Blogosphere Part 2: What's everyone talking about?

The array of blogs and subject matter being discussed on them is just mind boggling. You can quite literally find a blog on just about anything. From obscure and completely random topics like cupcakes and crocheting men's communities (no, I'm not kidding) to more mainstream blogs about the election or consumer products, people seem to have a whole lot to say about stuff out there and plenty of time to write about it. Based on the number of people reading blogs, we all seem to have plenty of time to read what these folks have to say. It's not like there are suddenly more hours in a day so all this time is coming at the expense of some interesting other activites...more on that in a future post. But as marketers, let's look a little deeper at what categories of things are being discussed.



According to Technorati, three-quarters of bloggers cover three or more topics. The average number of topics blogged about is five. The statistics globally are quite interesting with Asian bloggers more likely to blog about music than politics and European bloggers less interested in personal, lifestyle and religious topics.

Why are people blogging? Self expression and sharing expertise are the top reasons followed by networking. “Other” reasons include: activism, book publicity, personal satisfaction, self promotion, share my passion and to become known as an expert.




And while most personal bloggers aren't in it for the money, they certainly wouldn't mind making some! When asked what their main motivation for blogging is, most said they do it for fun. 20% are currently making some money blogging, and another 42% hope to make money on their blog in the future.



Blogs with 100,000 or more unique visitors a month earn an average of $75,000 annually—though that figure is skewed by the small percentage of blogs that make more than $200,000 a year. The estimates from a 2007 Business Week article are slightly out of date but still interesting with gossip king Perez Hilton raking in scoops up $111,000 per month!!!

Next up we'll discuss a very interesting and powerful segment of the blogging community--the "mommy bloggers". Though small in number, these young, tech-savvy moms are thirsty for ways of communicating with like-minded women and represent an incredible opportunity for brand evangelizing.

Blogosphere Part 1: Technorati releases its State of the Blogosphere 2008

This week, Technorati released its 9th State of the Blogosphere report, providing some really valuable insights into the blogging space. The results include some very interesting and anticipated information on who these bloggers are exactly. The report is quite extensive and the results impactful enough that we feel it merits a series of posts dedicated to the blogosphere and the tremendous impact/opportunity it possesses for brand marketers.

We'll start by covering who exactly is out there blogging (see below). Future posts will discuss what people are out there blogging about, the challenges and advantages with marketers engaging the blogosphere and a bit about "mommy bloggers" which have garnered quite a bit of press and attention.

Who are these bloggers?

For the most part, young, male and affluent-remarkably similar to most early adopters including early Internet users.

• Two-thirds of all bloggers are male
• 50% are 18-34
• 70% have college degrees
• Four in ten have an annual household income of $75K+
• One in four have an annual household income of $100K+

And there's a lot of them! According to eMarketer 2007, 22 million to be exact. Perhaps even more powerful than that are the readership numbers....3/4 of the total Internet audience. Those kind of numbers are exactly what's peaked the interest of marketers. More on that in a later post.

The report also reveals that within the United States, bloggers are widely geographically distributed with 73% living outside major metros like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Chicago.

While 48% of all bloggers are in the U.S., it is very much a global phenomenon.

And what the heck are all these people blogging about? At an aggregate level, bloggers are separated into personal, professional or corporate content.

• 4 out of 5 bloggers are personal bloggers who blog about topics of personal interest (like moms blogging about all their favorite baby products)
  
• About 50% of bloggers are professional bloggers...they don't necessarily blog as a full-time job but they do blog about their industry or profession in an unofficial capacity (giving much heartburn to corporate relations officers everywhere!)
  
• 12% of bloggers are corporate bloggers, having been designated as their corporation's official blogosphere "voice" (many have a PR background)

More to come on blogs including a deeper look at the topics being covered. Stay tuned!

Nintendo & YouTube...and the coolest rich media execution ever

This is a great example of what can happen when awesome creative and perfect media placement come together. Not much more to say other then it's just awesome.

The "evil empire" makes its phone debut

Fresh from a trip to New York and OMMA Global last week, the debate about "Is Google Evil?" still rings in my head. Despite your personal opinion about Google, they are undeniably innovators in the online space (and more recently in very, very "offline" spaces...hence the evil empire metaphor!)

This week marks the debut of the long awaited and much hyped Google Android cellphone (G1). If you are a tech/gadget geek like me, you have been waiting for more details. What will this magic phone do exactly? How will it integrate with the ever expanding list of cool Google apps? And perhaps most importantly, will it be cooler than my iPhone thus requiring me to run out and purchase one immediately?! All was revealed yesterday when Google and T-Mobile unveiled the new phone. It has so many cool features it sent my head spinning but it also has a couple of shortcomings. Read on for the good, the bad and the ugly on G1.

