You Scored an Invite to Ello…What’s Next?
Independent, free, and invite-only social network Ello has been a wild topic since it opened to the public. But the question is, should businesses build a presence on the new social network? Clearly stated, Ello.co is considered to be more than a social network but social platform where users are guaranteed that their data are secured and doesn’t require real name for everyone. Most of all, this new platform is ad-free!
Introducing Ello
Paul Budnitz, an art and design entrepreneur spearheaded this networking project which was launched last August 9. Starting with only 90 users in its first month, it has an average of 31,000 sign-ups every hour since the beginning of October. While it was well hyped the last three weeks, time can tell if it will be a successful platform for most users and other businesses.
What can you expect? Frankly, it is exactly the same as the other social networking sites: you have your profile, you can modify your banner or profile image, update status, share images, and add friends. To be fair, the site is still in bet and there are still many bugs to work out and expected changes will come soon. But, Ello stands firm that social data will never be sold to corporations and advertisers for exploit.
Now, will it be good for businesses?
Marketing content should match your company brand. Ello provides the opportunity to seek a new audience by delivering excellent marketing content. And with so many new users per hour, it is a strong enough message to Facebook and Twitter that users want something more.
What it is not: Ello is not a place for status reports or white papers as it speaks to cynicism of most advertisers. By simply taking part at Ello, you actually don’t have to sell but you can share your content and capitalize on being an early adopter. By this, you can position your business as straight and bold.
Ello offers a chance for businesses to experiment content and demonstrate it to interested parties, potential customers, and other curious readers. Through Ello, you have the opportunity to showcase you company’s unique facets on this platform that is yet to be tangled with updates. It is even practising principled graphic design to a minority that Ello is pitching first before anything else.
Ello.co is a reminder for businesses to rethink the way they utilize social media in reaching customers. The extreme interest brought by this new platform to customers only shows how it affects their lives, work, and relationships. The ad-free feature doesn’t necessarily mean that businesses are not welcome in this new social network. Of course, consumers want businesses to engage with them and inviting customers to your product development via co-creation will simply reinforce your business promotion. You can make engaging conversations with your customers on topics that will involve them as well as your brand. Ways to engage your customers in the spirit of social web such as offering them services, showing them products they want and help sell products to others like them.
The rise of Ello.co will definitely help you in the context where your customers will feel that you are treating their attention and data with utmost respect.
Are you already on Ello? Let us know in the comments below and share a link to your account.
Social Media No To The Quo
