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August 31, 2006
Wow - forget the 'law of small numbers' - MySpace is totally dominating all other social networking sites, according to online research firm HitWise. Check out these numbers:
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Monthly Market Share (%) of Visits Among Top Social Networking Websites (U.S.) | |||
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Domain |
June-06 |
May-06 |
April-06 |
www.myspace.com |
79.97% |
77.20% |
76.07% |
www.thefacebook.com |
7.58 |
8.73 |
8.24 |
www.xanga.com |
3.81 |
4.40 |
5.29 |
360.yahoo.com |
1.13 |
1.29 |
1.38 |
www.bebo.com |
0.98 |
0.77 |
0.73 |
www.tagged.com |
0.92 |
0.97 |
1.17 |
www.classmates.com |
0.83 |
1.01 |
1.30 |
www.hi5.com |
0.78 |
1.06 |
1.19 |
spaces.msn.com |
0.75 |
1.29 |
1.41 |
www.sconex.com |
0.6 |
0.70 |
0.81 |
www.gaiaonline.com |
0.57 |
0.50 |
0.50 |
www.bolt.com |
0.52 |
0.43 |
0.21 |
www.friendster.com |
0.46 |
0.53 |
0.58 |
www.orkut.com |
0.30 |
0.33 |
0.30 |
www.myyearbook.com |
0.26 |
0.25 |
0.24 |
www.crushspot.com |
0.18 |
0.18 |
0.18 |
www.migente.com |
0.16 |
0.18 |
0.19 |
www.tagworld.com |
0.13 |
0.14 |
0.14 |
www.faceparty.com |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.03 |
www.xuqa.com |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.04 |
|
Source: Hitwise | |||
August 25, 2006
It's almost October already! And I'm feeling lucky.
It's a great event for anyone considering blogging seriously for business. I'd suggest you get out to Seattle and learn from everyone at the Blog Business Summit... It's a first-class event, and I am happy to be a part of helping marketers understand how to leverage this new communication channel.
August 25, 2006
As of 8:00 a.m. PDT this morning, Google had indexed 1516 stories written about Pluto's fall from planet status - to 'dwarf planet.' And for some reason, I'm compelled to write about it, too. I know Pluto has little to do - on the surface - with Marketing, but I think the whole notion of positioning comes into play here.
While astronomers have been arguing about it for many years, I believe the results of the vote - on whether to adopt the new definition (positioning statement, if you will) of a planet, or not - took most of us by surprise. Sure, I've been hearing rumblings for a few weeks that Pluto was either endangered in its planetary status, or we'd suddenly have even more planets in our solar system.
So when I heard the news yesterday, it was like hearing that there was no Santa Claus. Or that Enron had been finally de-listed from the stock exchange. I might understand how it's possible, but really? I spent my swim last night watching the stars slowly emerge in the sky, and it kind of sunk in.
We only have eight planets.
Of all the changes I've personally been through in the past three weeks/six months/seven years/49 years, this one just seems more than a little senseless to me.
Talk about a ripple effect of making a tiny change in positioning - think of all the textbooks and maps that need to be revised. Will we pull Pluto from 'Principia' (one of my favorite things)about the Oregon Convention Center? How will astrologers react?
I guess we never really grow up. And changes never stop. I just wonder sometimes (when contemplating the universe from a pool in Portland), what's next?
August 22, 2006
In the continued spirit of making "Web 2.0" make sense to marketers, here is a concept and execution that really defines the whole Web 2.0 phenomenon well.
YouTube... I'm sure most of you (unless you've been spending too much time in front of the traditional b**b tube - source of just some of the material proliferating on this Internet video phenomenon) have heard of YouTube. There were more than 16 million visitors to YouTube from the US in July. Not a bad reach!
(BTW - this is NOT to be confused with the viral account of the infamous "tubes" that make up the Internet.)
Basically, on YouTube, you're able to login and post your own videos online (their tagline is "Broadcast Yourself), rate other's videos, and send links to your favorite videos to your friends. You can even create video groups to connect with people who have similar interests.
I actually - just today - received my second video link from my very enlightened friend Bryce, sourced from YouTube. If you haven't already, I'm sure you'll get one soon.
Anyway, here's their Marketing 2.0 'hook.' They are posting commercials on the home page, and allowing their members to rate the ads, write comments about them, and embed the ads in their own videos.
They're calling them "participatory" videos. Of course, users have to click on the videos to view them, so the marketers who place them get real viewership. Participants get to give the marketers immediate feedback.
Imagine the possibilities...
August 18, 2006
We talk a lot about how online technology can help marketers in Marqui's World. And the concept of 'Web 2.0' is one we've blogged about quite a bit. In fact, we have an excellent Whitepaper on how 'Marketing 2.0' is evolving along with Web 2.0 here.
