Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Now that we're all on social media, which type of ads are most effective?

A research firm with the great name Psychster has answered the question, at least for now. They tested seven different types, on their client's site allrecipes.com, and on Facebook: brand profile pages with fans and without, widgets you can give to your friends or get, banner ads, newsletters, and sponsored content.

Spoiler alert: ads that matched the site they were on performed best, regardless of type! And engagement, at least as measured as propensity to interact with the ad, seemed not as likely to generate buying intent.

MediaPost Publications What Type Of Social Media Ads Are The Most Effective? 03/30/2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Superpages Offers Coupons to Small Businesses on Twitter | Response Magazine

Another corner turned in the race-- which will make money (appropriate to the usage) first, Twitter or Facebook? And, more to the point, which will make itself more useful to small businesses first?

Superpages Offers Coupons to Small Businesses on Twitter | Response Magazine

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Predicting lifespan of online communities

Through Shaping Tomorrow I found this study of what factors influence the longevity of online communities. "Researchers have previously claimed that there are too many variables influencing the survival or demise of such channels and that there is therefore no way of testing it, and earlier studies have primarily focused on group size and activity."

Turns out the key factor is how quickly the membership turns over -- the more frequently, at least to a point, the better. Those old friends, your first members, loyal as they are, don't contribute much to the life of the network, it seems.