Get Tagged!

Before diving into my post below, click here for a Prezi introduction!

History

Greg Tseng and Johann Schleier-Smith created Tagged.com in October 2004 by with ambitions of “[building] a Teen Yahoo! or the next MTV.” They launched the site with about $1 million from their savings (Businessweek).

In just two months, they managed to reel $7 million in venture capital from Mayfiled Fund of Menlo Park, California. It was also in this short amount of time that Tagged.com’s traffic hit 1.6 million unique page views.

Tagged started off much like Facebook, but struggled to retain site loyalty and their identity by adding (but not gaining traction from) similar features like Facebook’s ever-popular news feed function to their social network. Growing tired of chasing after the ascent of Facebook, the founders soon made the decision to reinvent the company to help people make new relationships in a short amount of time, rather just keeping in touch with existing friends.

What kind of channel is it?

Tseng and Schleier-Smith coined Tagged as a “social discovery” channel. With 75 percent of users using Tagged to meet new people, they worked to facilitate interactions that people weren’t getting on Facebook. Their success is in part due to honing in on this differentiation and building off the idea of social discovery. 

Target audience, user numbers, and growth

Hitwise ranked Tagged as the third largest social network in the U.S. in 2011, behind Facebook and MySpace. Originally targeted at teens 13-19 years old, Tagged opened its doors to all ages to increase its range of potential users in October 2006. According to company statistics, 74 percent of users are over the age of 21, and the vast majority of users are evenly distributed between the ages of 18 to 44 (HowStuffWorks.com).

After acquiring social network hi5 in 2011, it became available in 220 countries and 18 languages, with more than 20 million monthly unique visitors, 100 million registered users and revenue exceeding $32 million (Entrepreneur). Collectively, the users form over 100 million new connections and consume over 5 billion page views per month. As shown in the screenshot below, Tagged visitors are on average on the site for about 20 minutes, with almost 16 daily page views:

Statistics from Alexa.com

In Greg Tseng’s article, How A Startup Pivots: The Tagged Story (So Far), he admits that Tagged’s growth was made possible by their pivot into the new space of social discovery. With a mission “to enable anyone to meet and socialize with new people,” they focused efforts on the core human need of meeting and socializing with new people that had been neglected online before Tagged’s existence.

What does it do?

At Tagged, businesses can use filtered search to meet others for sharing activities. In this way, it acts as a content community and businesses can use the Groups feature for common interests, social games, and a “What’s New” news feed to focus on meeting people with an “Everyone” tab, where users can see the updates and photos from anyone on Tagged, subject to their filters. Powerful recommendation algorithms back these features, deciding which 100 of 100 million users are recommended to users. 

In an effort to expand on services, Tagged acquired Digsby in 2011, allowing users to interact with social networks, webmail and instant messaging. Also realizing the key matchup in social and gaming, Tagged purchased WeGame to bolster their own gaming prowess. Both of these features make brands much more accessible, interactive, and fun.

How does it work?

Accessing Tagged can happen one of two ways: going to the website directly and registering for a free account, or by receiving an e-mail from someone in your contact list inviting you to join Tagged so you can see a friend's newly uploaded Tagged photo album.

After finishing the registration process, the user is brought to an interface similar to Myspace to fill out a personalized, public profile with a picture of himself or herself. Once that’s complete, they can begin using the following features:

• A journal which serves as a blog,
• Sending bulletins to friends,
• Games such as poker,
• Watching videos,
• Collecting "pets" (other users on the site) 

Businesses can network by sending invitations to other users based on information in their profiles. There is an opportunity to leave comments, wink, or offer Tagged "luv" as a sign of interest or promote new products and services.

For $20/month, a brand/business could upgrade to a VIP account, letting them see who’s viewing their profile. They can have access to more features by earning virtual "gold" for completing certain actions (such as answering a marketing survey), and then using that gold to buy digital gifts for their new friends. This informal engagement with friends will make for plenty of evangelists for your brand.

Integration with other social channels - It's mobile-friendly!

