Hi there !
This blog, somewhat changed in focus and now in Wordpress format, has moved home. My new blog on International Web Presence can now be found at: e-vorsprung.com.
I hope you continue to follow me and look forward to your feedback and comments.
My new website is also under development and can be found at: www.evorspung.com.
Bye and hopefully see you in my 'new home' :)
Susanne
Sunday 4 August 2013
Tuesday 6 December 2011
Twitter and its revenue model(s): past, present, future
I have always been fascinated by Twitter. While some people think writing something that is only 140 characters long by its nature has to be superficial, I am a great believer of the power of brevity and - in days of information overload - indeed also the need for brevity.
And as integrating a link (leading to more content) in your tweet is easily done, the 140 characters rule can be easily broken, as done by many tweets which simply act as signposts to a much longer piece of text.
The Twitter business model, however, is a different story and for some time has puzzled me as well as others, as Twitter kept very silent about it for a long time and also seemed to make the point that, unlike Facebook, advertising revenue would not be the main revenue.
This has the world waiting, some in doubt, some in expectation (including myself) what the business model might eventually be - a question that has gone unanswered for a long time, especially if you consider the value attached to the company and its growth pattern.
Now, as the recent interview wih Adam Bain from below shows, the answer is here: The revenue model, without mentioning numbers, is predominantly advertisement-based and indeed the advertising part of the business has experienced a phenonemal and rapid growth in the last 18 months resulting in there now being a solid base of 2,400 advertisers on Twitter.
It was a very interesting interview, but the answer still comes to me as a little bit of a disappointment: I guess I had expected something slightly more innovative and novel, something that counterbalances the competitive disadvantage that Twitter in my view has in the advertising arena, when compared to, for example Google and Facebook: less customer insight data that their competitors, the latter of course a key pre-requisite of focused customer targetting and marketing success.
On the other hand, I think, there is an awful lot to be said for the clean and simple 140 format and the requirement for a succinct advertising message to be developed by advertisers - a challenge and opportunity for advertisers at the same time ! A space worth watching !
And as integrating a link (leading to more content) in your tweet is easily done, the 140 characters rule can be easily broken, as done by many tweets which simply act as signposts to a much longer piece of text.
The Twitter business model, however, is a different story and for some time has puzzled me as well as others, as Twitter kept very silent about it for a long time and also seemed to make the point that, unlike Facebook, advertising revenue would not be the main revenue.
This has the world waiting, some in doubt, some in expectation (including myself) what the business model might eventually be - a question that has gone unanswered for a long time, especially if you consider the value attached to the company and its growth pattern.
Now, as the recent interview wih Adam Bain from below shows, the answer is here: The revenue model, without mentioning numbers, is predominantly advertisement-based and indeed the advertising part of the business has experienced a phenonemal and rapid growth in the last 18 months resulting in there now being a solid base of 2,400 advertisers on Twitter.
It was a very interesting interview, but the answer still comes to me as a little bit of a disappointment: I guess I had expected something slightly more innovative and novel, something that counterbalances the competitive disadvantage that Twitter in my view has in the advertising arena, when compared to, for example Google and Facebook: less customer insight data that their competitors, the latter of course a key pre-requisite of focused customer targetting and marketing success.
On the other hand, I think, there is an awful lot to be said for the clean and simple 140 format and the requirement for a succinct advertising message to be developed by advertisers - a challenge and opportunity for advertisers at the same time ! A space worth watching !
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Imagine ... a life without Social Media
Lots of great data and research is available on numbers of users for various social media, often broken down by social media type as well as user demographics, including country, age, gender.
I love these statistics and analysing how different demographic groups show different levels of enthusiam for social media. Alex Trimpe's video below provides a wonderful short overview of how pervasive social media, i.e. in this case Facebook, have become in our lives.
The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.
However, the real question lurking behind all this is, of course, WHY do people use and/or not use social media ?? And here, I am in particular referring to private as opposed to business use as the latter can usually be relatively easily explained in terms of marketing ROI.
In Germany, I know a number of people that are reluctant users or indeed non-users. In another conversation the other day, the person I asked about their vehement refusal to jon Facebook answered my question (typical Irish!) with another question, i.e. why should he use social media when life was possible without them and indeed had been fine without them ?
