What Marketers Can Learn From MySpace

Posted by Marshall Sponder on May 31, 2006 | Link It

IMediaConnection has a great article on what works on MySpace.com - took excerpts from the ImediaConnection article (below).

"Creativity has been the key to MySpace’s success since the site’s beginning. Along with crafting their written profiles, users manipulate the look of their space with easy html codes to change fonts, layout and color scheme (as well as picture backgrounds or wallpapers) of their personal pages".

Here are five lessons from MySpace for marketers:

Keep it new
Profiles that are constantly updated with new blogs, photos and comments get continuous views. Young people expect marketers to keep them engaged with new content.

Keep it creative
From amateur photo shoots to custom designed backgrounds, MySpacers take time and craft with their profiles. They are savvy and expect as much from marketers.

Keep it personal
One-on-one relationships (or at least perceived personal connections) are as important for actual brands as they are in the "personal brand image" that MySpacers create.

You’re known for the company you keep
The people, groups and brands MySpacers (and real brands) befriend say as much about them as their profile does.

Small is big
Within MySpace’s vast network, users create their own customized niches– exposing other users to their individual tastes. Nimble marketers must adapt to increasing fragmentation among young consumers.

I haven’t given MySpace.com a close look before but will now.



ClickTracks Announces Click Fraud Combat Credit for Google Class Action Lawsuit Members

Posted by Marshall Sponder on May 31, 2006 | Link It

ClickTracks has just announced it will give 1000.00 of credit towards special ClickTracks software that can detect click fraud with Google AdWords (I wonder if any other Click Fraud is covered).  Here’s the official annoucement.

Santa Cruz, California – May 31, 2006 – Web analytics leader ClickTracks (www.clicktracks.com) announced a $1000 credit towards software that helps Google AdWords users identify past click fraud events and claim part of the $90 million Google settlement fund. 

 

On May 21, all advertisers who purchased online advertising from Google after January 1, 2002 were sent a court-ordered notice indicating the right to claim a settlement distribution for prior click fraud.  All recipients of the email are eligible for the ClickTracks credit.  According to the notice, those wishing to make a claim for past fraudulent clicks must identify each “affected ad” and submit a claim between June 19, 2006 and August 4, 2006.

 

John Marshall, ClickTracks founder and CEO, predicts some confusion. “Nearly every advertiser who received the notice needs to know what fraud occurred in the past in order to decide whether or not to make a claim.” said Marshall. “We believe ClickTracks has the only product that makes it possible to go back in time and substantiate a claim for prior fraudulent clicks.”  

 

Special Credit

 

Advertisers who are part of the class action suit are eligible for a $1000 credit towards the purchase ClickTracks Pro, JDC, or Agency edition, which include the Click Fraud report.  The one-time credit reduces the price of ClickTracks Pro to $2495 and, for qualified consultants, a 20 dataset license of the Agency edition will be reduced to $1495.  The credit applies to new customers who purchase a qualifying ClickTracks product in the month of June 2006.  Details on the offer may be found at http://www.clicktracks.com/fraud_recovery_offer.php.

 

Click Fraud Reporting Technology

 

ClickTracks Pro, which includes the Click Fraud report, installs in less than an hour. The Click Fraud report can look back in time and report potential click fraud behavior that occurred in months or years past.

 

ClickTracks bases its detection on a statistical mean for a number of measurements taken for each campaign, and then compares that data across all other campaigns, pointing out ads which are worse than average in one or more ways. Some examples include ads that have:

 

·         a lower than average conversion rate

·         a higher than average number of single-page visits

·         a lower than average number of unique clients

·         a higher number of clicks from China

·         a higher than average number of sessions with no referrer

 

The report then allows marketers to substantiate suspicious campaign behavior by generating a detailed fraud forensics report suitable for submission to the PPC provider.

 

Free Class on Click Fraud Analysis

 

On June 21, 2006, ClickTracks will teach a free, live online class titled “How to know if you are a victim of Click Fraud.” Attendees of this class will learn how to identify poorly performing campaigns and campaigns that have been victims of click fraud. The class will cover a recommended approach to applying for a refund, and give real-life examples of how others have identified, reported and resolved click fraud issues.  Class registration information is posted at http://www.clicktracks.com/seminars.

 



Sneek Preview of Yahoo's new home page redesign

Posted by Marshall Sponder on May 31, 2006 | Link It

Just got a invite to look at Yahoo’s new home page redesign – I’m told they want to spread it virally, so here’s the url .

The new site redesign looks like it’s very carfully done.



UPCOMING SPEAKING

Marshall Sponder Keynotes this conference on March 13th, and conducts as Social Media Workshop on March 14th, 2012

The inaugural Social Media Analytics Summit is the first ever two-day business conference with a complete focus on social media analytics. Social media analytics enhances customer service, improves brand and reputation management, and measures overall social media success for businesses