Month: March 2011

YouTube Partner Program

I am not sure how many of you know about this, but many YouTube members are actually getting paid by posting videos. YouTube launched the Partner Program in 2007 and the program was intended to reward those members who have lots of video views. YouTube partners earn money by allowing relevant advertisements to be displayed along with their videos.  A famous YouTube partner is Michelle Phan, the most famous YouTube makeup guru with over one million subscribers. The YouTube Partner Program helped her launch her own skin care line and expand her career. According to the YouTube Spokesperson, some partners are earning six figures a year just by creating videos. Currently, there are around 15,000 YouTube Partners worldwide.

Technographics

These YouTube Partners proved that being a creator in the technographics ladder can be beneficial. Technographics is a term coined by Forrester to describe the different types of social technology users. Creators are at the top of the ladder but only account for 13% of all users. Creators contribute the most in the technographics ladder and they get satisfaction from receiving a lot of feedback. With YouTube’s program, creators are able to gain monetary value for what they create.

Win-Win

YouTube’s Partner program is a win-win strategy for YouTube, members and advertisers. YouTube can gain revenue from advertisements. YouTube Partners can receive commission and are encouraged to include more advertisements with their videos. As for Advertisers, they have a better channel to reach their target audience. With such an innovative strategy, it’s no wonder YouTube is so successful.

Source: YouTube, KSLA

Facebook and Twitter are so popular that even the Pope will be joining. Next week, The Vatican will launch a Facebook page dedicated to Pope John Paul II, which is to promote the upcoming beatification taking place on May 1. The page aims to create interaction between the Pope and the public. Vatican officials see Facebook as a one stop portal for information and a great way to answer any questions the public has for the Pope.

This is what Vatican social communications representative says about social media marketing:

“A lot of our communications in the past was: I have a message. I broadcast it. TV takes it, radio takes it, newspaper takes it, and people passively receive it,” Tighe said. “With the Internet you have this possibility of getting people’s comments, getting their responses, and also of hearing their questions.”

It’s quite surprising to see even religion is starting to use social media to promote. Vatican seems to be such a Holy and traditional place that would be least expected to use social media. Even the Pope decides to use Facebook, who wouldn’t?

This allows other companies who haven’t thought of using social media for marketing to see the effect of inbound marketing and potentially create more opportunities for inbound marketing companies.

It will be interesting to see who will be joining the Pope next on Facebook. Maybe Dalai Lama?

Source: The Associated Press, Genopro.com

Japan Earthquake & Tsunami

The news were flooded with the 8.9 magnitude earthquake  and Tsunami in Japan on Friday. It is reported that there are at least 1700 dead bodies found. This has been the strongest earthquake Japan has ever experienced.

Everyone around the world is worried about their family and friends in Japan. With the help of Google and Twitter, they are able to get updated news about the disaster.

Google’s Actions

As a result of the disaster, Google immediately launched several tools that can be found on Google Crisis Response Page. The Page contains resources, maps, as well as updated news regarding the earthquake. Within the Response Page, Google launched a People Finder that allows people to type in the name of the person they want to find and to enter data about a person they found. The People Finder is available in four languages and currently there are around 69700 records.

Google has shown their corporate responsibility with this act. Although some may question the intention of Google’s action, it’s impressive that Google has stepped up to do so. Google, being a giant in search engine, does not need this act to gain better brand image. However, Google shows the power of search engines and how it is used to connect with people around the world.

Twitter’s Actions

When every disaster occurs, Twitter becomes the lifeline. During times of disaster, all telephone lines are either disrupted or too busy. As an alternative, people turn to Twitter to reach out to their loved ones. The most common hashtags these few days has been #prayforjapan, #japanquake, #tsunami.

Social media platforms have thus connected the world in a time of crisis, enabling information to be disseminated at almost an instant pace. And when the result is a person finding out that their loved ones are safe across the world,the value of social media becomes unquestionable. Once again, we learn to appreciate Google and social media.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, Computer World, AdAge

Many of us in North America are familiar with Facebook and Twitter, but how many of us know RenRen and Sina Weibo?

After the Facebook deal with Goldman Sachs failed, many investors are looking for a way to buy into the social media sector’s growth. Well, investors may have a channel now. A news article said that RenRen.com plans to list in the US this year, wanting to raise $500m.

RenRen

Because social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook are banned in China, Chinese have to look for ways to enjoy social media and Renren is one of them. RenRen.com is the largest social network in China founded in 2005 and its layout and features are very similar to Facebook. Its chat feature is very popular among its users and as of 2010, Renren has over 160 million registered users compared to Facebook’s over 500 million users. This is pretty shocking statistics considering Facebook is worldwide and founded one year before Renren.

Weibo

Another social media site copycat is Sina’s weibo. Its functionality is very similar to Twitter. It allows users to post their thoughts limited to 140 characters which is the same character limit as Twitter. Weibo is very popular among Chinese. As of 2010, Weibo has over 65 million users. One of the reasons why Weibo is so popular is because it is used by many celebrities in China. Fans are able to follow and get updates of their favorite celebrities instantly.

Know Your Target Audience

Even though Renren does not pose any threat to Facebook because Renren is only available in the Chinese language, it will be harder for Facebook to penetrate into the Chinese market if Renren does issue an IPO. Marketers have to pay attention to these trends to ensure they pick the correct channel to talk to their customers. For example, Facebook and Twitter are not ideal for companies who are focusing in the Chinese market as Chinese users won’t have access to it. Rather, marketers have to be accustomed to using Renren and Weibo to promote their brand. Companies have to be careful as to what market they want to focus because they dont’ want to spend too much resources on a channel that is not that effective.

source: Financial Times, eMarketer.com