The latter statement, of course can be said about a lot of things, ranging from the introduction of toilets (okay, I admit, maybe a somewhat krass example - who you really want to go back to the time before their existence ?) to more recent and maybe less life-critical inventions, such as the radio, the television, the phone, the mobile phone.
So, is taking a stance against social media the reaction of a luddite or that of a pragmatist ?
My own view, would be it is a bit of both. There is no harm initially resisting and in particular questioning new technological phenonema that have the potential to dramatically impact and change daily life. However, I think you also need to be open to change and evaluate the pros and cons brought about by a technology. The latter is a characteristic I often miss in those people that show a strong resistance, often combined with a lack of experience with the new technology.
Would I be able to live without social media ? Yes, I would and I would be so delighted at the bit of extra time I freed up in my busy schedule: Finally time to catch up with friends again, some local friends who I can meet for a coffee or indeed finally time to phone the more remote friends I have in other countries ... So, no social media, less sitting at the PC. Lots of changes to HOW I do things ... but would it dramatically change WHAT I do ? Probably not...
So, what is your view ? Can you live without social media ? And most importantly, what are your reasons for using or indeed not using social media ?
I love these statistics and analysing how different demographic groups show different levels of enthusiam for social media. Alex Trimpe's video below provides a wonderful short overview of how pervasive social media, i.e. in this case Facebook, have become in our lives.
The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.
However, the real question lurking behind all this is, of course, WHY do people use and/or not use social media ?? And here, I am in particular referring to private as opposed to business use as the latter can usually be relatively easily explained in terms of marketing ROI.
In Germany, I know a number of people that are reluctant users or indeed non-users. In another conversation the other day, the person I asked about their vehement refusal to jon Facebook answered my question (typical Irish!) with another question, i.e. why should he use social media when life was possible without them and indeed had been fine without them ?
The latter statement, of course can be said about a lot of things, ranging from the introduction of toilets (okay, I admit, maybe a somewhat krass example - who you really want to go back to the time before their existence ?) to more recent and maybe less life-critical inventions, such as the radio, the television, the phone, the mobile phone.
So, is taking a stance against social media the reaction of a luddite or that of a pragmatist ?
My own view, would be it is a bit of both. There is no harm initially resisting and in particular questioning new technological phenonema that have the potential to dramatically impact and change daily life. However, I think you also need to be open to change and evaluate the pros and cons brought about by a technology. The latter is a characteristic I often miss in those people that show a strong resistance, often combined with a lack of experience with the new technology.
Would I be able to live without social media ? Yes, I would and I would be so delighted at the bit of extra time I freed up in my busy schedule: Finally time to catch up with friends again, some local friends who I can meet for a coffee or indeed finally time to phone the more remote friends I have in other countries ... So, no social media, less sitting at the PC. Lots of changes to HOW I do things ... but would it dramatically change WHAT I do ? Probably not...
So, what is your view ? Can you live without social media ? And most importantly, what are your reasons for using or indeed not using social media ?
Sunday 27 November 2011
Christmas Online
I just finished a brief blog post for the charity I work for, Give&Buy, a classified ads website, where 100% of all moneys raised go to charity: With Christmas nearing, we are encouraging people to buy some of their presents at our Website (and hence in aid of charity) and also at the same time - and equally important - encouraging people to donate goods of services to Give&Buy, so we can offer a great range of interesting goods to choose from.
In this context, I looked at Christmas shopping trends for this year, where the three big macro-trends seem to very much reflect the economic and technological times we live in:
1. Less spend on Christmas gifts this year
2. More buying online
3. A trends towards re-gifting and buying more meaningful gifts
The online trend of course is most interesting for the discussion here. The trend was already strong on 2010, where a study showed that 59% of Germans and 61% of British people (compared to an EU average of 51%) said they would do a considerable part of their Christmas shopping online.
This year again, the trend is expected to continue, with, for example in Germany, one in three Germans planning to do their shopping online, quoting convenience (delivery to the home, shopping anytime) and cost amongst the main reasons for their decision.
What are your plans for Christmas shopping this year ? Have you started yet ? And which channel are you planning to use ?
