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.

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.

Is CGM selling out?

There’s a new user to myspace.com and facebook.com—corporate America.

Web sites like Myspace.com and facebook.com are allowing companies on to the site so they can market to its users. Users of these Web sites, mostly people ages 18 to 24, have been notoriously known for slipping under the radar. Well, not anymore. Myspace.com is allowing users to redesign their pages with company logos, which also has a link to the company’s Web site, according to the iMedia Connection article.

On the other hand, facebook.com allows companies to create groups, which market to users by offering discounts and deals on merchandise. Some companies that have taken advantage of this new marketing technique are Jones Soda, Apple, and Victoria’s Secret.

This unique blend of marketing and consumer generated media is extremely cost effective because the audience is already provided. Companies just need to situate themselves on the site and the users do the rest.