Archive for the 'Internet' Category
“How will social media change business?”
BusinessWeek’s Stephen Baker threw this question out to his readers, who gave some pretty outstanding answers in the comments.
One reader, Brent Terazzas, pointed out that “businesses are no longer held down by the more ‘traditional’ PR methods of releasing company info”; for instance, through a public relations or advertising firm. Instead, companies can now speak directly with consumers, whether it is via a blog, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace or some other social network.
Another reader, Shany Seawright, pointed out that “the number of print publications is significantly decreasing.” Businesses that some refer to as “old media” (newspapers, magazines, etc.) are feeling the pressure to keep their product current, and that means moving it online.
Social media can also be used as a weapon. Last month, Miller Brewing Co.’s “Brew Blog” broke a story about rival Anheuser-Busch’s new brand of beer, Budweiser American Ale. By beating their competitor to the punch on the announcement, it allowed Miller to spin Anheuser as a “copycat” - Miller claimed they had thought up a similar brew in 2006.
There are likely many more examples out there of how social media has, for better or worse, changed the way business is done.
How has social media impacted your business?
Being an English major, my first instinct when beginning this post was to research the topic and then write about it. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t need to. This is one of those topics I can write about solely by observing what goes on around me.
My discovery? Traditional businesses near my campus (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) are employing social networking sites on a daily basis, and no offense, but Indiana, PA is certainly not the tech hub of the universe. Wired (and wireless) college students have taken over this small town and the businesses here have realized that potential customers are only a friend request away.
Here are a few examples of traditional businesses employing social networking technology:
- Wolfendales, a popular bar for IUP students, sends Myspace friend requests out to pretty much everyone in the area. I got one my first semester on campus. They write bulletins informing patrons of special events and post comments inviting everyone to come out.
- Copper Beech, a community of townhomes (mostly occupied by students) sends Facebook friend requests to IUP students. They keep those who accept updated on open houses and other special events.
- The Penn (our college newspaper) runs a web site where the print stories are posted. They invite readers to comment and discuss the stories after they’ve been published.
If businesses are embracing the social web with success here, imagine what could be done in Harrisburg! A vast population of Central Pennsylvanians are on Facebook and Myspace. Some write blogs. Many are also starting to flock to Twitter, a mini-blogging/update service. Traditional businesses would be wise to establish an online presence for themselves on all of these platforms, blogs especially. A company blog allows a business to become more transparent and show that there are, in fact, humans running the show. When you become more personable, you earn more trust.
If you’re still unsure, ask yourself these three questions:
- “Do I want my business to interact with current and past customers?”
- “Do I want my business to reach out to potential customers and the community in general?”
- “Do I want my business to keep up with the times?”
If you’ve answered yes to all three, it’s time for your business to devise a serious social networking strategy.
In my opinion the acquisition all boils down to Microsoft’s inability to challenge Google mainly in Search and secondarily in web application innovation. Google currently owns 58% of Search industry which is expected to surpass $23 Billion in spending by 2010. As Microsoft’s 10% market share continues to dwindle, they are even increasingly being shut out of the fast growing and lucrative Search market. Hence, the Yahoo acquisition would boost their Search market share to over 30% of Search and give Microsoft a legitimate shot at taking on Google, giving both Microsoft and Yahoo engineers a common enemy. Overall we would be happy to see a legitimate challenger to Google and their near monopoly in the Search marketplace and think that consumers and searchers would benefit from the acquisition. Microsoft AdCenter and Yahoo Search Marketing PPC could use an overhaul too, so here is hoping their combined Ad Systems streamline the process of setting up PPC ads on both of their networks.
In addition to taking Google on in Search the combined company would control a vast amount of web traffic.
Here are the most popular affected websites in the US:
1.) Yahoo
2.) Google
4.) Windows Live
5.) Microsoft Network (MSN)
This is very significant, and controlling 3 of the top 5 most popular destinations on the Internet in the US will allow Microsoft to continue to build up strategic Internet marketing alliances. Building on momentum of recent deals with Facebook and Digg.
