Dan Soschin

Did Groupon Miss It’s Narrow Window of Opportunity?

Many social media phenomena, when dissected, are rather simple conceptual models. Facebook was nothing technically sophisticated, nor Twitter. There were unique and revolutionary, but certainly not scientific breakthroughs (social-economic impact aside).

So, many social media businesses and sites have a huge potential problem ahead: low barrier to entry for would-be competitors. Usually the only hurdle is adoption. And of course that is HUGE hurdle. Sure, you can build Facebook2.com, but will anyone care?

So what if your competition could remove that final barrier to entry – adoption? Then you’d really be screwed, no?

So by now (thanks for reading this far), you’ve probably realized I’m going to mention Groupon’s rejection of Google’s $6 billion larger-than-life buyout offer. Most of us, myself included, probably don’t have access to the “bullet points” that Groupon used to justify rejecting the offer.

But here’s the problem. The technology and concept are extremely simple. So the only barrier to competition is adoption by users. Google doesn’t really have a handicap in this area. After all, Groupon gets all its users by advertising on Google.

So Google just announced that it will be launching it’s own social buying experience to compete head on with Groupon, and it’s called “Google Offers”.

Google has the technology, concept and reach, so I don’t expect it to be long before it becomes a serious threat to Groupon. I do believe that many of these services CAN co-exist. After all, they are just coupons… and Americans love coupons. I believe there are enough local deals to go around to support multiple vendors. Social Living is competing and co-existing with Groupon quite nicely, so there’s probably room for a 3rd competitor. There are many smaller local competitors too.

But, a year from now, I wonder how much Groupon will be worth to its investors and whether or not that $6 billion “no thank you” was a smart decision.
5 Social Media Trends in 2011

Great article on five social media macro predictions for 2011. I really agree with the fact that overall, far more emphasis will be placed on social media in 2011, but mainly to understand how to value it within the matrix of corporate priorities. This will ultimately require better monitoring and measurement as well.

Here’s the full article:

http://www.freshnetworks.com/blog/2010/12/five-trends-for-marketers-to-watch-in-social-media-in-2011/
Add Google Analytics to your Facebook Page

I’m a big supporter of Google Analytics for many reasons, including its usability, unlimited licensing, ease of use, custom segments, custom reports and so much more. Recently, I’ve desired to use GA to track many of my other sites that I do not host (or have access to the source code). After doing some digging, I came across this post on how to add GA to your Facebook page. Conceptually, this is very simple and if you have ever edited a Facebook page, it will be a piece of cake. If you haven’t edited FBML, there are a some great resources sites (just run a search and you’ll find help)… if you are familiar with HTML, then you’ll be able to pick it up quickly.

Here’s the info on how to add GA to Facebook:

http://blogs.sitepoint.com/2010/11/11/google-analytics-on-facebook-page/
How Many Web Sites Use Google Analytics?

As a marketing consultant, I am often asked/hired/consulted with regards to implementing a web site traffic analysis package. I’ve pretty much used them all, with heavy emphasis and recent preference for Google Analytics. Though, I do find myself having to sell this product to executives a little more than other tools, but in the end, it’s never failed to deliver valuable insight.

Here’s a great web site that updates statistics on analytics packages on a regular basis to illustrate market share. I recommend referencing this site in any analytics presentation:

http://trends.builtwith.com/analytics/Google-Analytics
Craigslist Job Post Scam

One of my companies recently experienced a new type of scam on Craigslist.

The company was advertising jobs on a variety of job boards (including Craigslist).

However, someone else (the scam artist), purchased a job listing on Craigslist and re-posted a version of the job. There were some significant differences, but only noticeable by the employer, not the job seeker. Things such as the hourly wage, corporate boilerplate and other items were not fully accurate.

What’s more, the e-mail address to apply was obviously not one affiliated with the employer. Instead, it was that of the scam artist who claimed they were an agency and that to apply for the job you had to purchase a credit report from their site.

Can you believe this?

The most frustrating thing is Craigslist’s inability to respond to our phone calls and e-mails. We’ve been trying for days to contact them with little success. The postings were flagged enough times that they were removed, but then reappeared a few days later.

I’m beginning to think the Craigslist model is no longer viable in today’s evolution of the Internet.
Private College – Think Twice

Families really need to think twice about sending their children to private colleges, unless those families can pay the entire fees out of pocket with minimal debt.

College debts are soaring with few signs of letting up. Analysts are predicting a bubble akin to the mortgage crisis. Personally, I think it may be even worse. Kids are graduating college with six figures of debt. Just servicing these debts is troubling for many.

Families that cannot afford college should rethink taking on big loans. In my opinion there is little difference between a non-top-tier school and a community college. With the advent of online schools combined with thriving community colleges, private universities will eventually fold.

Here’s the story from Yahoo! Finance:

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/111460/is-the-college-debt-bubble-ready-to-explode
Email Engagement – A Quick Primer

Here’s a great article with four helpful tips on making your email marketing messages more engaging from Blue Sky Factory: http://blog.blueskyfactory.com/creativeanddesign/4-email-marketing-creatives-that-made-me-convert/

I’d like to focus on the “create reminders”. Not all software can do this, but those of you sending out B2B webcast invitations and reminders via email MUST have an option for someone to save the event to calendar. There is neat software like Trumba which can also enable reminders, you just need to find the right package for you. Let your customers personalize how they want to be engaged and the likelihood that they’ll participate in whatever you’re marketing will increase dramatically.

And by all means, personalize messages (when appropriate) beyond inserting a first name. For instance, if you are in retail, suggest complimentary products based upon previous purchases; suggest geographically popular items; or even get creative with seasonally specific products (cold-friendly items in areas where it is cold)… and so on…
Don’t re-invent the wheel on your blog

It’s challenging to constantly come up with new and meaningful content for a blog. Most of the time, there’s little left to say that hasn’t already been said. And for those of you who read this blog, you’re already familiar with my style. I like to share the great articles I come across with, and add my own two cents. This gives me a constant stream of content to share, discuss and post. For those of you who desire to create your own blog… simply start out by sharing articles, tips and tools you’ve come across and provide your quick feedback. These short tidbits will populate your blog in no time. It’s like a readers digest RSS feed. You’re providing a quick summary and analysis of information that’s important to you.

Here’s a great article on this concept over at http://www.FridayTrafficReport.com:
http://www.fridaytrafficreport.com/blog-riffing-for-backlinks-content-ideas-and-more-blog-traffic/.
More choice is not always better

Interesting article on how offering too many choices and features on your website can inhibit a purchase. This is a theory I wholeheartedly subscribe to, especially when it comes to a landing page for a specific campaign meant to generate leads.

When you are running a campaign driving people to a landing page, you need to convert them, which usually means capturing their information in exchange for a download, contest entry, or knowledge, etc. So, if you offer ways off the landing page, you’re potentially diverting converting leads to other areas. So be careful when laying out navigation and choice for landing pages, or shopping carts. Too many choices can be a distraction.

Here’s the article: http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2011/01/11/website-usability-looses-money/
Search Stats

Here’s a great post containing some compelling statistics about the importance of a brand in search… pay close attention to the stat that shows about 1 in 3 people don’t know the difference between the paid ads displayed and the organic results. Also of note is the strong role brand awareness plays in driving search queries.

http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/7027-20-stats-you-might-not-know-about-user-search-behaviour