A new B2B social network February 10, 2009
Posted by Doug Kern in News.Tags: big lots, News, social network
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Today we announced a new service, the Inovis Social Network, that brings much of the good stuff from consumer sites to business communities and supply chains. This service helps a vendor manager track contacts and profiles across thousands of suppliers.
I know what you’re thinking. “Does the world truly need another social network?”. Well, yes. The short story is that B2B needs are a bit different than B2C.
While LinkedIn (a billion dollar site…) has become the defacto business social networking site, it doesn’t dovetail perfectly with the needs of business communities. And many of our retail and tech manufacturing clients like Big Lots were looking for a bit more and a bit less than what’s provided by LinkedIn, Facebook and the other big sites.
B2B vs B2C communities: what’s the same.
To be sure, both B2B and B2C of online social communities need some of the same stuff. (It’s not a big stretch to find similarities between an “I heart Radiohead” update and a “BigCo has changed their cross-docking process” update.)
- web access: browser-based access.
- profiles: name, email, group, location.
- attachments: uploading photos, documents.
- search: keywords to find people.
- updates: announcements for individuals or groups.
- scale: tracking hundreds or thousands of contacts.
B2B vs B2C communities: what’s different.
The main difference? B2B users need more “control” over their community, particularly over who’s in and who’s out. (Imagine if the the “friending” process in Facebook required a credit report and certification process!)
- membership: B2B needs more control over who’s in and who’s out of the network,
- integration: B2B tighter linkage to back-office systems.
- configuration: B2B needs more control over how profiles are setup.
- higher stakes: B2B has more urgency to connect with the right person. Instead of quickly finding a job reference, you’re looking for a fulfillment manager who can help unlock a transaction worth six or seven figures.
- churn: B2B email address changes happens naturally with employee turnover. But address churn greatly increases as markets grow OR contract, as new employees are added or laid-off.
What do you think? How will B2B social networks evolve?
