1. Creating social networking site
DigiGen 2009 Workshop
Part 3
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Gregory.birge@f5dc.com +65 9111 6849

2. AGENDA
0900 – 0930 : Introduction
0930 – 1030 : Current social networking market Place
1030 – 1100 : BREAK
1100 – 1200 : Optimizing Audience Engagement
1200 – 1300 : LUNCH
1300 – 1400 : Revenue generation, goals
1400 – 1430 : Legal aspects
1430 – 1500 : BREAK
1500 – 1600 : Future Trend

3. Quick reminder : Why doing it ?
 New, trendy
 Adapted medium – audience
 Additional way to talk to your
audience
 Engagement program
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4. Step 1 : Quick decision metrics
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5. Wedding between 3 parties
Today Tomorrow
Brand Brand
SNW
SNW
Consumer Consumer
 Consumer evolve over time
 What do you do to catch up ?
 How to avoid divorce
 Don’t wait to find the perfect wife
 Launch it and adapt
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6. What needs to change ?
 Content
 Way to access it
 Design
 Engagement method
 Style
 Include new features…
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7. Focus points, first impression
Technology : 7%
Navigation : 12%
 Links relevant
Design : 18%  Easy
 Taste audience  Help
 Support only  Contact
 Internet friendly  TsCs
Content : 64%  Speed
 Sitemap
 Targeted
 Relevant
 Updated
 Accurate
 easy to find
Data source from http://www.contentmanager.net/magazine/article_1082_success_website.html
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8. Use a Web Funnel
 Generate traffic
 Bring people to your own site
 Convert
 Increase sales
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9. Great tools exists, just ask , be aware
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10. Warnings
 The idea might be simple
 Time – Quality – Money
 Changes
 Modifications
 Updates
 Content
 Next steps
 The first step is the easiest
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11. Why monetize?
In Second Life the
• Facebook, Skype and why • High operations cost
virtual currency a
YouTube were not
planned to bring in cash • understandable that the
• Facebook: $200 million user can obtain
per year for server
from the beginning users received the
monetization attempts
maintenance and throughout his or
electricity
with a bit of distrust and
annoyance
hers experience
is transferable in
Initial But real life currency
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12. Monetizing from Social Websites

13. WWW.F5DC.COM

14. How to make money ?
Be clear to your audience
Same old school Share part of it Sell it !
Smile
 Banners y bad  Localize / adapt part of it  Get enough traffic
 Advertising  Include dedicated offer  Regular members - visitors
 Subscription model  Data mining
 Special offers
 Affiliate
 Merchandising
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15. You do not need direct sales impact
Visibility Action Sales engagement
But you need to be able to measure it
 Indirect sales impact
 Online sales
 Generate brand visibility
 Generate communication
 Generate engagement
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16. Success keys
Planning site Maintenance
 Very clear objectives and stick to it  Updates
 Technical background  Focus
 Content  Google Analytics
 Design  Fine tuning
 Flow  Keep it alive
 SEO
 Communication
 Partners
 Planning
 Do not aim100% perfection
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17. Study case
 Dedicated Community
 Singapore & F1
 Created 2008
 33 000 visits
 150 000 pages views
 350 members
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18. THANKS
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Gregory.birge@f5dc.com +65 9111 6849

19. What went wrong with
 Beginning: Finding "lost" friends was a fun game but it was not meant to last
 As it evolved, people did new things with it. myspace.com allow users freedom to
create.
 Was launched in 2002 when economy was slow and many web-minded 20-
somethings slacking at work
 Was seen as a dating site
 server slowness discourage members to log in regularly
 Did not grow with users, restricted its users notably Fakesters and those with more
creative non-photorealistic profiles
 Did not try to understand its users
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20. Background Info
 Set up in
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21. Case Study: Why F1GPSG did not get
the ‘hoo-ha’ that was expected?
Relating to the success factors of social networking website, f1gpsg.com did
achieve
 - Content: Yes. Updated news on F1, relevant and informative details on
Singapore Grand Prix during the race season. Clear text, images and links.
 - Design: Yes, pretty cool and stylish.
 - Navigation: Not really, gets pretty confusing on 1st visit. There’s no
presence of directed surf/exploration routing.
 - Community: f1 fans scattered but exists. Where do f1 fans in Singapore
gather before Singapore Grand Prix?
 - Technology: forum based, stable but has yet to establish other more
interactive applications.
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22. Contrast with the Steps of setting a social
networking website
" Failed to capture good 1st impression
" Didn’t entice members to refer others
" No objectives for members to make repeat visits. Current member size is <400. Regular contests are set up
but only a couple of active members are participating. No value add for passive members
" Blocked out intrusive advertising.
" Did not source out existing f1 fan base and tap from them
" Lacked entertainment, only forums to let them express their opinions but lacked visual and audio stimulation.
" Invited the right people. Start from outside circle and still remain outside. Where is the core?
" keep it small and private
" viewed members as advisors to the community
" Social glue is missing after race season
" Managed in sporadic functions; lacked control and planning
" Focus on building the portal this year on, with goals and objectives set across and resources allocated.
" Rewards and reciprocity; but doesn’t encourage community building
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23. Recommendations
 Create a purpose. If forum is the core activity, it should be
positioned at a ‘eye-catching’ location.
 Currently, the ‘forum’ link is hidden under ‘community’ tab
 Create a logical navigation flow. Current site is too ‘haphazard’
& ‘crowded” & confusing, 1st time user is ‘lost’
 Statistics doesn’t reflect well on the site, affect visitor’s
judgment.
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24.  Design & layout of site is not visually appealing (maybe
a bigger font size)
 Element of ‘Personality’ is missing. Other than posts by
members, the site seems to be merely ‘copy & paste’
or feeds from other site. Can have a section on
f1gpsg activities.
 Assess the needs of functions such as inbox, search,
member list, user groups as they are not optimized.
 Gallery should be organized.
 Pre-requisites for downloads should be made known.
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25. THANKS
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Gregory.birge@f5dc.com +65 9111 6849

26. API based sales
 eBay allows members to trade on their own sites rather than forcing
them to set up their stores on eBay. Their revenues increased by 86%.
 40% of Salesforce revenue comes from external sites that use their
API, not their own website.
 $490 million per quarter comes from Amazon’s API, not their site.
Virtual Worlds
 Gigaom forecasts Virtual World revenues to be $6 Billion by 2012.
Anything from Virtual goods, virtual real estate, & product placement and
endorsements can be a great source of revenue.
http://www.webgrrls.com/blog/2008/12/11/monetizing-social-mediabeyond-the-ad-model/
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27. CPC (Cost Per
Click) Campaigns
traffic personal/lifestyle blogs have
are of value to advertisers
different targeting method to
bring the best out of its
audience
Various levels of
CPM (Cost Per Impression)
“Audience Targeting”
campaigns
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28. Sponsored Philantrophic
Multi-Layered Advertising
Polls
Less intrusive Demographics Artwork
visually Targeted Guidelines &
Advertising Unintrusive
Minimum Sophistication
Required Visitors
ISP-backed Geolocation
Per Day = ZERO
Visitors Can
Comment On Ads,
Full Support and Rotate Which
System Ads Are Being Show
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