Starbucks took a different route with its proprietary community, My Starbucks Idea. Launched on the Force.com platform (@ForceDotCom), the site allows FANS and CUSTOMERS of Starbucks to contribute product, experience, and involvement ideas for the brand. It is a prime example of how the passion of FANS can be harnessed to benefit everyone.
11. Qzone. Qzone (qzone.qq.com) is a social networking service launched in China in 2005. At the end of 2012, the service had approximately 603 million MAU (Monthly Active Users), and it benefits from being a part of parent company Tencent’s suite of Internet services.8 In light of its size, it is a place to engage SEEKERS, AMPLIFIERS, and JOINERS of all types.
12. Reddit. Reddit is the self-proclaimed “front page of the Internet,” a place where users post stories and vote them up to greater visibility or down to obscurity. According to the Pew Research Center, about 6 percent of U.S. Internet users use the service—but those 6 percent help Reddit drive stories to far greater visibility across the entire Web.9 As such, Reddit is a place to capture SEEKERS and inspire AMPLIFIERS. But beware: The amplification is not always positive in nature.
13. Renren. Renren (renren.com) is “the Facebook of China.” Accordingly, it is a place to attract SEEKERS, inspire AMPLIFIERS, and build FANS. As of May 2013, it had approximately 200 million users.10
14. Sina Weibo. Sina Weibo is a Chinese hybrid of Facebook and Twitter. As of early 2013, it is the fifth most popular social network worldwide with over 503 million users.11 Due to its hybrid nature, it is a place to engage SEEKERS, AMPLIFIERS, and JOINERS of all types.
15. Spotify, Turntable.fm, and Last.fm. Spotify (@Spotify), Turntable.fm (@turntablefm), and Last.fm (@lastfm) are all streaming music services that allow you to reach LISTENERS and, in some cases, build SUBSCRIBERS for the music you curate. Some offer advertising opportunities, and they can also be used in interesting ways to express the style of brands willing to curate their own channels.
16. StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon (@StumbleUpon) is a content discovery service that introduces SEEKERS to images, videos, and other material that may be of interest based on their profile or just random luck. The site allows users to like or dislike content as well as comment and share. As such, it can be a place to attract SEEKERS and AMPLIFIERS.
17. VKontakte. (RUSSIA). VKontakte.ru is Russia’s leading social network with approximately 47 million daily users as of May 2013. It is largely a Facebook clone, so it creates opportunities to engage SEEKERS, build FANS, and inspire AMPLIFIERS.12
18. Vimeo. Vimeo (@Vimeo) is a video-sharing website akin to YouTube, except with more professional content and less advertising. As of May 2013, about 70 million unique people visited the site each month.13 It is a potentially useful channel for brands looking for broader distribution of video content to SEEKERS, AMPLIFIERS, and SUBSCRIBERS.
19. Vine. Vine is Twitter’s six-second video creation and sharing app. Launched in January 2013, the service surpassed Instagram as the most shared visual app on Twitter in June 2013 . . . only to be overtaken by Instagram again when that service added 15-second video creation capabilities.14 Vine lets you build SUBSCRIBERS and AMPLIFIERS as well as capture SEEKERS who see your videos anywhere they are shared or embedded. As with Instagram, Vine is a great way to provide behind-the-scenes or other unique, short-form content to your proprietary audiences.
20. Yelp. Yelp (@Yelp) is the de facto top site for consumer reviews and recommendations of restaurants, stores, nightlife, and entertainment. It attracts SEEKERS looking for things to do; however, your only way to attract them is by providing great products and services that prompt CUSTOMERS to review your offerings on Yelp’s website or mobile app. Thus, if you’re confident in your products and services, you should encourage CUSTOMERS to use Yelp. But beware: Negative reviews are a fact of life on Yelp and are not edited or moderated except in extreme circumstances.
For even more proprietary audience channels that may be useful to your company, visit www.AudiencePro.com. For now, however, it’s time that we turn our attention to getting your proprietary audience house in order.
1. Steven Millward, “These Two Graphs Show Painful Drops for Google and Baidu in China Search Engine Market,” Tech In Asia, July 4, 2013, www.techinasia.com/china-baidu-qihoo-google-search-market-share-war/.
2. Ryan Tate, “Bebo’s $849M Implosion Teaches a Brutal Lesson in Social Networking,” Wired, July 2, 2013, www.wired.com/business/2013/07/bebo-lesson/.
3. Ricardo Bilton, “After a $41M Loan, Foursquare Still Needs to Prove It’s an Actual Business,” VentureBeat, April 11, 2013, http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/11/foursquares-quest-for-legitimacy/.