MySpace Bots Updating Now

Posted by on Jun 18, 2008 in MySpace | 0 comments

For those marketers using MySpace profile management software, chances are the redesign broke it – expect manufacturers to be issuing updates soon.

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Ask, ask, ask

Posted by on May 17, 2008 in Advertising, Marketing, MySpace, New media | 0 comments

I’ve been looking again at MySpace, as a recent blog post detailed. One of the things I’ve been looking at is the depth of engagement. Is a friend relationship enough to market on? What is the value of a MySpace friendship?

Over the last five days, I’ve been sending out 200 messages a day or so to my MySpace friends, advertising the Financial Aid Podcast. It’s themed pretty basically:

  • Thanks for being a friend of mine and of my show.
  • Here’s three links to iTunes, Google Reader, and the site.
  • Please subscribe.

Financial Aid Podcast StatsHow’s it been going?

I started with a Feedburner number of about 1,000. The show had been static around that number for a while, a couple of months at least. Today? Hit a new record – the last four out of five days.

Ask. Ask those in your network to get connected, ask them to take action, ask them to be more involved in your community efforts. If you don’t ask, you definitely won’t receive.

Still can't ignore MySpace

Posted by on May 13, 2008 in Advertising, MySpace, Social networks | 8 comments

Lots of folks like to hate on MySpace. Sure, it has a web design that makes you cry sometimes. Sure, profiles can be ugly as sin and crash your browser.

But guess what? In addition to 300 million+ profiles, 110 million+ active users, and new data portability initiatives, MySpace has a messaging system.

You may say, so what, Chris? What’s the big deal about MySpace’s equally unpleasant messaging system?

MySpace messages

The deal is this: what percentage of your emails get delivered? Not opened, not read, not clicked. Delivered. Get there in the first place. Do you know? Chances are good it’s not 100%.

For all its flaws, MySpace’s messaging system has 100% deliverability once you friend someone or they friend you. If you’re doing marketing on MySpace, you at least know the message is getting there. Read/acted on is different, but the same rules that govern whether someone opens and acts on your emails govern MySpace messages as well.

You don’t have to market on MySpace. You don’t have to pay attention to any social network – but chances are your competitors are.

Apres moi, le deluge

Posted by on Mar 16, 2008 in MySpace | 0 comments

“Apres moi, le deluge” – Louis XIV

MySpace applications are beginning to roll out.

If you thought vampires and pirates on Facebook was bad, just wait.

In the meantime, expect to get a whole bunch of MySpace friend requests from me and others in the near future.

Exciting things are happening with MySpace, more than ever.

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Why MySpace marketing is still relevant

Posted by on May 15, 2007 in Advertising, Marketing, MySpace, New media | 22 comments

A lot of folks on the cutting edge have already written off MySpace and headed to different online communities. This is perfectly understandable – MySpace has been plagued with spyware, usability issues, and an image problem that Madison Avenue firms would cringe at. The cutting edge has left, and the hip crowd has left for greener pastures.

So, who’s left?

Everyone else. MySpace is over its Dip, if you’re a Seth Godin follower, and is gaining widespread, mainstream adoption. When the cashier at the supermarket, when the 47 year old account, when the woman on the street is talking about MySpace, it’s hit the mainstream, and the reality is that the bulk of your market – unless it’s cutting edge technologists – is in the mainstream.

Now is the time to refocus your MySpace marketing efforts. The bots and scripts are slowly coming back, the service is more aggressive about spam, and the numbers of mainstream users are swelling every day. As of this morning, approximately 4 profiles were being added PER SECOND.

Marketing to MySpace members now also needs to take a more mainstream-friendly approach. If you’re a podcaster, telling people to copy your RSS feed’s URL won’t fly with the mainstream crowd. One click is the limit – make it so easy for your new MySpace audience to get to what you have to offer.

If you follow powerlaw distributions, about 80% of your potential audience is in the mainstream, and they’re just arriving at the party now. Late to the party, perhaps, but they’re bringing spending money, and at the end of the day, that’s what counts most.