mi-space

Refresh Analytics - free to use

Refresh Partners, a company that provides end-to-end marketing solutions for Facebook, Bebo and MySpace applications, is launching Refresh Analytics. This new segment of the Refresh brand actually provides developers and app owners analytic and demographic information about their users.

The 7 chambers

First to market - Launched viral marketing service in 2000.  Part of the Kontraband Group and they monitor buzz globally.
Part of a network of over 100 selected entertainment and social networking sites, 50,000 global blogs - reaching over 40 million users per month.  They also work closely with mobile networks to distribute mobile virals and content across mobile social networks.

Unruly Media

Unruly Media runs a massive, distributed viral seeding network, offering unparalleled targeting
capabilities and a state-of-the-art analytics and buzz monitoring platform.

They offer real time buzz monitoring as part of the reporing suite.

Social Media Marketing Still Lacks Strong Metrics

Companies adopt social media as a marketing tool but struggle to find effective metrics, writes Paul Gillin (author of The New Influencers) in a report issued by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR).   

Building a Brand with Widgets

Interesting article in Business Week about Widgets - the latest trend / currency in our world of social communications.

The article is also pasted below for reference but a few core considerations when considering whether a widget is the solution to your needs:

• Interest in widgets is rising as marketers become disaffected by other methods of online advertising, especially on social networks
• Content and functionality are the new creativity
• Although there is plenty of anecdotal success, there are relatively few good examples - many widgets have a short shelf life - Widgets are essentially just a piece of portable content and (similar to their predecessor - the viral), to be successful needs to be either useful or engaging.  Always remember the idea should come before the delivery mechanism (i.e. don't just claim you're going to create a widget, come up with the idea and if a widget is a great way of delivering on that then it's win win)
• Widgets are relatively cheap to create so it's worth experimenting
• Remember widgets need a platform - they need somewhere to live and people also need a way of finding them. Facebook may have popularised applications (widgets) but they are not the only choice, and not necessarily always the right choice.
• Mobile widgets ... anyone?
• How can widgets truly work for brands?
• How do we measure and how do we know what is true success?

Useful blog for widgets from the widget master Ivan Pope: Snipperoo