By Allison DeLeo
Recently, I attended the Social Media Week panel, “Building Social Products,” which discussed tips and tricks for making a new product appeal in the social world. Featuring speakers from three very different companies, Eventbrite, SoundCloud and Trulia, the panelists discussed how product planning has changed in the past few years, and how companies must plan for this evolution with social thinking inherent from concept to rollout.
While it was no surprise to anyone in the room, all three panelists indicated that every social product must have a presence on Facebook. It’s evident that the social community is frequently active on Facebook and vendors must incorporate this platform into their offering in order to capitalize on its massive user base and effectively socialize the product. Outside of Facebook, Pinterest – the latest social networking site – was another channel all three brands were looking to leverage. While most didn’t know the best approach yet; everyone was looking into its market potential and how best to use it.
Lastly, the panel discussed Google+ at length. Some people might argue that Google+ does not have the consumer concentration of Facebook, however, all three brands recognized the need to leverage the platform. Google changes its search order and algorithm based on conversations happening on Google+. Thus, if a brand is regularly referenced and talked about on Google+, it essentially will have a higher Google ranking … helping overall brand awareness. There is definitely something to this Google+ discussion.
Following this panel, I’ve decided to increase my presence on Google+ and see what else the platform has to offer. What about you? Are you active on the site? If so, do you have any tips to share?
*Word cloud courtesy of Sysomos.*
A little bit about me: Allison loves NCAA football, her alma mater, the University of Oregon, and getting complete connectivity and access to them 24×7.