Since Tagged fought so hard to distinguish itself as a viable social network, there is no integration with other social channels outside of its recruiting email. This does not mean that a business cannot create an automated post or tweet mentioning how the user is interacting with the company on Tagged. The post/tweet uploads itself upon user registration if the user registers with Facebook or Twitter. 80 percent of Tagged members also use Facebook as an alternative service, so there is a good chance of a company “shout-out.” There was once hope that this overlap would allow for the two to grow in tandem, but Facebook simply overhauled the market share. 

Increasing mobile connectivity options and offerings for Tagged users was a major priority in 2011, and led to Tagged launching a new mobile website at http://m.tagged.com, and creating an Android app that further complimented Tagged products and services for consumers to meet new people on the Internet. This suite of mobile Tagged products lets users handle some essential features like friending and sending messages, as well as location-based, real-time chat, a redesigned user profile presentation, and a grid view for friends. Brands will now be accessible via mobile when the app is used.

In Kim-Mai Cutler’s article, Tagged Adds Some Great Features to its Mobile App, I found that Tagged’s usage leans more toward the mobile web and Android than the iPhone. Forty-six percent access the site through the web, 32 percent through Android and 28 percent through an iPhone, with some people using more than one method.

From a business perspective, Tagged profiles also offer more customization and allow users to engage in more personal and open behavior. This makes it a bit harder for a big corporate brand to break in, but it gives small personal businesses like personal trainers, media personalities, photographers, cosmetologists, and other businesses a place where the personality of the owner can contribute to the bottom line.

Sources:

Armstrong, M. 11 July 2011. “Tagged Adds Some Great Features to its Mobile App.” Mario Armstrong: TV Host, Digital Lifestyle Expert, & Entrepreneur. Retrieved 1 July 2014.

http://www.marioarmstrong.com/2011/11/07/tagged-adds-some-great-features-to-its-mobile-app/

Arrington, M. 19 Apr 2011. “Tagged Buys Popular Social/Instant Messaging Client Digsby.” Tech Crunch. Retrieved 28 June 2014. 

http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/19/tagged-buys-popular-socialinstant-messaging-client-digsby/

Chandler, N. (No Date). “How Tagged Works.” HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 28 June 2014. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/tagged.htm

Cutler, K. 13 April 2011. “Social Network Tagged Adds Mobile Website, Touches Up Android, iOS Apps.” Inside Mobile Apps. Retrieved 1 July 2014. http://www.insidemobileapps.com/2011/04/13/social-network-tagged-adds-mobile-website-touches-up-android-ios-apps/

Hempel, J. and Lowry, T. 26 Feb 2006. “Who Says Money Can’t Buy Hipness?” Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-02-26/who-says-money-cant-buy-hipness

Tseng, G. 3 Jan 2011. “How a Startup Pivots: The Tagged Story (So Far).” Tech Crunch. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/03/how-a-startup-pivots-the-tagged-story-so-far/

Wang, J. 20 Oct 2011. “How Tagged Made a Turnaround for Growth.” Entrepreneur. Retrieved 28 June 2014. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220449  

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"Carpe Cerevisi!" with Pintley

I'm a big fan of beer. Wait, let me rephrase - I'm a big fan of well crafted beer. I may have alluded to this before, but there's no harm in a reminder. This week in class, we covered industry-specific social networks, so imagine my delight to find an existing platform like "Pintley!" If you've never heard of it, it's a peer-to-peer network about craft beer.

The Boston-based beer website came to fruition in 2008 after co-founder Tim Noetzel spent time abroad immersed in European beer culture. The platform went public in 2010, targeting the beer lovers of the world by providing a space for users to write reviews and share recommendations. Pintley is also a tool of discovery - learning your tastes, suggesting other beers you'll love, and evolving your taste profile as you supply more information from your drinking experience. 

My Pintley Profile and Beer Recommendations

It's simplistic in appearance and only provides a numerical description. This is especially helpful for those who know little about varying brewing styles, hops, and tasting notes. Pintley clearly relays to consumers, "This, according to a lot of people, tastes good." 

