Because of the depressed economy, 24/7 Wall St. has brought down the multiples that it assigned to blog revenue and operating profits, when there are any, by about 50% from last year. Large public companies have been writing down the value of media and content assets over the last several quarters and private content site values have certainly suffered from the same drop in value. The prices being paid for online media and is almost certainly dropping sharply. Perhaps most importantly, shares of most of the large media companies are off by a half to two-thirds from their 52-week highs.

To determine value, 24/7 Wall St. looked at unique visitor and pageviews information from several public sources including Alexa, Quantcast, Compete, and comScore. These services are often criticized for estimating website traffic too low and we have taken that into account to the extent possible. We also looked at audience measurements provided by the blogs themselves when it seemed credible. Our estimated CPMs for ads are based on the current display and text ad environment, the quality of ads at each blog, and the number of ads that it runs on the average pages. The CPM value assigned to each blog is based on all of the ads it runs on its typical pages. To determine margins, 24/7 looked at headcount when available, and estimated costs of operating and maintaining websites. More complex content platforms where assigned higher monthly costs. Current audience growth rates were taken into account.  A site which has traffic doubling year-over-year was given a higher multiple than one which is losing traffic.  Because not all blogs make money, multiples of revenue and operating income were used to assess value.

Large blogs with big “moats” got higher multiple that smaller ones. Recreating Huffington Post or TechCrunch would be extremely difficult, especially in a recession. Blogs with one founder who does most of the writing were given lower multiple because the presence of that single person is essential to the company’s value. Finally, blogs which have been operating for a long time or have recently received funding received higher valuations because they are more likely to survive.

via The Twenty Five Most Valuable Blogs – 247 Wall Street.

