A few points of interest (for me anyway):

• MySpace is on the rise for traffic again. Great news for MySpace marketers, (60.1 million visitors in December, up from November’s 57.4 million uniques, and 55.3 million a year earlier). For the record I don’t ‘do’ MySpace but many other internet marketing writers are happy to share their findings on MySpace marketing.
• Facebook came in at #2 at (22.6 million, up from November’s $22.0 million, which is up 72 percent a year earlier).
• 2006-2007 Growth: MySpace +9%, Facebook +72%

This was interesting to think about…

While Google is #1 in web brands, Yahoo remains #2 with 113.2 million unique visitors in December. Nothing new right? But catch this: Time per person on Yahoo properties vs. Google properties: 3 hours and 5 minutes vs. 1 hour and 10 minutes.*

You’ll find more stats and research on Web 2.0 properties at the link above.

Chat soon,

Laura

* A brand is defined by Nielsen as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content.

Don’t worry if you are late to listen to the message. It seems hundreds of internet marketing trainers are just jumping in now as well – a full year since I published Stampede 2.0. And sadly, one of my favorite marketing authors is still taking the stance that Web 2.0 doesn’t exist. I do hope he’ll come around soon before his business slips into red.

If you don’t believe me (and the words I’ve been writing to you since last January), then who would you believe?

Would you listen to Bill Gates?

After all, so much of how we run our businesses, so much of what we’ve accomplished online for the last 10 years can be attributed back to Bill. There’s absolutely no denying today that the web is big, is here, is integrated into our lives – just as Bill predicted.

• comScore reported that $22 billion has been spent online during the first 44 days of the Holiday season (November 1-December 14)
• Online spending for the year (2007) is project to be over $200 billion. An increase of 20%+- every year, for the last 4 years.

Not just commerce and business. The net also has a hold on our youth.

• Future Laboratory reports that 18-24 year-olds would rather spend 15 minutes visiting social networking sites than watching the idiot box, or playing video games, or talking on their cells.

So back to big Bill.

If you’d seen the future as he saw it 12 years ago you’d be a rich man or woman today.

Perhaps as rich as Bill himself.

Who, by the way, is only months away from retirement.

Follow a leader. Heed a visionary’s words and advice.

In Bill’s January speech he shared his vision for the future, stating that advances in connectivity, high-definition video and audio will be the top driving forces for the next 10 years.

What does that mean to you if you’re not a tech company? What does that mean to a company with an online presence?

This. Give your user what they’ve come to expect from so many other online properties. No, you don’t have to be the next FaceBook to succeed, but you do need to incorporate Web 2.0 principles and strategies into your marketing.

At a gathering last night I became ‘as excited as Scoble*‘ trying to explain what OpenSocial meant to the online landscape. And yes, my personal show was complete with arms flapping, heightened voice tone, and even forgetting where I was in the point I was trying to get across.

My friends and associates (who are not geeks and many don’t even own a website) listened and watched for 5 minutes as though I had 5 heads.

Sigh.

Thankfully two entrepreneurs in the room ‘got it’ and wanted to talk more about it – making me feel not quite so ‘fringe’ and nerdy.

So let’s talk about what OpenSocial and those Scoble videos mean to you — the online entrepreneur with a well defined target market — and let’s do it in a less sensationalist manner than I displayed last night.

Then: Last year the experts stated that everyone was on MySpace. (Everyone except my immediate circle of friends and family apparently. I simply couldn’t stand the interface and all those ugly pages…) Experts said that it would take something truly drastic to draw MySpace users elsewhere.

Now: Everyone is on Facebook. Experts agree it would take something truly drastic to draw them away.

I’m going to step back from the research and disruption conversation (watch the videos* if you don’t know what that means) for the moment because I want to talk ‘concept’ in this post.

Into the Future: Google has opened up the social network API (aptly named: OpenSocial) allowing programmers to create all those fun (and even the useful) applications that we’ve come to love on Facebook but can’t always ‘carry over’ to other sites, including our own. Google has opened it up so wide that those apps will be portable to multiple Web 2.0 enabled sites.

I know the videos in the last post seemed more for the corporate level marketers, but stretch to imagine all the marketing magic possible for the solo entrepreneur.

Really think about this because it’s part and parcel of what I taught in Strategic Social Marketing. I’ve been teaching you to maximize your efforts and save time in two steps (1) research and strategize, then (2) repurpose content whenever possible.

But within (and I’m just guessing here) 6 months that strategy is going to change with web capabilities.

Portable, non-platform dependant, proprietary content.

As I taught you to repurpose your website’s RSS feed on relevant websites (dependant on your target market), so shall you be sharing your flickr photos, your videos, your affiliate datafeeds, your invite list, your product slideshows, your contact information, your url list, and more. On multiple sites. With just a click or two. (Now hold onto that thought for just a moment…)

In Search of Your Prospects

Truth: You already know that you need to be where ever your target market is.

Trouble: Your specific potential customer could be spending their time on any number of Web 2.0 properties.

Fact: You don’t have time to create a presence on all those sites. After all, you have a business to run.

(Aren’t your potential customers already all on Facebook? Sure they are, but have you found or attracted them all yet?)

“OpenSocial will facilitate the ability to create and manage – in a time-efficient manner – a consistent and cohesive presence, on multiple Web 2.0 sites. This will enable entrepreneurs and corporate bodies to reach more people with their marketing message.” –Laura Childs (November 5, 2007 – arms flapping, heightened tone implied)

As a solo entrepreneur:

1. You can have a strong presence on a number of social networking sites.
2. You won’t spend more time doing so, have to hire a social media manager, nor drive yourself bonkers doing it.

Now, aren’t you excited about what the future holds for online marketing? Social media? Web 2.0?

Do you have questions? Concerns? Leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to respond within 24 hours.

Laura

p.s. I promise you that there is more to this. More opportunity, more disruption to the social media landscape, more to talk about. This post only addresses the first upcoming concept, and the near-immediate value to small, medium and corporate business.

* Scoble’s first video on the previous post – watch minute 16:00 to 17:05 at the very least – to see the ‘bigger picture’ and to see Scoble’s eyes light up (complete with a very endearing extreme close up).

The reseach supports a similar study completed last year about this time. Last year’s study marked the beginning of my own journey into discovering where all the traffic had gone from my retail and affiliate based sites. (In fact, that statement alone reminds me to share the Boomerang Effect with you. It is the how/why data on consumer trends shopping direct from manufacturer. Perhaps tomorrow.)

Back to the comScore research. Here are a few snippets from the press release.

“…which showed that heavy U.S. visitors to social networking sites are significantly more likely than average to visit leisure-oriented retail site categories, such as music, jewelry/luxury goods/accessories, consumer electronics and apparel.”

“…exhibited a particularly high tendency to visit the more leisure-oriented retail categories…”

The Value of Studying the Research

Is this research of any value to you? It may be if you fit (a) or (b) below.

a) If you’re planning on social networking but don’t know which market is most lucrative as the final destination of your networking campaign.

b) If your current products and services are related to a leisure activity. (Investigate and analyze the dot coms who are getting the traffic and increasing profit as a result of social networking.)

Simply Another Component to Advertising and Marketing for E-Commerce

“Savvy retailers understand that e-commerce represents only one component of the incremental sales that result from online advertising efforts, and that the Internet is a powerful medium for brand-building and driving in-store sales.” -comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni

Until next time,

Laura Childs