by Pat Allen
As can be seen in preschools around the country, there are degrees of sharing. The typical child is happy to “share” a toy he has no interest in. Not a problem — enjoy! But what about the toy he’s playing with at that very moment? Ah, now that’s going to require some negotiation.
We see many forms of sharing online today, including up to where the sharing ends. For example, there’s the publisher that tweets a headline…with a link to its subscription page demanding payment in order to read more. On the other end of the spectrum are the companies that offer use of their business data via an API (application programming interface).
I’m intrigued by companies that share their data by making an API available. Here’s a quick explanation, provided by Mashery.com: “Using an application programming interface [API], companies can offer software developers a limited set of databases and software programs related to one of their products…From a business perspective, an API is a way to leverage assets you already own and increase your innovation, product development, market knowledge and revenues.”
Google (Maps), Twitter, and Amazon are some of the better known and used APIs but check out the Mashery page showing more than 100 brands offering APIs. Marketers who use Compete.com may be interested in this 2007 video in which Compete co-founder David Cancel provides background on Compete’s decision to open its API — and how the business has benefited. Join in right around the 4:00 mark.
The External Value of Sharing Usage Insights
An early April “Should Your Company Offer an API?” Mashable post prompted this post. But the intention here is to suggest that data-sharing need not be as involved as offering an API. There may be external interest in data that you may be able to share about your business, your industry or your customers. Such sharing has the potential to advance your marketing objectives.
Google is the quintessential master in demonstrating to the rest of us the value of both content and usage insights. In November, it launched Boutiques.com to provide “a personalized shopping experience that lets users create their own curated boutique or view a collection of boutiques curated by ‘taste-makers.’”
But it should have been no surprise in February when Google announced Designer Analytics, a tool that enables Boutique’s design partners to benefit from what users have been doing on the site — providing “insight into how their products are searched, shopped and loved.” Designers see the analytics when they’re logged in. At the same time, Google launched Trend Analytics to give “curious fashionistas a view into the latest, site-wide fashion trends.”
Here are a few more examples of how companies are beginning to market their business solutions by providing a peek at what can be learned from those already using their solutions. The sharing may take the form of a periodic press release, the creation and distribution of an infographic, or the launch of a data-driven Website. Note how each has the subtle effect of projecting the brand’s dominance.
- What could Fidelity Investments do with the industry’s largest participant base of 11 million 401(k) accounts besides service those accounts? Every quarter, Fidelity publishes high level data as a window into the average worker’s saving trends.
- After supporting more than 1 billion Web users’ sharing all year, AddThis, in late 2010, produced an infographic which shared its data on the content that was being shared. The infographic is too large to show here (size is something to keep in mind when you’re preparing an infographic you’re hoping that bloggers will embed). You can see it in its glory here. AddThis is just a widget and easy to overlook and take for granted. The 2010 summary provides insights that we wouldn’t otherwise have while at the same time hinting at the deep reliance on the tool.
- Mint.com collects so much customer data that in October it launched another site Mint Data. Aggregated anonymous spending data from some of Mint.com’s more than 4 million users “deliver an unprecedented real-time economic index,” according to Mint.
Using data for content marketing — have you tried it?