Web analytics, web metrics, and how to use them to track and improve conversions

Could it be that the "new marketing" is really inclusive of enthused endorsers on Digg and Reddit than Search Engine rankings both Organic and Paid?  Yes.  I believe that's the case but endorsement via individuals and online communities can't be your only business model.

What if the Architects had done that...focused less on spending 10K a month on PPC that gave almost no plans sold and gone after fostering a community of people who wanted these architectual house plans?   What would have happened then?  Well, if it was a community of home builders and the architects had done it well enough there could have been hundreds of sales a month at a fraction of the cost - but none of them think that way. 

Why?  Because enthusiasts have to genuinely believe your product or service is better.  You can try to buy the services of online enthusiasts but it always backfires in the end.  People really need to believe your stuff is better - they they will talk about.  But if your stuff is not better - and you just trying to sell "widgets" that everyone else is selling - forget it.  It's not going to work.

The new marketing requires a complete retrofit - the stuff that used to work is becoming less and less effective as people want quality - want reality, what to trust - and they'll go on online endorsements via online communities if they believe in the endorser.

I tried to do some analysis on some of the top influencers using Ad Labs Demo tools - those were the only tools that would pick up any information on their actual URLs - the rest work on the domain level which won't be of help here.

I think it's kinda scary where this may all end up someday (IE: put in a name of someone and get a demographic profile OR specify what your looking for and get a list of people - but much more sophisticated then dating sites, which try to do the same thing but for a different purpose).

I'm temped to think of the case of Fanster.com and Henry Wang; according to the WSJ article:

"....One site that says it has a lot to thank Henry Wang for is Famster.com. Similar to MySpace.com but aimed primarily at families, Famster allows people to set up their own sites to keep track of everything from photos to family trees and blog entries. When it went live on August 7 of last year, the site says it had only a trickle of visitors.

Five days later, Mr. Wang posted a link to it on Digg, with the comment, "I can't believe that this site isn't widely known, even with all its features: share photos, stream videos, create a blog, upload files, keep track of RSS feeds... all in Flash? and for free? Ridiculous." More than 1,700 users voted on the link, driving traffic to Famster up to 50,000 unique visitors per day during the week it was on Digg's home page. "I was in awe," says Bryan Opfer, the site's chief technology officer."

In the new marketing - you may need to find someone who is an influencer - or become one yourself by participating vigorously in online communities - and then suggesting things that the community might be interested in .....and if those things are genuinely better, traffic and sales can result.

I don't have this all worked out - but my mind is working in this direction more than getting Search, which I think has lost much of it's effectiveness as a driver of traffic, in my opinion.

I know, I'm saying this just as SEO and SEM have become mainstream, and that's precisely why I'm saying it.  I'd rather work on the fringe than do what everyone else is doing (figure out where the crowd is going and head in the opposite direction).

Anyway, the WSJ article on the Wizards of Buzz is full of really good information - and I'd go in this direction, combining it with the Eisenberg's Persuasive Architecture.  I have a copy of one of their books I'm still reviewing and I'll write up more as I'm ready.

By the way, Jason Calacanius has a lot to say about the WSJ article on the Wizards of Buzz.  I included his entire post below - to add on to mine:

"... "Jurgensen, John"
date Jan 26, 2007 4:51 PM
subject Re: question from WSJ

> How would you describe the role played by top-ranked users?

The top users on sites like digg and Netscape are putting in four to eight hours a day. They are certainly not just "users" at this point. They are more akin to freelancers, editors, or researchers. The term I most like to use is "cool hunters."

They are also just like the editors-at-large at magazines who look for cool stories to cover.

> There's been a lot of debate about top users having a disproportionate influence on what
> gets featured...do you think that's currently the case? If so, what are the ramifications?

I wouldn't say disproportionate influence, I would say appropriate influence. They are putting in the most time, they find the stories first, and they know the most people in the community. It only makes sense that the people who invest the most time and effort get the most benefit.

> What are your thoughts on the pros and cons of featuring top-user lists and
> leaderboards? Does the risk of a popularity contest outweigh their benefits as a
> discovery tool for users?

People would not participate in these systems if they were not transparent and if there was a not a recognition system in place. The two top reasons people participate in these systems are recognition and affiliation--in that order.

You take away the leaderboard and you take away the recognition. It would kill the fun of the game for most people. That being said, we found that women are less concerned about their rank and much more interested in the relationships they are building--go figure.

> How would you describe the pressure and influence of marketers, especially as it
> relates to this top-user pool?"