I just signed up for Technorati and in order to get the most out of their services I need to go ahead and include a link to my my Technorati profile.

This will as they say, "release the spiders" into my blog and the rest is well, I will let you know.

Technorati is a website that helps to index and track the popularity and influence of blogs on the web. I'm new to it but once I use it for a few days I'm sure I will have a better understanding of how it works and what its benefits are.

Here goes...

Technorati Profile

Did you hear that?  Uggh I hate spiders...

Tracking, analyzing and learning about an audience.  That's a place where the web has a huge advantage over any other media platform.

If you don't believe me let's put it into perspective for you using RADIO.

Did you know that radio ratings are determined by junk mail? It's true.

A company named Arbitron will send out pamphlets to random households in each radio market during every ratings period and instruct people to fill out a daily journal tracking their listening habits.

People are expected first of all not to throw this Arbitron Diary away with the rest of the junk mail but then they have to carry it around with them and jot down their listening information or even worse at the end of the day remember exactly what station they were listening to and when and record it accurately.

What a horrible system! The reason station are always saying their station name between songs, in and out of songs and in and out of commercial sets is to imprint that name in your head so even if you aren't listening to them you may think you were and jot down their station in your diary anyway.

People's careers are saved and lost, demographics are determined and decisions are made all depending on how accurately random people fill out some junk mail.

With the web it can be way more accurate. Below you'll be able to view a video that features a short interview with Todd Parsons, co-founder of Buzz Logic.  Buzz Logic is a company that can help track the main influencers on the web.  

By analyzing who people are linking to and linking from when it comes to certain products, people or topics they can help companies and individuals understand who is setting the tone of the conversation when it comes to their product, idea or initiative.

Companies can then take that information and reach out to the trend setters and opinion makers and hopefully gain valuable feedback and ideas.  

How valuable is it to know who the real influencers are and who is really setting the tone of the conversation when it comes to your stuff??  I would say it's gold but really it's priceless.

With the web we are really beginning to understand more and more about how ideas spread, who is spreading them and how to change and shape those ideas.  It has never been easier to get instant, honest and specific feedback on products and audience.  

No longer do we have to rely on old demographic models that assume that Males 18-24 years old are only interested in beer and strip clubs while Women 25-54 only want to listen to pop music and talk about decorating.

How insulting. 

How many times have you seen someone who defies the demographic norm?  Yet we still tend to go by them because we have been lacking a better system to gauge it all.

We really are way more complex than that as people and the web is starting to shed light on the reality of it all. We still haven't perfected the analyzation of audience and opinion yet but with the web we are getting closer and closer each day.

Most of the spend in social media hasn't been adjusted downward even though the economy is going downhill fast.

In addition - you need metrics - and I don't know too many places that have Buzz Logic or Buzz Metrics:

1. Focus on Social Applications - At a minimum, get involved in communities and social networks where your customers are already engaged. If your budget allows, include outreach to key influencers and optimizing your content and social applications for syndication.
2. Focus on a few things and do them well - the desire to experiment in social marketing sometimes leads to the temptation to just throw together some initiatives and see what sticks. Marketers would do better to focus on a few strategic initiatives that will drive their objectives and make them successful.
3. Invest in Social Metrics - all of your social initiatives should have clear measurement and payoff. Many of the social influence tools can also be used to help marketers identify influencers and buzz which can in turn help you to optimize your social marketing. At Crimson we have been using BuzzLogic and Buzz Metrics with our clients with great success. Having said that, most of these tools are still fairly new and the reporting is of most value when overlayed with more traditional web metrics. Picking the right tool will depend on your objectives - and as with any online marketing metrics tool - analysis, insight and refinement are key.