The Good:

1. Make no mistake about it, Google intends to take the iPhone market head on with this new phone. There are just too many conveniently addressed iPhone shortcomings in the product for it to be coincidence. Full touch screen, check. Wi-Fi & Bluetooth, check. Finger slide to unlock, check. Downloadable apps, music, Google maps, full screen web browsing, check check check and check. Its even got an accelerometer that rotates the full screen when you turn the phone. All this sounds very familiar right? With the popularity of the iPhone, these became almost cost of entry features for Google. They have essentially said, "I will see you all these neat features Apple, and raise you a bunch of stuff people miss on the iPhone"-- a physical keyboard (hidden a flip away beneath the screen), a memory expansion card slot, a removable battery and voice dialing just to name a few.

2. With the list of cool, free Google apps expanding by the day, it was widely speculated that G1 would make use of many of them in ways the iPhone hasn't been able to (yet?). They have certainly delivered and in a big way with the integration of Google Maps for one. Yes, you can get Google maps on the iPhone but not like this! In "Street View" (where photos of actual locations are taken from ground level), you can hold the phone perpendicular to the ground and get a 3D map experience—and as you turn your body, the map photo rotates like a photographic compass, matching what you see on the phone to what you see on the street. I was giddy when I saw this feature! No more emerging from the subway and wandering a full block in the wrong direction before you realize you were...err...going in the wrong direction!

3. While Apple has signed a seemingly never-ending exclusive contract with AT&T, Google has already announced that it will launch first with T-Mobile but will quickly add another 30 cellphone carriers. For those iPhone users who feel like slaves to AT&T or for those who have been apprehensive about dropping their current carriers to go to AT&T, Google's strategy is very appealing.

4. The Android operating system is free and completely open-source. What that means to non-development geeky people is that any company can make changes to the software without consulting or paying Google. Unlike, Apple and AT&T, T-Mobile and Google say they won’t censor programs that they don’t approve of. Feel like writing a Skype-ish program that lets people avoid using T-Mobile minutes all together? Go for it they say...now that is true committment to the open-source platform!

The Bad:

Yes it's great that Google isn't with AT&T but T-Mobile? Seriously?? We complain about AT&T's ridiculous 3G network but T-Mobile's 3G only covers 19 cities at launch!!! (AT&T has 280 3G cities). On the flip side though, I go back to The Good, point #4...G1 is totally open in ways I can really never imagine iPhone being. You can unlock the phone after 90 days of ownership without any repercussions (ie. use any SIM card from any carrier on it).

The Ugly:

Despite the attempted aesthetic & functional similarities, G1 is still not the iPhone. The added features on the G1 have resulted in added complexity with 5 physical buttons on the phone as opposed to iPhone's 1. In addition the familiar touch screen (albeit without the pinching and zooming functionality), G1 also has a trackball and arrow keys. And that nifty keyboard and removable battery make the G1 a lot thicker and lamer looking than the iPhone's sleek physique. And, of course, it’s not an iPod. It plays music, but no video (except on YouTube of course).

So is Android as beautiful and captivating as the iPhone? No. Nor is it backed by the insanely effective marketing machine that is Apple. But it is head and shoulders above Windows Mobile.

The debate over whether Google is evil or not rages on here at Rockett Interactive but one thing is for sure--G1's open-source platform will undoubtedly bring some very interesting and revolutionary developments to the mobile market and we are very excited to stay on top of it in an effort to help our clients understand this ever-changing and burgeoning medium.

Book Review "Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters"

I just finished reading Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters by Hitwise's Bill Tancer.

Here at Rockett Interactive we are constantly looking at search data with our metaphorical microscope down to granular levels to see what most effectively drives results for our clients. This book is a fascinating step back; a commentary of what can be found by turning the lens in the other direction and letting all of our combined aggregate search data reveal who we are as a society.

Bill Tancer uses the Hitwise data to reveal our fears, obsessions and to rethink the consumer sales cycle in different verticals. He illustrates how search and website data can show the naked truth of what happens when you have a person interacting with their trusted computer and their favorite search engine.

Most specifically of interest to me, search geek that I am, was his data revealing the extreme degree to which traditional media drives search behavior. This is something that I have been thinking about a lot as the power of what can be done by combining traditional and interactive campaigns is still an emerging area of the industry. He uses various examples to show internet searches surging within moments of a well placed television advertisement. Upon awareness, the first thing most people do is ask their most trusted confidant (Google) what they know about the subject! The beauty of paid search is the ability to allow an advertiser to capture that person and control the message at that critical moment.

Click is a quick entertaining read that provides both great food for thought on the power of web statistics and great cocktail party sound bytes as well; sort of the Freakonomics of search phrase and click stream data. Highly recommended!

FeedBurner gives a big boost to engaging 18-34s

RSS feeds have been around a long time (relatively speaking), and it’s an efficient tool for reaching savvy web-users, especially 21-34 year olds. Launched in 2004 and acquired by Google in 2007, FeedBurner really stands out in this environment, for a few reasons:

1). It offers the biggest ad network for blogs and RSS feeds, with the world’s most-recognized media publishers, A-list bloggers, blog networks, and individual publishers from around the world (over 1.9 million feeds for over 1,125,000 publishers as of August 08). According to Nielsen-NetRating, it’s growing faster than Digg and MySpace.

2). FeedBurner provides a wide range of categories in its ad network and allows advertisers to reach their target audience through content-targeting. Among FeedBurner’s content channels, many appear to have high composition of Age 18-34 audience.