In this context, I looked at Christmas shopping trends for this year, where the three big macro-trends seem to very much reflect the economic and technological times we live in:
1. Less spend on Christmas gifts this year
2. More buying online
3. A trends towards re-gifting and buying more meaningful gifts
The online trend of course is most interesting for the discussion here. The trend was already strong on 2010, where a study showed that 59% of Germans and 61% of British people (compared to an EU average of 51%) said they would do a considerable part of their Christmas shopping online.
This year again, the trend is expected to continue, with, for example in Germany, one in three Germans planning to do their shopping online, quoting convenience (delivery to the home, shopping anytime) and cost amongst the main reasons for their decision.
What are your plans for Christmas shopping this year ? Have you started yet ? And which channel are you planning to use ?
Wednesday 23 November 2011
The world in the eyes of Twitter statistics
Being a data-loving nosy parker, one of my biggest Internet sins is to get caught up in looking at statistics on various things - some good, some dubious - including of course statistics showing patterns of Internet use.
There are many great sites for this, one such being Social Bakers. Here I was looking at some of the Twitter stats today.
I had really been looking for usage numbers by country having found some - rather dubious - ones on another website yesterday. But, instead, the Twitter statistics here take a slightly different angle and instead of user numbers per country focus more on giving details on accounts, brands, and media with high numbers of Twitter followers.
And looking at this makes your mind boggle. Worth a look in particular is the section on top twitter accountstwitter accounts andtop twitter brands:
The three top Twitter accounts are Lady Gaga, followed by Justin Bieber, followed by Barrack Obama. Hmm, so this is what makes the world tick. What an interesting reflection of popular topics and figures of public interest today! I love looking at data like this and what they tell us about the current Zeitgeist. Another (now somewhat out-of-date, yet still) interesting treasure in terms of looking at the world reflected in users online behaviour is of course Bill Tancer's book Click: What millions of people are doing online and why it matters. Certainly an enjoyable and recommended read.
But let's not divert and instead take a look at the top brands listed here for Twitter! Number one here is Charity Water, that is the brand of a non-profit organization for bringing clean and safe drinking water to the people of the developing nations.
Of course, water is a critical resource impacting the life and quality of life of milions of people and there is no doubt that this brand deserves a top position. But who would have thought a charity brand can make it to the top ?! It goes to show the power of the Internet as an enabler of non-mainstream views, businesses, and topics, great !
And where, I am wondering, in this list of Twitter top brands is the usual top brand trio of Coca-Cola, IBM, and Microsoft ?? Not sure, but neither of them appears in the top 21 shown on the first page and I am not checking further right now.
There are many great sites for this, one such being Social Bakers. Here I was looking at some of the Twitter stats today.
I had really been looking for usage numbers by country having found some - rather dubious - ones on another website yesterday. But, instead, the Twitter statistics here take a slightly different angle and instead of user numbers per country focus more on giving details on accounts, brands, and media with high numbers of Twitter followers.
And looking at this makes your mind boggle. Worth a look in particular is the section on top twitter accountstwitter accounts andtop twitter brands:
The three top Twitter accounts are Lady Gaga, followed by Justin Bieber, followed by Barrack Obama. Hmm, so this is what makes the world tick. What an interesting reflection of popular topics and figures of public interest today! I love looking at data like this and what they tell us about the current Zeitgeist. Another (now somewhat out-of-date, yet still) interesting treasure in terms of looking at the world reflected in users online behaviour is of course Bill Tancer's book Click: What millions of people are doing online and why it matters. Certainly an enjoyable and recommended read.
But let's not divert and instead take a look at the top brands listed here for Twitter! Number one here is Charity Water, that is the brand of a non-profit organization for bringing clean and safe drinking water to the people of the developing nations.
Of course, water is a critical resource impacting the life and quality of life of milions of people and there is no doubt that this brand deserves a top position. But who would have thought a charity brand can make it to the top ?! It goes to show the power of the Internet as an enabler of non-mainstream views, businesses, and topics, great !
And where, I am wondering, in this list of Twitter top brands is the usual top brand trio of Coca-Cola, IBM, and Microsoft ?? Not sure, but neither of them appears in the top 21 shown on the first page and I am not checking further right now.
Friday 18 November 2011
Some thoughts on Twitter
I have not been twittering for a few days ... and, more importantly, I did not log into Tweetdeck, while working, for a few days.
