Petit déjeuner Club Télécom – Le Web 2.0 et les réseaux sociaux au service de l’entreprise avec Solofo RAFENO, CEO & Founder de Beezbox
Wednesday 21st January 2009  

Qu’est-ce-que l’Entreprise 2.0? En quoi les outils communautaires en ligne peuvent-ils améliorer la relation avec les partenaires internes, externes, et avec les clients? En quoi consistent ces outils? Représentent-ils un enjeux pour attirer les meilleurs employés de demain?

Solofo RAFENO, CEO & Founder de Beezbox, nous propose de faire une point sur ce nouveau modèle économique de l’internet et de la téléphonie mobile.

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It’s 2009…. Yiha! I was reading Matthew Schwartz article on Biznik and I found his points quite interesting to share. He probably might be selling more audience to Ning and Scribd, but trust me he sure brought out useful information… read along.

Social Media Networking continues to grow as a primary way to find niche audiences. And as it grows, so does our understanding of its potential to identify and cultivate customers. In 2009, established sites like FaceBook and Twitter will continue to grow. But there are also a couple of hidden gems that have the potential to be great traffic drivers and customer cultivation sites.

Though Ning was founded in 2004, it hasn’t received the publicity of its (often younger) peers. Ning powers the largest number of social networks on the internet. It is a highly customizable platform, which allows developers to add any number of social media tools to their site. And while it may not be practical for all small business owners to invest in the creation of a Ning site, it is a gold mine of connectivity. There are communities of creatives, moms, athletes, techies, spiritualists, authors, students, educators, parents…the list goes on and on.

And as each Ning community is created around a specialized area of interest, chances are great that there is a community that contains members of your target audience. By joining and becoming an active member of a niche site, you can cultivate customers in a highly selective way. In addition to blogging, members can join specialized groups, host events, offer specials, and build networks. The traffic that results from relationships on Ning sites is more likely to result in customer conversions, due to your ability to put your product or service directly in front of people who will value it.

Scribd is a social publishing site that was founded less than two years ago. Since that time, it has built a readership of more than 50 million people with 50,000 documents uploaded daily. Members upload any kind of written material from full novels to presentations. Its social networking components include specialized groups, discussion formats and networking. Readers can search and subscribe to various publications and publishers.

 The volume of traffic on this site make it almost irresistible for marketing purposes, combine that with the ease of uploading existing marketing materials and it is a no-brainer. Chances are great that you already have some of this information in place, so why not put it to use? Once you have uploaded standard materials, set a goal of offering original content on a regular basis. The critical component is that it must be useful or interesting to the members of the site. In so doing, you are contributing in a helpful way to the body of general knowledge, which makes you more than just a push marketer.

Explore existing publishing groups to determine if there is a logical fit for your business. Joining groups is a great way to build connections quickly, as is commenting on other publications and joining in on discussions. Build a network of connections on this site as you would on others.

Using Scribd and/or Ning in conjunction with standard sites like FaceBook and Twitter will give you an edge in cultivating new customers. Dependent upon your company’s needs, one might be a better choice than the other, but both are excellent places to market your products and services in the coming year.