Telegraaf.nl and its social media experience

Telegraaf.nl works together with social networks. Setting-up and preparation within the organization is neccessary for such operation. Read about the benefits for the newspaper company and what can be learnt from such an initiative.

Lara Ankersmit, Publisher Online Media, Telegraaf Media, Netherlands, spoke spoke during the the second session of WAN’s Readership Conference in Amsterdam in October 16-17, 2008 about Telegraaf’s experience within partnership with social network Hyves.nl

Social media means people having conversation and interactions. Hyves.nl is the most popular social network in Netherlands (similar to Myspace.com), and “Telegraaf” managed to partner with it. Whilst social networking is mostly about sharing thoughts, blogging and interactions, the “Telegraaf” in that case helped create a content for Hyves.

2 cooperations of “Telegraaf” with Hyves (online games) proved to be a success.

1. Euro 2008, a fantasy football game, which was hosted on Hyves had almost 170.000 participants. It was a poll game where users where predicting which country would win the Euro 2008 Championships. Editorials from Telegraaf were connected with Hyves. Users of Hyves had a possibility to choose their friends in their social network and play the game with them. The game brought a lot conversation about sports.
2. Olympic games in Beijing. Again, editorial stuff from the sport section provided Hyves with content. The journalist who blogged from Beijing was also published within the game’s webpage.

The main results from the games were:

• 170,000 registrations (only 40,000 from “Telegraaf” site)
• Almost 45% of players joined the game because of the recommendation from a friend on the social site.

Such projects appear to be a strong value for advertisers:

• strong branding based on the sport event
• combined with editorial authority
• more than 170.000 registrations with email addresses
• branded content with links and widgets

What “Telegraaf” had to organize:

• Special blog from Beijing
• Journalists from A’dam produced content for Hyves
• In China access to olympic games at Hyves
• Partnership with Hyves
• Open social technique (finding a programmer)
• email newsletters

What “Telegraaf” learned:

• viral marketing works (send-to-a-friend gadget)
• for sponsors, first see, than believe
• As a newssite Telegraaf can provide social network with content
• Big (sport) events are the perfect vehicle (but also bring a lot of competition)

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