So, what is the impact ?
- Did a life without Tweetdeck increase my level of productivity ? YES!
- Did I miss anything substantial ? NO! (or as my granny used to say: "what you do know, you can't miss")
So, the conclusion might be, social media are a distraction and should be avoided.
But I am not sure! I have very mixed feelings about social media:
On the one hand, yes, my little experiment showed there is a distraction factor. And the value derived from tweets varies, as tweets vary greatly in quality and - even with careful selection of tweeters to follow - relevance.
However, on the other hand, I think social media are absolutely wonderful when - as most things in life - used with a bit of thought and a certain level of moderation. And I especially love the brevity and no-nonsense approach of Twitter. This to me in a world full of constantly changing data and information is of great appeal.
And just look at some of the numbers of the Twitter success story ! These are from March 2011 and presumably have risen since. Aren't they just amazing ?!
So, what is the impact ?
- Did a life without Tweetdeck increase my level of productivity ? YES!
- Did I miss anything substantial ? NO! (or as my granny used to say: "what you do know, you can't miss")
So, the conclusion might be, social media are a distraction and should be avoided.
But I am not sure! I have very mixed feelings about social media:
On the one hand, yes, my little experiment showed there is a distraction factor. And the value derived from tweets varies, as tweets vary greatly in quality and - even with careful selection of tweeters to follow - relevance.
However, on the other hand, I think social media are absolutely wonderful when - as most things in life - used with a bit of thought and a certain level of moderation. And I especially love the brevity and no-nonsense approach of Twitter. This to me in a world full of constantly changing data and information is of great appeal.
And just look at some of the numbers of the Twitter success story ! These are from March 2011 and presumably have risen since. Aren't they just amazing ?!
Friday 11 November 2011
Any Free Lunch at Facebook ?
Last week I looked at Facebook penetration Ireland vs. Germany and observed that Facebook penetration in Germany is considerably lower than in Ireland.
This immediately raises the question for the reasons for this difference in usage, and if you follow the related news in both countries, you will notice a considerably difference in terms of the public discussion on the topic of Facebook: In Germany (and that really also includes the other German-speaking nations of Europe, i.e. Austria and Switzerland) there is a lively and often rather critical debate with regard to Facebook’s approach to users’ data, in particular the LIKE button and face recognition.
Personally, I have for quite some time been on the non-German and more relaxed side of the debate considering the German discussion on data privacy somewhat exaggerated and paranoid – after all, as they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. And if users want to use the Facebook platform for free, giving up certain rights to their data is just the price you pay...
However, as I started to dig deeper into the issue, I have somewhat changed my mind on the topic and can indeed see and agree with certain aspects of the German discussion: And after all, it’s not as if anyone wants to ban Facebook – no, it’s just about being more accountable, more transparent and in some cases adding some functionality that gives people a choice. Surely, this should not be a major issue ...
So it’s good to see then today in the Wall Street Journal that the US Government is making some headway in making Facebook more accountable and transparent.
I’d love to hear what’s your view on the topic ? Which side on the debate are you on, and why ?
This immediately raises the question for the reasons for this difference in usage, and if you follow the related news in both countries, you will notice a considerably difference in terms of the public discussion on the topic of Facebook: In Germany (and that really also includes the other German-speaking nations of Europe, i.e. Austria and Switzerland) there is a lively and often rather critical debate with regard to Facebook’s approach to users’ data, in particular the LIKE button and face recognition.
Personally, I have for quite some time been on the non-German and more relaxed side of the debate considering the German discussion on data privacy somewhat exaggerated and paranoid – after all, as they say, there is no such thing as a free lunch. And if users want to use the Facebook platform for free, giving up certain rights to their data is just the price you pay...
However, as I started to dig deeper into the issue, I have somewhat changed my mind on the topic and can indeed see and agree with certain aspects of the German discussion: And after all, it’s not as if anyone wants to ban Facebook – no, it’s just about being more accountable, more transparent and in some cases adding some functionality that gives people a choice. Surely, this should not be a major issue ...
So it’s good to see then today in the Wall Street Journal that the US Government is making some headway in making Facebook more accountable and transparent.
I’d love to hear what’s your view on the topic ? Which side on the debate are you on, and why ?
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