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.

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.

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.

Building Loyalty Through Relationships

Building affinities with consumers is key to maintaining a long-lasting relationship and Enclave Affinitive has developed the components to establish that contingency. The site provides a community where consumers can research and educate themselves on everything from advertisements to products, and give their feedback. The site also allows consumers to develop their own content, using videos, reviews, banners and icons.

By providing such a range of self expression, viral marketing takes off. Users can invite others to this site, which creates buzz around the site's abilities. Enthused users will remain loyal and build their trust with one another and the various brands discussed.

The benefit of sites like Enclave to other businesses is all the consumer-generated media it provides. Consumers share their likes and dislikes while providing an abundance of information on themselves. Businesses can then use this information to better target these groups through modified products and advertising.

NBA Partners With Social Networking Site

With millions of people visiting YouTube daily it is not surprising that the National Basketball Association would want to partner with the social networking site, according to a techshout article.

To create another advertising platform for the organization, the NBA has decided to work with YouTube and create a branded channel on the video-sharing portal. The new marketing tool will provide fans with highlights of past NBA games and behind the scenes footage. In addition the channel will allow users to upload videos of their own skills to the site. Every week the uploaded videos will be judged by NBA experts, and the winners will be featured in "NBA Top 10 on YouTube."

This is yet another example of marketing shifting its focus from telling to showing. This new interactive tool is the future of marketing and companies, sports related or not, need to understand that allowing users to partake in the experience solidifies the promotion in the vast expanse that is the consumer's mind.

There's a new kid on the social networking block

It is obvious that consumers are enamored with the ability to create and post personally created videos on the web for everyone in cyberspace to see. However, just when consumers thought sites like YouTube and MySpace where the newest form of user generated media, a new, unpredictable option was unveiled.

In an article from mediapost,a new site called Stickham has taken the idea of social networking and morphed it into something not even the CGM giants imagined. The site is based on allowing users to connect with others through webcams. Users post profiles and go online to chat with anyone from anywhere with the added benefits of being able to see them.

The site also provides users access to live video feeds of celebrities, musicians, and many other popular personalities. On a recent live chat with comedian Jamie Kennedy an astounding 10,000 members watched. This interest shows consumers approval of the site's new services. However, there are some pitfalls to the added fun and freedom provided by this site.

The site's webcam component makes the job of filtering out obscene or indecent behavior rather difficult. Even though Stickham bans offensive material, with live feeds, it is impossible to enforce. With more freedom comes more danger. Users will have to decide if they are willing to deal with the possibility of viewing obscene content. Either way, it seems that the options this site offers definitely have the potential to surpass the success of sites like MySpace and Youtube. This site may be the beginning of social networking evolution with consumers reaping the benefits of improved communications.

New Restrictions on CGM

Many individuals frequent the popular video sharing site, YouTube, to view outrageous and funny video clips that are posted from all around the world. Although this practice is what the site is known for, users can also download any television shows. Until recently YouTube users had access to television episodes from networks like MTV, BET, Nickelodeon and other Viacom properties.

However, according to an article from MarketingVox, negotiations recently broke down between YouTube, Google, and Viacom, and the site is being forced to remove more than 100,000 clips. In the past, this popular content represented more than 1.2 billion video streams on YouTube.

Viacom's dissatisfaction with the site stems from the fact that Youtube and Google retain all the revenue from using the material yet they have failed to provide compensation to the people who actually worked on creating the shows. Viacom also claims YouTube failed to provide promised filtering tools that would let Viacom and others know when copyright-infringing videos were being uploaded.

This evolution of CGM was bound to stir up ethical and legal questions. It's important for all parties involved to know the laws and adjust their practices online accordingly. For now, with this impending restriction the users lose more than the powerful corporations.

Battle of the CGM: MySpace v. Bebo

Although MySpace.com is the most popular social network in the United States, its U.K. competitor Bebo is becoming extremely well known.

According to Marketingvox.com, this new recognition may be coming from the sites new advertising approaches. Bebo is set to roll out unique ad supported widgets. These small web applications will allow users to embed them in their profile to create a more personalized profile as well as make advertising more relevant to the user and their viewers. This new aspect of the site is very interesting and benefits the users in expressing themselves as well as the advertisers.

This combination of web ads and user viral marketing works well because to viewers it is disguised as user content not marketing. These soon added widgets will come in many forms, including interactive games and photo sharing with the possibilities being endless. The greatest magic trick for any marketer is to market without the consumer knowing he is being marketed to. With the new technology being rolled out by Bebo, this trick may be more than just hype.