Technology vs. Ad Revenue (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Audience Up, Ad Dollars Down
Jaffe Juice
I can’t get enough of the phrase “time-shifters.” It sounds like a terrific late ‘80s sci-fi adventure series that would have starred a cast-off from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” In reality, it is simply a term for television viewers who watch their favorite program after it has aired, either via a DVR or on the web. There are dozens of hit shows available for purchase on iTunes, or even for free via network websites. Joseph Jaffe points out the great irony that because of this, audience figures for some shows have increased dramatically, but eyeballs on advertisements have decreased. “It's a catch-22 to be sure, which surely puts a lot more pressure on in-program monetization e.g. branded entertainment in order to extract incremental value from "more manageable" audience loss. Sounds like a lose-lose situation to me. More measurement and more audience = declining ad revenue?”

So, What's in it for Me?
Engage in PR
I can completely understand how maddening the idea of social media must be to the traditional bean counter concerned with getting a measurable return on investment, which is why I’m delighted to see the survey Kyle Flaherty highlights indicating that spending on social media will continue to rise in 2008 despite ROI concerns. Kyle is flabbergasted that spending will increase despite 41 percent of respondents indicating that the ROI on their social media endeavors was unknown. I take this as a positive sign that marketers are starting to realize that the ways we measure ROI are dramatically changing, and that while spending may go up on a program whose returns are not easily quantifiable, returns may be splendid on a program that costs very little (a blog, a viral, etc). Does it all even out? How will we change our metrics to find out? “Make sure to quantify what you want to accomplish; is it number of users added, how many, percentage growth, creation of qualified leads, etc. Then create a process working backwards on how to track, paying particularly attention to your web analytics engine and how it measures traffic. Don’t start a social media program without defined quantitative goals!”

Right to Life(cast)
Neville Hobson
There’s a great t-shirt that reads “Nobody cares about your blog.” I love it, because anyone with a blog probably knows that a certain amount of ego goes along with the expectation that people will want to come read about your life. A gentle reminder that really, most people simply don’t care, is occasionally important to keep us all earthbound. Apparently, we need a new shirt reading “Nobody cares about your lifecast.” Neville points to a Justin.tv lifecaster upset that he was asked to remove his camera in a movie theater. Neville points out that the man’s behavior towards the movie theater employee, who clearly had no understanding of the rather new concept of broadcasting one’s life on the web, was inappropriate, and an example of the “ugly” side of social media fads. The lifecaster, Ronald Lewis, argues that he had no intentions of pirating the movie, and shouldn’t have been asked to remove his equipment. I don’t think Mr. Lewis is a pirate, but should a movie theater employee who only sees a camera really be expected to know that? “The problem, though, is when a lifecaster behaves as if he or she has an absolute right to just go somewhere and start broadcasting. That problem is amplified when the lifecaster is convinced he/she has been severely wronged when prevented from doing that, posts a video recording of his encounter and tries to justify his “right” to lifecast anything, anywhere.”

Shhhh...
Chris Brogan
It occurred to me after reading Chris Brogan’s post on the fine art of listening, that I’ve never read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” I’ve got to add that to my list, because I couldn’t agree more with Habit 5, which Chris highlights here: remember that we have “twice as many ears as we do mouths.” The blogosphere can be quite full of bluster at times, and (see above) people whose britches have maybe gotten just a bit tight for their egos. Stopping to listen and consider the opinions and thoughts of others can be essential for the social media professional. Chris outlines where to go to find the best RSS feeds to listen in on, recommending Technorati, Google Blog Search, Twitter and more. “Conversations are happening online in all kinds of places. It’s important to understand how to get in there, and how to listen where the conversations are happening. Here’s a very impartial list of places to listen and how.”