Social Media Marketing

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c h a p t e r

11

: THE SOCIAL GRAPH

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applications that mine or otherwise tap the information exposed through the study of a

particular social graph. Michael noted applications ranging from driving participation

in online gaming— in one application, players with more than fi ve friends in the game

were signifi cantly more engaged than those with four or less—to the observation that the

spread of movie reviews is directly related to the respective graphs of the individuals who

publish reviews. All of this suggests the value of knowing, through measurement, who is

connected to whom, and how these connections can therefore be used to encourage addi-

tional connections.

In a specifi c example, Rapleaf worked with an online university to identify

opportunities to increase engagement (more direct participation in classes) and encour-

age recommendations to friends for specifi c classes (new business growth). Using

Rapleaf a program that identifi ed the friends of prospective students who were already

students themselves—all done with explicit permission—resulted in proof that a signif-

icant increase in likelihood of new student conversion (+320 percent) is associated with

“having a friend who is also a student.” This quantitative knowledge, gained through

study of the social graph, resulted in the implementation of a “bring a friend to class”

promotion (your friend gets to attend class with you for free, for one week), an online

student center where prospective students can talk with current students, and a formal

new student referral recognition program.

Rapleaf: Decoding the Social Graph

Rapleaf provides a tool set that enables understanding of how your customers are connected

and what they are interested in. You can follow Michael Hsu, with Rapleaf’s marketing team on

Twitter (@mhsu) and learn more about the firm here:

http: //rapleaf.com

I asked Michael what he saw in the near-future as regards applications of social

graph analytics and measurement tools:

“What’s becoming clear is that an experience that is more ‘social’ and con-

nected for people is an experience that is more rewarding and engaging. It’s

one where both customers and businesses win—for customers, this means

more relevance, more fun, and more meaningful activity. For businesses,

this means more activity, more repeated engagement, better retention,

faster word of mouth and faster acquisition (through all the sharing).

“What we’re really going to see is a big push from consumer-facing

companies to connect ‘friends’ into their offering. Movie/food review

sites, shopping sites, media/newspaper sites, hotels, movie studios,

Rapleaf: Decoding the Social Graph

Rapleaf provides a tool set that enables understanding of how your customers are connected

and what they are interested in. You can follow Michael Hsu, with Rapleaf’s marketing team on

Twitter (@mhsu) and learn more about the firm here:

http: //rapleaf.com