Web Business by Ken Burbary

We’re often so focused on the next big thing or mesmerized by the daily innovation of new services, tools and technologies that emerge on the web that something goes unnoticed. We slowly lose our stable footing and begin to get out of touch with reality. Some of us talk about it as “living inside the fishbowl”, and there is truth to the metaphor. While social computing, social media, and social business design may be the future for the web, we’re just not there yet. Change can be difficult. Things take time, no matter how much we want others to join us in the social web. Consider these facts a reminder about what’s happening in the Digital Marketing & Advertising world, TODAY.

• Search is still King of Digital - According to comScore, there were 13.6 billion searches last month by online Americans. Google maintains the lion share of that volume, at 65%. Google’s continued dominance in search is why they continue to rake in the cash, generating $5.52 billion in revenue for Q2 2009. Simple math says Google is averaging $20 billion in revenue annually, while social darlings such as Twitter have yet to demonstrate a sound business model let alone any revenue. At the end of the day, the biggest business in Digital remains paid search advertising and display advertising. Companies spend millions on them and will continue to do so until these channels stop performing. Even Facebook, which boasts 250 million active users worldwide, only generates an estimated $300-$350 million in revenue, a mere fraction of Google’s financial success.
• Email Marketing, strong and still growing – Email has been and continues to be one of the workhorses of Digital communications. Despite all the innovation in communications technologies we’ve seen with the emergence of social, email continues to grow in total spend, offers mature measurement and analytics, and can be deployed very cost effectively as a result of falling CPMs and a high ROI.
• Mobile finally emerges as a viable option – Mobile device penetration is sufficiently high enough that it has become a viable option for companies to pursue cost effectively, and on terms consumers prefer. Already we’re seeing mobile economies generate substantial revenues. The Apple app store sells $200 million worth of mobile software applications each month, putting the iPhone app economy at $2.4 billion. Additionally, the Android marketplace brings in $5 million per month in mobile app sales.
• Online brands declared dead still thrive – Facebook and Twitter seem to dominate headlines and consumer attention, or do they? Myspace is still drawing in ~60 million unique visitors per month. While this trails Facebook by a wide margin, that is TRIPLE than number of active monthly unique visitors Twitter brings in. Now, that isn’t to mean I expect Myspace to win the social network arms race, but rather to demonstrate that it is still a thriving destination where millions of consumers spend their time. Looking at the top 50 most visited Web Properties in July 2009 and you can see other online brands that have been written off, Yahoo, AOL, even Microsoft Expedia.

Don’t disregard these destinations as irrelevant until you’ve done due diligence to understand your target audience, and where they spend their time.

The point of all this is to remember that we live in a heavily diversified online landscape. Resist the allure of shiny objects, and don’t buy into a single channel silver bullet theory (especially social!). Work hard to understand your audience, and craft a strategy to engage that is spread across the relevant channels listed above. An integrated, diversified Digital asset allocation will provide the most effective results, and with the least amount of risk.

Detroit has an thriving community of Digital marketing, advertising, creative and technology professionals. The community does exceptional work supporting the online communication efforts of brands like Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Jeep, GeekSquad, United States Postal Service, Unite States Navy, and Michelin to name a few. However, we’ve long lived in the shadow of our industrial reputation the region earned decades ago. We’re trying to change that and show a different side of Detroit, the Digital side. Some ambitious members of this community have submitted their ideas for panels at the 2010 SXSW interactive festival. For those unfamiliar with it, SXSWi is one of, if not, the biggest annual industry event. People travel from all over the globe to attend, learn and share their professional experience in digital communications.

“SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.”

I’m highlighting 6 sessions submitted by Detroit based Digital professionals. I’m asking for your help to get their ideas selected for the conference. It takes only a few moments of your time to vote. Simply go to the SXSW panel picker by clicking on the session titles below, and click the icon to vote (note: you will need to register if you don’t already have an account). Every vote counts. Let’s get these panelists into the “big show” and highlight the emerging talent that is right in your own backyard.

Building Social Strategies at Fortune 100 Companies - panel session with Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company

Description: Companies of all sizes are adopting social media and community, but large organizations have some unique challenges and opportunities. This panel will uncover best practices through stories told by social media leaders from Ford, Nationwide, IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Dell.