Seems easy enough, right? What's more, its registration process is just as basic. You sign up with an email address or link it to your Facebook profile, log in and start rating beers. Pintley is an important platform mainly for its efforts to change how beer is marketed and sold, by leveraging both small craft brewers, established breweries, and well-known companies like Samuel Adams. On this platform, smaller brands are on the same playing field with big companies. The market share is spread more evenly. 

Overall, I think Pintley has their work cut out for them. There are a number of other similar beer sites and applications with information on local breweries that provide opportunities for discovery, recommendations and social features. On the other hand, Pintley is different from the rest, with its ambitious goal of creating "brand evangelists" who assist brewers build word-of-mouth marketing campaigns. I have a good feeling that if they can get more paying brewing companies to participate, there's a better chance of them standing out from the other players.  

We also talked about proximity marketing this week, and how marketers promote brands to highly targeted, on-location audiences via mobile device. The Pintley staff found a way to cater to consumers demanding products tailored to their tastes with a mobile application. Within the element of proximity marketing, they bring their online network to real-world settings by inviting users to rare beer events, like craft beer launch parties and free local tastings in major cities across the country. Their efforts create a win-win-win for the drinker, brewer, and bar. 

Pintley is much more than a consumer app. It's a content community. Its mobile application features a newsfeed, a Notes section where users can comment on beers and see what friends think, and a forum in which users can discuss any beer-related topic. While the app creates the possibility of consumers helping craft brewers with future product development, shareable social sites like Facebook and Twitter, work well alongside this platform with its integrated marketing communications efforts.

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One Kings Lane: Are you interested in an Email Marketing Manager?

"Your home is too valuable to look like everyone else's." 

That's why customers come to One Kings Lane. At least, that's why I do. Simply, I love my home. I love the way it's an extension of my personality and my place of solace. You've helped me connect daily design inspiration with a fresh collection of select home goods, designer and vintage items I can't find anywhere else. You help me tell a story through design.  

I appreciate the way you take the time to create a rich experience for your customers and to get the word out about it via gorgeous graphics, inspiring ad campaigns, and media mentions. But I don't see as much personalization as I would like by a company of your caliber.

You've obviously nailed the concept of "luxury living," so it's time to take it to the next level. Having worked in development for the last two years, I learned the importance of building valuable lifetime customer relationships. Not all customers are created equal and investments in customers should be tailored accordingly. At One Kings Lane your email marketing strategy should reflect how you think about each customer differently to profitably grow your business. So why not provide your customer another medium in which they can flaunt their special space to friends and family? 

How Can We Do It? 
Beyond providing information about new products and sales, there is an opportunity to give customers insight on modern living room ideas, how they can create the perfect bedroom, and avoid common design mistakes. There is a group of untapped customers who wish to have designer homes, but aren't hip to the innovative concepts of interior design. You could consider covering the basics as seen in the two videos below.

How to Create the Perfect Bedroom:

5 Ways to Avoid Common Design Mistakes:

The truth of the matter is that not everyone has the ability to recognize and put together a collection of hand-picked objects that reflect one's personal style. With a few clicks, customers can very easily watch a video such as this:

 

But imagine its impact if we not only offered these how-to videos, but got personal on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and created valuable conversation with people who take time to talk about this company. With our guidance, new decorators will find ways to make subtle personal touches enhance their home interior while speaking volumes of their personality. This presents another opportunity for engagement - they'll be happy to show off their hard work to their friends and followers, and give us credit for providing the resources to do so!

So Why Me? 
I'd be perfect to work as the Email Marketing Manager at One Kings Lane because I am an analytical thinker and ready to lead programs and campaigns. My work ethic as a self-starter shows I can "take the ball and run with it," all while maintaining a positive attitude. And most importantly, I believe that your home is a reflection of yourself. I understand that "your home tells your story, what you enjoy doing, how you're feeling, and who you spend your time with." I get joy out of seeing the lightbulb "go off," when someone finally sees how furniture can be turned into a piece of art. 

Click to see my Pinterest board of inspiration and other topic ideas that I would love to implement at One Kings Lane. 

Sincerely,
Tiffani Stephenson

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