Web analytics firm WebTrends has updated its Marketing Lab software suite to version 2, adding two modules for quantifying visitor engagement, and I was briefed on what it adds to behavioral analysis. WebTrends Score lets companies create their own scoring system for measuring the value of activities on their websites. For example, making a purchase can be worth 10 points, viewing a video 5, or requesting more information 3. These scores can be applied retroactively and allow companies to create their own metrics to decide the effectiveness of a campaign. There is no metric for measuring time spent on a page, but you can track individual’s activities over a day, week, or month. WebTrends Visitor Intelligence is a tool for correlating the relationship of different events within a visitor experience, such as tracking people who put products in shopping carts but didn’t buy and compare their activities across a variety of other variables including offline transactions, frequency of purchasing, etc. This kind of cross tabulation lets you get inside the numbers to see opportunities and weaknesses in your marketing strategy and website design. It lets you find out what people with undesired behaviors have in common, and what separates them from your best customers, valuable information indeed. WebTrends developed a new UI for this application including the ability to annotate reports, and has standardized on it for the entire product suite. Pricing for the products is based on the level of analysis and the traffic volume of the websites.
First there were LonelyGirl15 and Amanda Congdon rising from obscurity to web fame. Now there’s singer Esmee Denters, who has gone from singing into a webcam to opening for Justin Timberlake. Denters has proven that with enough talent and determination, even someone from a small town in the Netherlands can become a star in less than a year on YouTube. Denters quickly gained an audience and grew it larger by taking e-mail requests for cover versions of tunes by today’s most popular artists. This is responding to customers at its finest. Although she only spoke to her audience directly a few times in the past year, her videos rose to the top of YouTube and generated more than 21 million streams. Earlier this year she was signed to a record contract by Justin Timberlake and opened for him at several concerts in Europe. Not bad for an 18-year-old, eh? Aside from American Idol, YouTube and MySpace are the vehicles from which tomorrow’s singing and comedic stars will likely rise because they provide a platform for directly connecting with an audience. Corporate blogs and discussion boards are less exciting versions of this, and perhaps video will be the next format. For example, if a company is getting a lot of returns of an item as being faulty because it’s being used incorrectly, a video that shows how to properly use the product could greatly increase customer satisfaction. Or, a CEO responding with a vlog to a growing issue is much more personal than preparing a statement.
A survey of its customers by eMusic says that the majority of customers buy more music after they sign up for the service. As much as self-serving studies should be viewed cautiously, online services can be instrumental in exposing listeners to new music. You may not buy more bands that you already know, but independent and new artists get a boost from services like eMusic. According to eMusic, 84 percent of subscribers discovered music they would not otherwise have known about. The company cited data from Nielsen SoundScan showing that independent label digital album sales increased by 42 percent in the first half of 2007 from 2005.With less exposure to mainstream artists online because of the increased royalty payments to copyright holders indie acts may have the last laugh.
Mega-popular site TechCrunch posted a blog entry yesterday that was a list of its sponsors (aka advertisers)with brief descriptions. This is an unusual move (ploy?) for a blog that is known for hard hitting commentary, and I’m not comfortable with tactic of referring to advertisers within the confines of the blog. The New York Times website or any other old media would never run an article of this nature, and while web rules are generally looser on separating church and state, this is a bad precedent. While you could laud TechCrunch for its straightforwardness in throwing its sponsors a bone, editorial guidelines dictate leaving sponsors out of the content. Publishers are allowed/expected to write about their advertisers when appropriate, but a plug meant to get the advertisers names into the RSS feed is over the line. Ads can run alongside RSS feeds, so there is no need for this. Bloggers (myself included) play under a different set of rules as we often don’t have sales departments, and editors also function as publishers, negotiating deals with the advertisers that we cover. If a sponsor is a strategic partner in a publication, then cover them as a appropriate with full disclosure, but don’t write about them without their being any value for the reader.
Timex is cashing in on the iPod/iPhone euphoria with a new iControl Ironman sports watch that can control the music player. The watch has the traditional controls for managing your workout while also allowing you to skip songs or pump up the volume. Using your $125 watch to control your iPod is ostensibly more convenient than having to dig the player out of your pocket or fiddle with the Nano strapped to your bicep. But since it basically requires both hands to operate, (since the wrist with the watch on it can’t do much else at the time), I’m not sure that this product fills much of a need. When an iPhone is in airplane mode, it can also be controlled by the watch. But if you’re on a plane, you probably have time to play with your phone/iPod directly. Apple has done a great job in making the iPod feel like an indispensable device beyond its actual utility. Companies will continue to take advantage of this perception that has now become a psychological reality for many iPod owners. The iPod is the digital equivalent of the Prius as a status symbol showing that “I’m willing to pay more to be associated with this product.” And that’s what every marketer aspires to create.