Many challenges remain and new bidders for Yahoo might emerge, but in my estimation Microsoft is the best suitor and we expect the deal to be completed. The combined company would have many cultural obstacles and technical (Microsoft shuns Open Source vs. Yahoo has embraced it) but the combined companies would clearly provide a challenge to Google.
As of 12JAN08 all Google data centers have been updated with a new Google PageRank update. The Google PageRank update is beginning to become a little bit of a yawn around the SEM community, since it has little affect on the traffic that Google drives websites via organic web searches.
The most recent PageRank update brought little change to the overall WebpageFX website. The one exception being that our blog home page lost its page rank which is irregular since many posts range from a PR1 to a PR3. One would think in 2008 that GoogleBot would have mastered how to crawl a WordPress blog. We even setup our robots.txt file in a manner to assist GoogleBot along it indexing way.
All this leads one to ponder if Google PageRank should go away entirely. If PageRank is mainly being used by SEOers and marketers to set the prices for paid links which Google has now launched a crusade against, what’s the point of fueling the fire with PageRank updates which have no bearing on SERPS (Search engine results page)?
Here is a good post by the Google mage himself on the importance of PageRank: Matt Cutts Blog - PageRank
Cyber Monday Definition:
The name given by online retailers and e-commerce experts to the Monday following the Thanksgiving holiday. With its Black Friday counterpart in actual store-based traffic, analysts have pointed to significant spikes in online shopping on Cyber Monday.
Source: TechWeb
Today’s public relations campaigns are drastically different from those of even ten years go. Using the Internet, companies can target specific market segments and talk directly to their potential customers through Web sites, blogs, online videos, social networks, news aggregators, forums, and search engines. This has led to a more personalized brand of PR that can grab greater attention for less money.
Once upon a time, public relations required hiring expensive agencies. These firms had built close relationships with traditional media outlets such as newspapers and controlled the information that the public received. When a client needed press attention, the agency would shower its media contacts with various perks, and in return these gatekeepers would provide news exposure.
The rise of the Internet changed everything and signaled the decline of traditional media. Nowhere was this more apparent than with newspapers. As the Web grew, an increasing amount news and information appeared online, much of it entirely free of charge. “New media” sources such as Web sites, blogs, and forums attracted millions of viewers, all hungry for the next article, post, or upload. Soon search engines and aggregators began collecting news into portal locations, making it easy to find specific topics and other information. Most recently, with the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, media sharing sites as well as social networks have facilitated the quick exchange of ideas, pictures, and movies.
As a result, traditional media outlets have lost their ability to hold shut the gates, making it easier to reach people than ever before. Companies can submit news directly to Internet news portals such as PRweb and Digg. Sites like YouTube and Flickr have simple tools to post PR videos and pictures. Still other sites such as Facebook and MySpace let people distribute messages and media virally over social networks. And, of course, Google with its ubiquitous search engine and news feed enables anyone to locate the latest articles and information.
So it’s a cinch to grab lots of attention for mere pennies, right? Not quite yet. While the advertising middlemen are disappearing from the PR equation, it still takes skill to have your news ride the Internet wave. In fact, each type of Web channel, whether a blog, search engine, or social network, requires specifically tailored submissions to maximize distribution. Over my next few articles, I’ll be exploring the most popular venues for Internet PR and how each of them can provide personalized, targeted exposure for your company.
Spending on internet advertising by business-to-business advertisers jumped 17% last year to $1.4 billion dollars.
Highlights:
- B2B advertising spending grew to $14.39 billion last year, up 1.4%
- The largest B2B advertisers are AT&T, Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, IBM and HP make up the top 5
- The #1 internet advertiser was Monster Worldwide, who spent $101.6 million
Data from BtoB Magazine