(Web 2.0 will soon be sooo 2005 - there are people talking about Web 3.0 already - ho hum. The more things change, the more they stay the same, don't they?)
In speaking with our interactive agency last night, one of the guys brought a very fun collection of Web 2.0-rendered logos to my attention on Flickr. Note: If the link didn't work, type in yay2dot0logoparody in the Flickr search box.
You may not have a perfect definition of what Web 2.0 means for your business (hint: read the White paper!) but now you can sneak a peek at what it looks like as companies' online identities evolve.
Nice!
August 17, 2006
August is a wonderful month to get caught up with the "little things" as a marketer. It's a pretty useless time (in my opinion - especially for a BtoB company) to launch lead generation campaigns or press briefings because everyone is on holiday.
So just like the week between Christmas and New Years Day and most Friday afternoons, it's a great time to enjoy the relative calm and get some things done.
Obviously, we've been busier than usual here at Marqui - what with Tara's departure this week and such. So while she's out spending this afternoon at Portland's most fabulous spa, I'm trying to catch my breath and do some strategic planning.
The good news? It's a very exciting time for Marqui - and planning is always more fun when you have lots of upcoming news and events to think about.
My favorite planning MO is to shut my door, turn some music up loud, and spend some time observing the world of marketing. Practically speaking, my planning looks like this:
-
I read articles by some of my favorite industry experts
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I surf the Web for ideas from other industries - especially consumer-focused trade pubs - i.e. what are marketers in the beverage industry thinking about these days?
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I explore the blogosphere for popular memes
I guess I'm describing a virtual road trip - top down, music playing, exploring the world of marketing as an observer.
August planning: it's good for the brain and the soul, easy on the wallet.
August 15, 2006
...that I have blogged exactly 146 times at Marqui. 147, if you include this post.
August 15, 2006
As Janet mentioned in her most recent post, I've decided to accept a position with another company (Waggener Edstrom, to be precise). My last day is approaching pretty fast and I'll admit that one of the things I have been stressing about is what to put in my last "official" Marqui post.
Do I aim for insightful? Humorous?
Of course, the more I stress about it, the worse my blogger's block gets. I actually started scanning through all of my old blog posts to see if I could just find a few favorites to call out. There are certainly a couple that I am stupidly proud of (the wire services review, for instance)...a couple that are of - ahem - dubious quality ...and more than a few that are just plain odd (see exhibits a, b and c).
And then there's my very first post. Not exactly the best blog ever written...but hey, it was my first one. And at least I didn't title it "to blog or not to blog." (I still REALLY hate that phrase.)
As I flipped through all of these entries, it really struck me what an outstanding couple of years I've had at Marqui. I've learned so much here, and I attribute a lot of that to blogging. This probably isn't exactly what the "powers that be" at Marqui really had in mind when they asked me to blog, but we'll just call it an added benefit.
Thank you very, very much to everyone (readers, coworkers, bloggers and especially Janet) for making this such a great experience.
August 10, 2006
Tara and I talk about how to sucessfully blog for business often, to prospects, customers and (basically) anyone who will listen. One of our cardinal rules is to never tie a blog to just one person. It spreads the joy of blogging, and if someone leaves, the blog will go on.
Well, Dear Readers, Tara is leaving. It's personally hard for me to "announce" the news. I will miss her intelligence, energy and enthusiasm here at Marqui.
I'm sure many of you will be saddened, because we have all enjoyed reading her pithy, funny, interesting and informative posts on Marqui's World. She has quite a fan base.
I'll leave it to her to tell everyone what's lured her away (a great opportunity). And I'll leave it to you to wish her well. That's the beauty of the blogosphere - we can tell her how much we will miss her, personally and publicly.
And I promise to link to any future blogging efforts she embarks upon.
August 4, 2006
Marqui is exhibiting at Search Engine Strategies next week (booth 717). I'm technically on booth babe duty for most of the show, but I'll try to duck into a few of the sessions so I can blog about them.
August 4, 2006
...are an absolute joke. Just got my invoice from Freeman (the exhibit services provider for DM Days NY) only to find that I was charged nearly $500 in "handling fees" for the booth materials I shipped over in advance. That means it cost more for my boxes to go the 300 yards or so from the parcel receiving area (or whatever it's called) to the booth than it did for them to go from Portland to New York.
I know this is general practice at tradeshows but that doesn't make it right. And don't even get me started on how much they wanted to charge for Internet access at the show...
August 4, 2006
If you haven't already read last week's Marketing Sherpa article on the Best and Worst Lead Generation Offers for 2006, it's worth a look.
The results seem to map to our experiences here at Marqui. While we haven't gone so far as to offer a free trial demo of our product, we have been extremely successful with our Webinar and whitepaper campaigns.
Also, while the article's comment about the importance of "perceived educational value" may seem like a no brainer - take it to heart. We now include things like links to a marketing glossary, etc. in our e-mails and it makes a big difference.
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