Social Networking Snapshot

Yesterday, Pew Internet published a look at social networking. The study looks at the broad demographics of social networking users as well as some trends, i.e. - most social networkers having more than one account.

Beyond the demographics, some of the interesting nuggets to me were:

• 49% of Adults with an online profile use it to "Make Plans with Friends."
• Most social network users use the sites daily (37%). This suggests that with a heavy, consistent advertising presence that the message should be changed more frequently.

Digital Fundraising

I've participated in my fair share of car washes, walkathons and even a rock-athon (not as cool as it sounds... we sat in rocking chairs). It's nice to see that digital is taking this to a whole new level. There have been several eyes looking at the American Cancer Society's SecondLife Relay for Life, but what about something more instantaneous?

Well, check out this blog that was recently written up by WOMMA! In it the marketer states that for every blog subscription, they'll donate $0.50 to their local chapter of the National MS Society... a great, easy way to have people to support your cause and drum up subscriptions. Nice thinking!

What Are You Doing Online?

Media Post published the Fall 2008 top online activities as reported through MRI.

Some things of note BESIDES their callout to the rise in video watching/downloading:

• Not so suprisingly, a rise in those seeking jobs online. Additionally, recipe sites also saw a strong lift.


• Blog visitation continues to rise-- honestly, this 11% of pop stat worries me. I'm not sure everyone knows they're going to a blog. Sure, the # isn't off by much, but I do think it's a bit soft.


• 20.5% made personal/business travel plans (up slightly)


• 19.9% of consumers obtained medical information online (again up slightly). This is a great stat to look at as most other studies ask if someone gathered health information (@ 80% of the online population does this activity), which can cover anything from dieting to researching heart disease.

Who's Tweeterific?

Want to start a Twitter profile?

This recent Mashable article highlights some hurdles in attracting Twitter followers.

For established brands not all of this is information is relevant, but the some points made in this article still apply. (1) Publish updates frequently (2) Continually engage followers (listening to feedback, responding in a relatively short period of time to questions, participating in conversations, rewarding loyal followers, etc.)

From 10 Reasons I Will Not Follow You in Return on Twitter...

1. You have no user avatar…or your user avatar is neither a personalized photograph nor reflective of a brand.

2. You list no location, no website, or no bio

3. Your “website” listed is a MySpace profile…or, far worse, an AngelFire “page.”

4. You’re following over 1,000 users, have 20 followers, and no updates

5. Your profile features any variation of “Internet expert”…or “social media expert” and you have very few and/or insubstantial updates.

6. Your updates clearly indicate that your Twitter activity is always, only, about pushing your own service/product

7. Your following and my return follow result in a poorly-constructed auto-DM reading, “Thx for the follow! How can I help you get to a 4-Hour Work Week?”

8. Your most recent updates make references to any need to achieve “more Twitter followers”
…or “enough new followers to reach 10,000 followers by midnight!”

9. Your Twitter stream indicates a propensity for consistent arguing
…with your followers/random Twitter users/really anyone.

10. You do not engage your Twitter followers

2009 CPCs Up and CPMs Flat

Happy New Year!

Let's start the year off by talking forecasts... Media Post published an article today that discusses digital spending forecasts for 2009.

Overall several media are feeling the downturn in the economy, but various interactive spend forecasts still say 2009 will remain relatively strong. This is no surprise given digital's accountability and ability to segment out the optimum audience. The medium has become even more attractive given the current climate and as a result some dollars are shifting from non-digital media to digital.

This means that where other media are able to cut deals, it is a bit of a different story when it comes to an online buy.

• Search will remain the strongest due to its ability to capture those seeking to find your product (higher demand = higher bidding).
• Display will likely see some shrinkage in demand but CPMs will remain somewhat flat.

That being said search, "which captures the lowest hanging fruit," still needs promotional media to help increase search enquiries. As such, TG Madison recommends a targeted mix of display, WOM and search tactics for many of it's clients.

So what does this mean immediately for 2009?

• Bid based campaigns will need to be monitored more closely to ensure that spend levels are adequate for the desired visibility.
• Online commitments will need to begin earlier than in previous years as inventory in certain, high profile, highly relevant areas may become tighter more quickly.
• Consumers will need to clearly see the difference between your offering and your competitors as its likely that your ads may run side-by-side (i.e. - Search).

Get ready for an interesting year, guys! Its going to be a bumpy ride!