Found on SlideShare

Social Media – Presentation Transcript

1. Social Media and Marketing: EVOLUTION or REVOLUTION ?
2. Media Landscape
3. Marketing has changed more….. Source: Internet Advertising Bureau, 2004 Source: Darwin Day Conference, by Google
4. 1. Product Proliferation Product proliferation and availability means more choice for the buyer…….. Source: Strike up the Brands. McKinsey & Company, December 2003 Source: Darwin Day Conference, Google
5. 2. Media Proliferation Today, media is fragmented • 13,500 radio stations(4,400 in 1960) • 17,300 magazine titles (8,400 in 1960) • 82.4 TV channels per home (5.7 in 1960) And the Web: • Millions of sites • Billions of pages Source: “Left Brain Marketing,” Forrester Research (April 2004); “The Vanishing Mass Market,” BusinessWeek (July 2004) Source: Darwin Day Conference, Google
6. 3. Access Proliferation • • • Video games Radio Satellite Radio • • • Email DVD TiVo (Starhub PVR) • • • XBox LIVE Ring Tones Video On-Demand • • • Websites TV Newspapers • • • IM Blogs Podcasting • • • Search Magazines Cell Phone Source: Darwin Day Conference, Google
7. Digitization of Media New Media Old Media Reach Mass Media Niche Media Source: Darwin Day Conference, Google
8. “ A radical advertising and marketing change has occurred in the ” World of Source: http://www.iirusa.com/upload/wysiwyg/M1805/IIR_M1805_Seaton.pdf
9. Consumers are not listening anymore Interruptive marketing has seen it’s day Source: http://www.iirusa.com/upload/wysiwyg/M1805/IIR_M1805_Seaton.pdf
10. The Audience is creating Source: http://www.iirusa.com/upload/wysiwyg/M1805/IIR_M1805_Seaton.pdf
11. The Audience is selecting Time Shift technology Source: http://www.iirusa.com/upload/wysiwyg/M1805/IIR_M1805_Seaton.pdf
12. The Audience is changing Source: http://www.iirusa.com/upload/wysiwyg/M1805/IIR_M1805_Seaton.pdf
13. As a result “We are immune to advertising. Just forget it. ” “You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention. ” “ The Internet became a place where people could talk to other people without constraint. Without filters or censorship or official sanction — and perhaps most significantly, without advertising ” “Don’t talk to us as if you’ve forgotten how to speak. Don’t make us feel small. Remind us to be larger. Get a little of that human touch. ” Cluetrain Manifesto Source: http://www.cluetrain.com
14. Media Scales Source: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/files/logic_emotion.ppt
15. “ Consumers control the online environment so brands need to think about facilitating user-created actions, not just user-generated content.” Unlike newspapers and TV where the advertisers are speaking at consumers, the Internet allows for more back and forth ” interaction. Source: http://china.seekingalpha.com/article/30979
16. The Consumer
17. Cash Co-Creators Control The birth of Generation C Connected Creativity Content Conversation Consumer 2.0 Creative Class Channel Community Communicate
18. Consumer Today Source: http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/files/logic_emotion.ppt
19. Consumer Touch Points Blog Sites Music Sites Reads his friend’s Reads up on postings new cd releases Movie Sites Downloads Songs Buys tickets online Sports Sites Gets the latest updates on favorite teams Gaming Sites Looks for Checks scores information about Nascar Google.com games Searches for “what’s cool” Source: Darwin Day Conference, Google
20. Social Media 1.0
21. Social Media’s Timeline 1995 1984 1971 1979 1988 1991 1998 -2004 Personal Web Sites 1st Social Email Usenet Listservs IRC Blogs Networking Site Podcast Discussion Groups Chat Clasmates.com Wikis 2005 and beyond>> Web 2.0 apps and User-generated content take over Source: http://www.prworks.ca/wp-content/socialmedia.ppt
22. Growth of social media
23. What is social media? Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other (Wikipedia 2007)
24. They share one or more characteristics Connectedness
25. Getting from me to them
26. “ I post on blogs and BBS because I can express myself to millions of people at once. ” I like the rush, and I feel empowered. Source: http://china.seekingalpha.com/article/30979
27. “ I believe the bloggers and their ideas. They are my friends and will tell me the truth, unlike ” advertisements. Source: http://china.seekingalpha.com/article/30979
28. Digital experiences Design Centred Content Focus INTERACTIVITY Marketers>Experience>Conversation>Relationship>Affinity
29. Source: http://www.darmano.typepad.com
30. The “satisfaction effect” Source: http://www.churchofthecustomer.com
31. The Evolution BROADCAST “We tell you” Examples: The New York Times, CNN Publisher/broadcaster Big media $ Newspaper buys for $ Magazines display $ advertising TV Passive readers/audience Source: www.managementinnovationgroup.com/docs/MIG_Social_Media_Poster.pdf
32. The Evolution INTERACTIVE “Tell us what you think of what we tell you” Examples: nytimes.com, cnn.com Publisher/broadcaster $ Big media buys for Newspaper Forums display advertising $ in heavily Magazines Comments trafficked site $ Web Video Ratings $ Smaller, targeted media buys for $ contextual $ advertising in less trafficked $ parts of the site Passive readers/audience Source: www.managementinnovationgroup.com/docs/MIG_Social_Media_Poster.pdf
33. The Evolution Social Media “Tell each other” Examples: Wikipedia, Slashdot, Ohmynews $ Collaborative Publications $ Smaller, $ targeted Co-creators media buys $ Revenue Share for contextual Pay for less $ advertising $ $ Passive readers/audience Source: www.managementinnovationgroup.com/docs/MIG_Social_Media_Poster.pdf
34. “ Engagement is all about ” making it relevant to the consumer. James Speros, Chief marketing officer, Ernst & Young
35. “ People read particular magazines because of the life stages and events which currently involve them: from teenager to golfer, from ” having a baby to coping with retirement. Source: Henley Centre, Delivering Engagement 2004
36. “ The editorial/reader relationship is a one-to-one conversation, and in time it creates a bond of trust, of belief, expectation and empathy. It is through the quality of this relationship that an aperture or opening to the reader’s mind and heart is created, through which we advertisers ” can establish communication. Advertiser with Readers’ Digest
37. The new paradigm Engagement Attention
38. Different levels of engagement Belonging Having sense of shared values and common experience, Identification Commitment People who are passionate Most basic level of enough to devote lot of time engagement and/ or money Source: The Henley Centre/ Redwood 2003
39. FAITH TRUST I Believe ME
40. Summary a) Media Landscape: – Advertising Environment – Marketing Environment – Long Tail b) The Consumer: – Generation C – Consumer Today – Consumer Touch Points Area of Research c) Social Media: – Timeline – Social Media Trend – Social Media – Word of Mouth – Digital Experiences d) Engagement – Trust
41. Methodology Social Media Content Analysis Discourse Analysis Interviews Case Study
42. Why am I interested?  Hype  Understanding, turning it to a power tool  Future of Advertising
43. Research Questions (1) How can the effectiveness of the advertising budget in traditional media be held accountable? (2) What tools can be developed to assess the expenditure of monies in the new digital media? (3) How can the effectiveness of internet creative messages be evaluated empirically? (4) What elements are necessary for online media planning to be successful? (5) How can interactive and traditional advertising agencies get together to do better work in the future? (6) How can the outcomes of traditional consumer behavior research be applied in the new digital world? (7) What non-traditional methodologies might be useful in addressing the concerns of the new digital world?
44. Thank You This is a standalone presentation! This is social media!