Using Social Media to Find a New Gig – panel session by Shelli Gutholm, Aquent

Description: Don’t expect to get your next job by stuffing a bunch of resumes into envelopes and sending to “HR”. The best way to find the job of your dreams is by networking through Social Media. Social networking helps bypass the anonymity of the proverbial resume “black hole”. How you can use Social Media to secure your next job? We will be reviewing the tools and best practices that job seekers should utilize in a search. Also, we will outline some of the common mistakes job seekers make when using Social Media, which could lead to your efforts being sabotaged before they even begin.

Real World ROI and Social Media Strategies – panel session by Cosmin Ghiurau, BOSSdev Inc.

Description: Why Social Matters to Business Calculating the ROI of Social Case Study: CPR Week Digital Campaign for the American Heart Association Available with a client representative to participate These three topics can be presented as independent sessions or combined into one session. All three topics are focused upon how business can effectively understand, implement and measure web 2.0 marketing programs. Knowledge on the latest research and methods for digital marketing and social media Resources to leverage to stay informed on digital marketing and social media Real world examples of how businesses implement and measure web 2.0 programs ROI calculator to estimate and measure your own web 2.0 programs

Beyond the Click: Converting Website Visitors into Customers – solo session by Ayat Shukairy, Invesp Consulting

Description: For an online business, persuading visitors to purchase your product or service is crucial to increasing sales. Using the science and art of analytics analysis, marketing, usability and software, discover how the Conversion Framework approach can convert online visitors into customers such as RHDJapan and Metro Uniforms.

Industrial To Interactive: From Old Town To Tech Town – panel session by iDetroit members

Description: The idea of your city being home to the next thriving digital community is enticing. However, traditionally non-tech regions face a challenge. How do you introduce, develop and grow a digital movement within a location that has never seen one? Detroit is one such city currently grappling with this issue.

Using Facebook to Leverage Social Marketing and Gain ROI - dual session by K. Alan Robbins, BOSSdev Inc.

Description: Panel will cover the evolution of the social networking universe; provide valuable information with respect to the capabilities and unique aspects of the Facebook platform; valuable tips to help you craft an effective Facebook guerilla marketing campaign; and provide key criteria to help you to pick an effective development partner.

The cat was let out of the bag today regarding Jeremiah Owyang’s next career move. He’s reuniting with former Forrester colleague Charlene Li and joining her new venture, The Altimeter Group. I wouldn’t argue against what a formidable collection of talent, expertise and passion now exists at this young company. Several prominent folks like Todd Defren, Brian Solis, and Jeremy Pepper have already shared their opinions on what a powerhouse combination of talent this is. The blogosphere doesn’t need another breaking news post, so I’ll refrain from a redundant recap. That said, I wish Jeremiah the best and send him a sincere congratulations on this move.

What interests me much more about this news is that we’re FINALLY starting to see folks involved in the social media space put the focus where it ought to be, on harnessing new strategies and tools to provide more business value, PERIOD. Strip all the social media hype down to the bare minimum and that is all that really matters for business leaders. Social technologies have been a great thing for individuals, ushering in changes that we still haven’t seen the end of. However, what they haven’t done en mass yet is brought the financial and/or business value benefits that they need to, in order for companies to run like mad and adopt them.

Why not? Because new media and technology developments are moving at light speed, and most (not all, there are positive and credible examples out there) companies don’t have the capability to assess these changes, analyze their pros/cons, and then put together a roadmap for how to adopt and execute with them in a way that is 100% aligned with business objectives and goals. To date, most of the social media for business is about enagement and activity. Is this a good thing? Yes. No. Maybe, but that answer will be different for each company you ask. I think the real “magic” moment for social media is yet to come. People like Jeremiah, Charlene and others realize this, and see the true opportunities for new media & technologies. They want to legitimize the space to businesses. The way to do that is by speaking a language and vocabulary that the business world understands. Not by talking “tweets”, “plurks” and “likes”. Those are internal nuances of the social media black box. Business leaders don’t need, nor want, to get sucked into that conversation. They NEED to know how to integrate social into their business plans, strategies and cultures, in a way that will better their products or services to drive revenue and increase customer satisfaction (think Social Business Design like David Armano from Dachis Corp., not tactical social media).

If it feels like social media needs to grow up and mature, it’s because it does. The folks at Altimeter certainly are not the only ones doing it, but part of the vanguard attempting to change social media from a pimply, awkward teenager into a responsible, polished young adult.