EMBA690_Brent_William_Ph1_Ip1 Running Head: External Analysis

External Analysis William Brent EMBA690-1201A-01 Phase 1 Individual Project 1 16 January 2012 Instructor Islam Azzam

EMBA690_Brent_William_Ph1_Ip1 Two thirds of online-adults use social media platforms. While the use of popular sites such as Facebook and MySpace are used for staying in touch with current friends and family, business social networks such as LinkedIn can provide the foundation to a successful career. There are many reasons business social networks can develop. These include recruiting which can be a great asset to the business professional hoping to leverage their business contacts in order to improve their job and to gain notoriety by providing end-user reviews about places and events. FMI needs to perform an external business analysis in order to understand the attractiveness of the online-social media industry thereby defining which niche FMI is aiming to target.

Analyze the online social networking industry.

The music and entertainment industries were among the early adopters of social networking business strategy in an attempt to drive sales. It can be argued which begot which, but the degradation of the music store (or record industry) and the rise of online music industry coincide. Music groups have taken to creating sites on MySpace, iTunes, Facebook etc. because they are able to reach potential customers with relatively little overhead and greater ease. Its incredibly difficult for mainstream brick and mortar companies to fully understand and utilize social networking channels in the context of a traditional marketing program, but one thing is for certain, corporations need both an international and a local presence in social media. Starbucks Coffee Company, for example, because consumer-to-consumer networks are so dynamic, rolled out the nation's largest mobile payment program in early 2011. In less than one year there were more than 26 million mobile transactions, which roughly equates to one in four transactions

EMBA690_Brent_William_Ph1_Ip1 (Starbucks, 2012.) That being said, it is absolutely essential for FMI to be part of this new online space.

Discuss and assess the online social networking industry in terms of each of Porter's 5 forces of competition.
Supplier power is somewhat low. There are several network platform providers but they each offer a specific target market and connect people over relationships, or over shared interests; 28 percent place a relatively high value on social media as a tool to connect
with others around a hobby and interest as opposed to nine percent who are interested in looking for new friends (Smith, 2011.)

Buyer power is extremely high and evident in the consumer base. On average, users maintain about two (1.6) social networking accounts and it costs little to nothing for a customer to switch between providers. Heisenbergs uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to determine both momentum and position (of something) by means of the same measurement; this is true for new entrants into the social networking. There are countless business social networking sites (which will be examined shortly) with varying degrees of specialization. Each one is targeting a different segment of the same market Availability of substitutes Internet sites with large user bases may create a social networking component (blockbuster, amazon) Competitive Rivalry Intense competition between competing sites fueled by venture capital and speculative valuations

Assess the industry's overall attractiveness.

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Give examples of other social networking Web sites, and address how they have faired in the global marketplace.
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Identify 5 key success factors for a social networking Web site.

Pace of Innovation Attract people who want to see your messages. (It is impossible to determine both momentum and position by means of the same measurement, Heisenbergs uncertainty principle) Social media doesnt replace other marketing for instance, direct email had an opt-in conversion rate five times that of social media, in his testing. But he uses Twitter, Facebook and other social media to get people to opt in to his email list. Then he makes offers through the email list rather than directly on social media sites. use social media as a first step or one of several phases in your marketing plan Convenient

Address the long-term goals for your company's social networking Web site.
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Discuss the competitive environment of the social networking industry. Identify the overall objective of the social networking Web site (be creative, and address what type of social networking Web site your company is trying to design).
The greatest challenge Funder Mifflin Inc. faces is choosing a niche. With the ever increasing ability to access the internet and the greater amount of information reaching the internet the more focused a social networking site needs to be. Facebook is

EMBA690_Brent_William_Ph1_Ip1 a general networking site, where LinkedIn is geared toward the networking of business professionals. Yelp and foursquare are end-user review sites and the list goes on. starts with businesses recognizing the value of collecting data in this area and putting it into a

research context. This is only just beginning. Some mobile phone companies and airlines are working with academics, but the scope is still too limited to foster large-scale studies. There are numbers out there via MySpace and Facebook and so forth that offer an electronic footprint, but the companies with control of the information arent organizing it as data or dont think of it as such. The trick for researchers is to find companies with the potential to generate rich information and who have reached a level of understanding about the need for new research models

Conclusion
think of your marketing and selling process as having multiple purposes and phases. Your ROI wont come directly from putting out a sales offer on Twitter. Instead, use social media like Twitter to develop interested followers. Once they are interested enough, you entice them to visit your website or sign up for your email list, or remind them to visit your brick and mortar store. Once theyve done that, you may be positioned to sell but dont try shortcuts.

EMBA690_Brent_William_Ph1_Ip1 References

CNet (2002.) "Google inaccessible in China" September 2, 2002 at 9:40 AM. Retrieved on 14 January 2012 from http://news.cnet.com/ Grant, R. (2010). Contemporary Strategy Analysis. (7th ed.). United Kingdom: Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (Protalinski, 2011.) Facebook Breaks Privacy Laws in Germany. Retrieved on 14 January 2012 from http://www.gaj-it.com/20813/facebook-break-privacy-laws-in-germany/ Smith, A. (2011.) Why Americans use social media. Retrieved on 14 January 2012 from http://pewinternet.org