New Media & PR: New Media Morsels

Published February - March 2007 

As the year begins we have added a new column to PR Influences which looks at the New Media and issues, developments and studies that will likely impact on marketers and communicators.

Politicians using Social Media

What do Hilary Clinton and Australian Marrickville Greens candidate Fiona Byrne have in common? They have both launched campaigns via the internet, recently.

Cr Byrne launched her YouTube spot in mid January the first she believes for a NSW candidate. The two minute video was shot in the electorate and introduces her and some of the key campaign issues.  The Marrickville Greens are now producing additional YouTube spots in Greek, Portuguese, Vietnamese and Chinese to cater for their unique population. Byrne said “YouTube is a fresh, innovative communication tool, free to all”. (Source: The Glebe, January 18, 2007).

Meanwhile in the US, Hilary Clinton announced her much awaited presidential candidacy on the web also using YouTube as a distribution mechanism for a well crafted video.

 Pew finds social networking integral to youth in US

More than half of all online American youths age 12-17 use online social networking sites according to a national survey of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project that was published on January 7, 2007.

 Key findings included: 

• 55% of online teens have created a personal profile online, and 55% have used social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook
• 66% of teens who have created a profile say that their profile is not visible to all internet users i.e. they limit access to their profiles
• 48% of teens visit social networking websites daily or more often

Social Media drives E-Commerce

A recent US Hitwise study revealed the impact that social sites have had in driving traffic to other industries on the Web. Director of Research at Hitwise, LeeAnn Prescott said

“As MySpace grows, it is showing up in the upstream and downstream (traffic) of other categories that you wouldn’t necessarily think would be related.

Shopping and classified sites revealed 2.4% of their visits directly from MySpace in September and 83% increase since March this year. Consumer oriented industries that received traffic from MySpace in that period included telecommunications, banks and travel.

MySpace is now a dominant force in social networking, with one in 20 internet visits going to other social networking sites during the month of September.

(Source: MediaPost Publications, Nov 9 & Nov 13, 2006)

Consumer Generated Content gains validity

US market research firm Compete recently produced a survey report. “Embracing Consumer Buzz Creates Measurement Challenges for Marketers” that found that consumers are influenced far more by consumer-generated content (71%) than by information coming directly from brand advertisers and marketers (35%) when making purchasing decisions. This also has a major viral effect on other buyers: 68% influence friends and family post-purchase, magnifying the overall impact.

Key findings from the study:

• 71% of car and travel consumers are influenced by consumer generated content/media
• Only 35% of the same consumers are influenced by brand
• Auto buyers prefer consumer reviews and ratings over company websites (32%) and car dealers (32%)

 “CGM is money in the bank for marketers who know how to tap into the new currency of CGM,” said Cynthia Stephens, director of marketing at Compete, Inc.  “Marketers will need to go beyond buzz-tracking tools to analyze and connect with in-market consumers in a new landscape.  Companies that follow this course have nothing to fear about losing control of the marketing message.”

(Source: Bulldog Reporter, Jan 2007)  

 Customer Product Reviews Drive Online Satisfaction and Conversion

According to the results of the Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index from ForSee Results, and the University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index, customer product reviews online drive satisfaction and loyalty and provide a competitive advantage for sites that offer them.

Larry Freed, President and CEO, ForeSee Results, in summarizing the study, noted that "In our research, 49% of people who bought from one of the top 40 sites in the two weeks prior to the holidays remembered seeing customer product reviews. Mr. Freed concludes that "Customer satisfaction, the focus of the Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index research, is a critical performance metric for online (and offline) organizations. Academic research and corporate experience shows that satisfied customers are more loyal and more likely to engage in positive word of mouth marketing.

(Source: Centre for Media Research Brief January 24, 2007)

 Study: Web users more likely to stream video than download

A recent study commissioned by online audio and video search engine Podzinger  found that consumers are willing to tolerate 10-15 second video ads as part of viewing online content. However they were seen as annoying if repeated too often.

 The study also found that consumers are almost six times more likely to play content online than to download it.  The survey was conducted in Sept this year in US markets.

(Source: MediaPost Publications, November 20, 2006)

Social Media and Search Marketing

In November a Search Insider Summit held in California discussed how social media impacts search. Some of the findings included:

• The usefulness of conducting blog search audits through Technorati and Blogpulse to review buzz about your brand.
• Social media is spawning a range of new search engines… think Space, Second Life and Wikipedia.
• Create a community or tap into one. Delve into social network blogs like Mashable, scan discussions on Meet up and if you can’t find a community that suits you, start one yourself!

 (Source: Search Insider: November 21, 2006)

Digg credibility under fire

Digg, the community-voting site that is supposed to help the Web's best articles rise to the surface, is coming under fire as companies and communities of users with a vested interest in working together are trying to manipulate the site's rankings.

It's similar to click fraud, but rather than using an automated program run by a sketchy third party, this kind is committed with the direct participation of users. Users say the manipulation is eroding Digg's credibility.

The site's executives have owned up to the problem. "People are trying to basically take advantage of Digg by artificially promoting a story with fake diggers or some other methodology of link swapping," Digg Chief Executive Jay Adelson said Digg's egalitarian approach to editorial natural selection has caused many online publications, from blogs to news sites, to add "Digg" buttons to stories, so readers can easily recommend them.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 5/12/06)

 Web 3.0 Already?

Cory Treffiletti of Online Spin (blog) discussed an article written by The New York Times on Nov. 12 discussing Web 3.0 or the "Semantic Web." He says it's got a long way to go, but it basically refers to the ability to layer technology on top of the existing Web that makes it even easier to guide the user through information and aggregate disparate sources together for ease of use. Have you embraced Web 2.0 are you ready for Web 3.0?

(Source: Online Spin, Nov 29, 2006)

Network PR publisher of PR Influences is a Sydney based PR agency that integrates both traditional public relations with the New Media. Please view our website or contact us directly to find out how we can assist you target your online influencers.