Social Media Update – March 22, 2011

Good morning. LinkedIn hit the 100 million user milestone this week just in time for their IPO later this year. The professional social networking site has been around since May of 2003, and they are now adding roughly one new member per second. Radio Shack is feeling the Foursquare blues despite offering 10-20% off purchases when customers check-in. This same story has been echoed by other retailers, as the population is slow to gravitate towards the location based deals. The technology is available, the brands are willing, but the educational piece is missing with most consumers. A new Grocer report showed that Coke cut their ad spend by 6.6% in 2010 in favor of a heartier social media investment. Coke sees the value in deepening their relationships with consumers, and launching products via social media and getting constant, real time feedback on campaigns. The company goes even further to say that the ability to break out of the on again, off again campaigns of old and engage customers more regularly is a large reason for the investment change. Enjoy.

I. LinkedIn Surpasses 100 Million Users, mashable.com, March 22, 2011
II. Radio Shack Fails to Feel the Foursquare Love, adage.com, March 21, 2011
III. Coca-Cola Cuts Ad Spend by 6.6% and Invests More in Social Media, socialmediatoday.com, March 21, 2011
_________________________
I. LinkedIn Surpasses 100 Million Users, mashable.com, March 22, 2011
http://mashable.com/2011/03/22/linkedin-surpasses-100-million-users-infographic/
LinkedIn has announced that it has finally reached a major milestone: 100 million users and counting. The company, founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, reached profitability fairly soon, and its growth has been accelerating over the last few years. It took LinkedIn six years to reach 50 million users, but it only took a year and a half for the business social network to double that number. LinkedIn hit 85 million members in October 2010 and revealed that it had more than 90 million users when it filed to go public earlier this year. LinkedIn is now adding one new member per second.

II. Radio Shack Fails to Feel the Foursquare Love, adage.com, March 21, 2011
http://adage.com/article/adagestat/discount-offer-radio-shack-scores-low-check-ins/149510/
While SXSW was in full-swing — and making the transition from interactive to music — Starbucks had turned 40 and the iPad 2.0 was out in the world. It could have been a big let-down week for check-ins, especially as Starbucks had nearly crested 200,000 the previous week. But things were actually up in most corners of our check-in chart. One retailer who isn’t feeling the check-in love, however, is Radio Shack. Despite offering 10% discounts to anyone who makes a purchase in the store — 20% if it’s your first check-in at the location — the electronics retailer posted a mere 881 check-ins for the week. The peak for any given day was just 166.

III. Coca-Cola Cuts Ad Spend by 6.6% and Invests More in Social Media, socialmediatoday.com, March 21, 2011
http://bit.ly/gJzxqv
The Grocer recently published its Top 100 advertisers report and showed that Coca-Cola cut ad spend by 6.6% in 2010 and invested more in social media. A spokeswoman at Coca-Cola said that while TV is still an important medium from promoting their brands,”many of our recent advertising campaigns and promotions have also utilized online facilities such as Facebook and YouTube more”.