facebook's expansion (although it is barred in China), which is expected to exceed the billion-user mark by the end of 2013.Facebook grew 44% in 2011, but the growth rate is projected to drop to 13.9% in 2014.

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Online Networking, Present & Future - Analyst Blog

SALT LAKE CITY, UT--(Marketwire - Nov 13, 2012) - Today Mazree (www.mazree.com) launched as the first business-to-business (B2B) social network for supply chain and business collaboration, connecting buying and selling organizations. Mazree's robust social networking features facilitate collaboration and communication between business buyers and business suppliers. Unlike other social networks used by businesses, Mazree was designed to connect companies with companies, not individuals to individuals.

Mazree is beginning its roll-out within the healthcare market. Intermountain Healthcare, the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West and the largest company in Utah, has signed on as the first adopter of the Mazree network. Intermountain Healthcare will use the Mazree network to connect directly with its 5,000+ suppliers in the healthcare industry. Other target markets for Mazree's initial introduction include construction and manufacturing.

"By combining social networking capabilities with impressive B2B tools, Mazree fills a big gap for B2B companies," said Brent T. Johnson, Chief Purchasing Officer at Intermountain Healthcare. "At Intermountain Healthcare, Mazree will be used as a tool to better collaborate with our suppliers and peers, to keep contact and company information up-to-date, and to simplify many of our sourcing events. By utilizing Mazree we will improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of our relationships with our suppliers and peers."

Johnson continued, "The healthcare supply chain has many participants that don't communicate or collaborate very effectively. It's a complex and costly supply chain. Mazree is a tool that has great potential to add significant value to the healthcare supply chain. I highly recommend that all healthcare suppliers and peers join Mazree. Imagine the value for healthcare to have one network where the entire industry is participating! We can improve industry collaboration, keep up-to-date with key company information, and together build a more efficient healthcare supply chain."

By providing one place for company information sharing, relationship management and buyer-supplier collaboration, Mazree simplifies the labor-intensive tasks of searching for, connecting with and conducting business with multiple buyers and suppliers. For example, supply chain managers at large companies often need to deal with hundreds or thousands of suppliers, each with their own sales and supply chain contacts. Finding the right person and keeping up to date on contact information can cost a company thousands in lost productivity. Mazree also simplifies the request for proposal process by providing a simple platform to request, sort, and review bids in a standard format.

"As enterprise social software matures, companies are looking to include external constituents (customers, partners and suppliers) into workflow processes," says Vanessa Thompson, research manager of IDC's Enterprise Social Networks and Collaborative Technologies. "With supplier networks being some of the oldest business social networks, solutions that provide secure collaboration and surface content in the context of workflow help build efficiency and productivity into the workflow process," says Thompson.

Mazree bridges the gap between essential supply-chain business needs and social platforms by combining the two worlds, improving the efficiency of the buyer-supplier relationship, and reducing the cost of purchasing goods, services and sales.

"Until now, there has not existed one true company-to-company social collaboration service," said Curtis McEntire, founder and CEO of Mazree. "There are websites and social networks that contain aspects of what Mazree provides, but none of them were built specifically to solve major issues and deficiencies that have existed for too long in supply chain communications. Mazree is the missing social link, helping B2B organizations to leverage a completely new way to improve collaboration, increase sales, and reduce costs."

Mazree's features include:

1. Company Showcase. Mazree provides users the ability to create company profiles, search for and connect with other companies, users, products and services, share news and information, and rate and review other companies.

Read more here:
Mazree Launches B2B Network to Make Supply Chain Social

NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

http://www.reportlinker.com/p01029513/Social-Media-in-Retail-Banking.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=e-Commerce

Synopsis

Social media interactions provide banks with a platform to reach out to their customers and deal with issues in real time, which increases both the quality of their service and the levels of consumer trust. With banks now able to track each customer relationship through social media analytics, social media data can be integrated into a broader customer intelligence strategy to help banks gain a customer centric understanding of their products, services and brand as a whole. This report covers the usage of social media in retail banking in various countries across the globe. It provides information on social media penetration globally, as well as social media usage by various banks in different countries. It also covers the technological advancements which enhance social media in the retail banking system. The report also features key developments in social media in developing markets such as China and India.

Summary

Social media is a potential channel for managing effective customer relationship management for retail banks. The adoption and use of digital channels, such as mobile phones and social media, has grown rapidly over the last decade. To reduce their cost of operations, they are adopting social media to market their products and services. This trend is accelerating the adoption rate of social media marketing by retail banks across the globe.

Scope

This report will allow you: To understand the future potential of social media in retail banking. To understand the usage of social media by retail banks in developed countries and developing countries. Gain insight into the key technology developments for social media management for managing effective customer relationship management. To analyze social media trends globally.

Reasons To Buy

Provides detailed analysis on social media in retail banking globally. There is a special emphasis on the opportunities available in emerging markets. The report also focuses on various social media management tools to automate social media usage in various organizations in the global market. Provides in-depth analysis of challenges faced by the retail banking system in the adoption of social media.

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Social Media in Retail Banking

Fifteen years ago, we could hardly gauge the benefits of professional/social networking platforms, though the Internet and e-mail already existed. Peoples understanding and usage of technology and the Internet have evolved over the years. And although it looks like we have come a long way, the rate of development indicates that innovations in social networking are just getting started.

Present Scenario

Professional social networking is the order of the day, and nobody can defy its benefits any longer. We all know that the trend setters in this domain include LinkedIn Corporation (LNKD) and Facebook Inc. (FB). However, other companies like Ning are coming up fast and helping people socialize on the net.

Though online networking is at a nascent stage, these new players have realized the potential of this business and are coming up with innovative and customized solutions to grab a major share of the market.

"Netizens" have started understanding the dynamics of an online network, either professional or personal. Again, corporate and business houses are trying to make a foray into this business as they have realized that the end users are evolving every day and are increasingly adopting the social network sites.

Headhunters have been able to use the professional networking platform to look for suitable candidates for job openings. A case in point would be networking company XINGs new collaboration with a career website Kariyer.net. The companies will be using special software that automatically matches job postings published at Kariyer.net with XING members irrespective of the fact that job searchers may be active or passive in their approach. This is attracting HR professionals as they are getting a readymade database of candidates.

Growth Potential

According to the latest available data from the Internet research site eMarketer.com, as of December 2011, more than 1.2 billion people worldwide used social/professional networking sites with a frequency of at least 1 hit per month. eMarketer.com expects 1.5 billion Internet users by the end of 2012.

The research suggests that although the segment witnessed the highest growth of 23.0% in 2011, the growth rate may be expected to moderate over the next few years. However, the growth rate is estimated to remain in the double digits.

Growth in the Internet networking business is expected to come largely from Facebooks expansion (although it is barred in China), which is expected to exceed the billion-user mark by the end of 2013.Facebook grew 44% in 2011, but the growth rate is projected to drop to 13.9% in 2014.

Follow this link:
Online Networking, Present & Future