We've Moved!

Just a quick note - we have consolidated our blogs, and CGM Voodoo will not be updated in the near future. However, feel free to visit our other active blogs for engaging content. CGM topics will continue to be covered on Viral Voodoo, Gen Y Voodoo, and Online Marketing Voodoo as well as our marketing podcast, Internet Marketing Voodoo.

Host of Your Own Domain

MySpace.com doesn't understand the term slow down. The latest article from Broadcasting and Cable, reported that the site has a new initiative that will launch soon.

The new service allows users to "host" streams of shows on their home page. This seems like a selfless act by marketers to increase consumer control over media, but it's so much more. It's a one-site stop for marketers to reach a target demographic because MySpace had 64.4 million unique visitors as of February; this is the stuff marketers' dreams are made of.

Media companies are the most likely candidates to team with social networking sites because the nature of the business lends itself to mass marketing, but companies need to stay ahead of the curve and determine creative ways to use social networking sites to their advantage because the connection with users is already in place.

A Secret Worth Knowing About CGM

It's not a social network per say, yet most social networks have allowed it to be part of them. Photobucket, which is a site that allows users to search, upload and share pictures and videos, is a relative unknown in the social networking world, unless one perused the likes of MySpace or Facebook.

These sites allow users to link photos stored in Photobucket and place them on user pages. The secret to Photobucket's current success of 38 million members is linking, according to a Fortune article. Linking shelters the site from fads because if one social network falls the photos are still stored on Photobucket, and users can just place them on a different social network.

This brilliant business model has allowed the site a niche foothold in the consumer-generated media realm. Instead of competing with mega-sites like Facebook, Photobucket adds value by allowing more freedom to the user. Companies' sites need to find a way, like Photobucket did, to ward off threats of changing consumer preferences.

Seeing Success from Failure

Facebook.com, which is the No. 2 social networking site, has recently seen a huge increase in the number of users since its stumble in September, according to an article from Reuters.

A comScore report confirms that Facebook.com now has 24.8 million visitors worldwide-- that's 75 percent growth since September. The key to this success isn't something built upon a complex marketing strategy, it's simply learning from the mistakes and moving forward. The site solicited feedback from its users on different features and has implemented that feedback to add and take away features as necessary.

Too often corporate policy ties rewards and promotions to performance; therefore, leaving little room for error. In reality, it is failure that teaches a company the most because knowing what doesn't work will lead to what does. Instead of treating failure as an aberrant event, try using failure as a motivating tactic for employees.

Consumers For Hire

The newest thing with online media is actually hiring consumers to do the work for advertisers, according to AdAge.

XLNTads is initiating this concept allowing marketers to post concepts and consumers to choose which ones they want to produce. Marketers will save a substantial amount of money with this operation and it will provide a more personalized viewpoint in the ads.

Consumers are already utilizing this media on a consistent basis, so why shouldn't corporations use them? Consumers can easily identify what would appeal to them in online media and will sufficiently target appropriate markets by having this knowledge.

Online Video to the Rescue

Among consumers aged 12 and older, 44 percent use online video media. That's approximately 100 million people viewing online digital videos. And one in four Americans has downloaded a digital video file.

The 2006 biannual digital video study by Ipsos Insight from Motion realized that the primary reason for that number not being higher was due to consumers unwillingness to pay for streaming videos. This presents a valuable opportunity for marketers as they may sponsor these short films and move onto full feature films to subsidize the cost. Marketers may utilize this media by coordinating their name with the sought out video and or include product placements within the sponsored films.

This is such a grand possibility to grow brand awareness and establish the companies online identity that it would be unreasonable not to pursue this avenue. The demand for this media is expanding at an amplified rate.

Measuring the Effectiveness of CGM

When researching an advertisers biggest problem you will find that measurement tools are at the top of the list. BuzzLogic is helping to relieve some of this frustration. By implementing the four metrics below a company can determine the influential players in social media:

• Site's contextual relevance to a topic area specified by the client

• Frequency of content publication on the topic

• Number of inbound links

• Traffic

By using these tools , marketers can successfully target their ads and media toward the proper audience, leading to greater promotion. Consumer generated media executed successfully will identify and market to a firm's consumers in a more efficient manner.

A Milestone for CGM

March 25th was the day the world changed, at least the online world as it pertains to consumer-generated media, according to a MarketingVox article. YouTube hosted its first video awards and the turn out was a great success! One winner had 13 million consumers trafficking their video.

Online video sharing is something that is accessible to consumers and businesses, so lets wed the two. Marketers can place ads alongside the videos, sponsor the videos and add their own online videos to YouTube.

Demand for this medium is high and marketers need to respond quickly. Advertising content targeted at different segments can easily be applied and should. Some marketers fear openness of content as they think it could compromise the brand's identity, but really what a corporation is doing is building a relationship with its target markets by way of social media.

Retail Dresses up Online Videos

Online video is taking over! With all the studies on consumer generated media, retail outlets finally realized the impact they can have on consumers by utilizing this medium. Stores like Kohl's are using this medium to target its consumers by allowing its viewers to click on ads to find out product information, like its price and whether or not it is available, according to a MarketingVox article.

These videos are dubbed by Video Hyperlink, a program from Microsoft and its adCenter Lab development group. It is the first program from this group and offers numerous videos by both businesses and consumers. This service is similar to YouTube as it offers news and other consumer generated content, but it should provide great results for marketers as this is the new way of addressing the market. Retailers need to harness this new technology to continue adding value for the consumer.

Corporate Dominance leads to Angry Users of CGM

There may be a trend forming, when a corporation (with its conservative policy) aquires a start-up the start-up usually has to conform to its new owner. Recently, News Corp. has begun to regulate its social networking site MySpace more, according to a MarketingVox article.

MySpace was designed to provide a community for users to share information whether by way of blogs or music videos; it was meant to provide open communication. Many users have begun throwing around the First Amendment like it was a hacky sack.

Users must realize that there is a balancing act between protecting the company from copyright infringement, which can happen all to readily on a user generated site and allowing users the ability to express themselves freely. As technology becomes more advanced users need to understand the benefits and drawbacks. Let the corporations do what they need to because in the long run it's better for users as a whole.

It's a Man's World (At least Online)

If marketers are desperately searching for males, they should focus their attention online. Of the study MediaPost conducted, 41 percent consumed online media. That sample also found that men aged 18-34 represent over two-thirds of adults who view YouTube and other user-generated content daily.

That is a lot of consumer generated media being used by this group and marketers need to take notice. Even retailers are targeting consumers with user generated content. It is a fail-safe resource that must be executed to maintain a strong market presence among this group.

Lawsuits may Lead to Policing CGM

Ethics. A term that, for some, works on a sliding scale. Robert Tur is upset because someone took his video and published it on YouTube, which he found unethical.

Tur is pressing charges saying "that You Tube is encouraging users to violate copyright law," when in fact it is a service that complies with all Digital Millennium Copyright Act provisions. This law offers protection to web service providers, which limits their liability when a user infringes on copyrights.

YouTube has user-generated content in the form of online videos and trusts users to make the best judgment concerning copyright laws. Taking that trust away and pre-screening videos for content is a descent from the original mission of YouTube, which is "empowering people to become the broadcasters of tomorrow. " There is a delicate balance that must be kept, but as the pendulum swings toward censorship and more lawsuits arise, social networking may be forced to change its practices indefinitely.