Deb's SM Survey:

Before Web 2.0, there was Web 1.0 – only no one called it that.  But as soon as there were graphical web browsers – and possibly before – there were companies figuring out how to use the internet to popularize their brand and get new customers.

Companies soon began to create web pages.  Clickable banner ads first came into use in 1993 or 1994 (the 1994 date is better documented), and are still very popular today. The advent of easy to use animation programs (today primarily Flash), added another element to these ads and also spurred the creation of various types of ads that expand over the web site. (There are also pop-up ads and other variations of ads that appear before, after, or in-between the web pages you want to look at.)

Email newsletters and ads sent to customers who have opted in (or didn’t notice the check box to opt out) are also still in use and can be effective.  Combining email newsletters with blogs is a technique to bring a social media component to these standard tools.

Finally, search engine marketing (SEM) is a huge and growing business.  This is the business that made Google its billions.  SEM involves bidding for positions in the “sponsored” areas of search engines.  Since most people don’t go beyond the first screen page when searching, SEM can be a cost effective way to get an ad at the top of the page.  SEM is different from SEO, Search Engine Optimization, which involves using meta tags, keywords and links to boost a website’s search ranking.

While the focus of this blog and my study is on “social media” and Web 2.0, it’s important to note that these other advertising techniques are still very important and are driving a large percentage of the spending on online advertising. 

Note: some of this information came from notes from COM CM651, “New Media Strategies and Design” at Boston University School of Communications, summer 2006, taught by Tom Fauls and Melissa Horvath.

Additional References:
http://www.justinmichie.com/free_articles/are_banner_ads_still_an_effective_form_of_internet_marketing.php
http://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/710/Marketing-Internet.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_advertising
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_Engine_Marketing
http://searchengineland.com/

I’ve been neglecting the RSS!  1000+ posts.  I skimmed through many of them. Here are a few links on social media I found interesting:

Chris Brogan gives us his Basic Social Media Strategy.

David Weinberger in his blog points to a new study about user created content and millenials (51% of all consumers watch user-created-content).

Peter Childs comments on social media styles.

Brad Linder of Download Squad discusses a British study on friends and social networking sites and Gordon Finlayson of Download Squad interviews the director of a Facebook-facing record label

Finally, Digital Media Wire’s Buzz Watch reports on Bo Burnham, whose videos have a huge online following.

My first blog post on my very own blog. 

I’m engaged in an independent study on using social media for media marketing, and this blog will document some of my findings, as well as other social media items of interest that I find along the way. 

More will be coming very soon.