-Arts & Entertainment: 60%
-Business: 56%
-Consumer Electronics: 60%
-Digital Culture: 60%
-Sports & Recreation: 67%
-Travel: 72%
-PC & Video Games: 84%

3). And, making it score extra well , FeedBurner has a clean, uncluttered ad environment, so it improves feed subscribers’ engagement with the advertiser’s message. It has got a proven ability to communicate regularly with a measurable and growing content subscriber base.


FeedBurner Full content channels

-Arts & Entertainment
-Automotive
-Business: Personal Finance, Small/Medium Business
-Computing & Technology : Enterprise Computing, Personal Computing, Mac
-Consumer Electronics
-Current Affairs & Politics
-Digital Culture
-Health & Wellness
-News & Information
-PC & Console Games
-Sports & Recreation
-Travel

FeedBurner Advertising Ability:

-Geo-Targeting capability: Country/State/DMA
-Day-partitioning capability: Day of week or Time of day
-Feeds ad specs: 468x60.
-Ad format: GIF/JPEG and text.
-Full third-party ad serving support
-No minimum spending on FeedBurner
-Media will be priced on an auction basis starting in July 2008 with the potential availability of key word and specific feed targeting (more details to come).

Rockett Interactive Ranks in Top 100 of Inc 5000

This is definitely an exciting week for us! The Inc 5000 lists of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. have been posted online, and we’ve learned that Rockett Interactive has been ranked #8 within the Advertising/Marketing sector – and an almost unbelievable (to us) #87 overall. Our full profile can be seen at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=200800870

This is definitely a time when we feel delighted and proud, but also humbled by the trust and confidence that our clients have had in us all along – which is of course a major reason for the success we’re having. As we were talking about this news earlier today, we recognized that three other critical factors have come into play: our very dedicated and passionate staff, who give their all to each new challenge and really care about each client contact… the strength of interactive media, in enabling delivery of highly targeted messages, and measurable results, (increasingly attractive in our tightening economy)… and of course, Mark’s vision which has kept us moving forward from Day 1.

We’re getting ready for exciting times ahead, and all of us are eager to share our passion and knowledge – so be assured that more news from Rockett Interactive will be coming soon. www.rockettinteractive.com

Boomerang’s a smart choice

As all online advertisers know, getting the attention of their target audience is no easy task. Enticing those users to click on an ad and complete a lead is an even harder objective to realize. We like Double click’s Boomerang for many of our clients, because it helps them target consumers who are already highly interested in their products or services – so there’s way less ad waste.

Ads displayed to previous visitors can be behavior-targeted for the highest chance of click-through and ultimately a purchase and/or commitment (think: free shipping, no annual fees…). Plus, the technology helps us learn which types of ads and offers are the most effective. It’s a smart move.

To view the complete article, click here.

Universal McCann International Social Media Research

Universal Mccann International Social Media Research Wave 3

view presentation (tags: socialmedia research social media)

Universal McCanns‘ global research into the impact of social media is a project with an ongoing commitment to measure consumer usage, attitudes and interests in adopting social media platforms and is the largest exploration of its kind.

Wave 3 results were recently released and the statistics, though along the lines of what we all suspected, are nonetheless impressive. Since Wave 1 in September 2006 the research has created genuine insights on the patterns of usage. The latest report seen here demonstrates the continued growth of social media and it's impact all over the world. I recommend viewing it in full screen (hit the "full" button on the lower right) as some of the metrics get too small to see in this mini version.

It's quite comprehensive with 80 slides...here are the highlights:

1. Social media is a global phenomenon happening in all markets regardless of wider economic, social and cultural development.

2. Asian markets (not including Japan) are leading in terms of participation, creating more content than any other region.

3. All social media platforms have grown significantly over the three Waves: Video Clips are the quickest growing platform, up from 31% penetration in Wave 1 to 83% in Wave 3

4. Social Networks: 57% have joined a Social Network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content: 55% of users have uploaded photos, 22% of users have uploaded videos

5. The widget economy – 23% of social network users have installed an application – 18% of bloggers have installed applications in their blog templates

6. Blogs are a mainstream media world-wide and a collective rival to traditional media (184m bloggers world-wide, China has the largest blogging community in the world with 42m bloggers...what's up with Japan?) – 73% have read a blog, 45% have started a blog

7. Social media has strong impacts over brand’s reputation – 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog – 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

The impact of this data and the tremendous adoption rate for social media all over the world is huge, particularly for brand advertisers looking to establish a conversation with customers. While the old model of advertising is certainly being challenged, in many ways, it's never been easier to advertise to your customers or know what they are thinking and discussing. Whereas years ago such insight may have required costly and time intensive market research, in today's "everyone has a voice" world, advertisers need focus on only one thing--LISTENING. Your consumers are out there blogging, commenting, complaining and telling you what they want. Being well versed in the various technologies they use to do so and developing a comprehensive "listening" strategy will become the definitive factor separating advertisers who "get it" and those who just keep pushing out :30 spots and wondering why they're losing market share.