As we wrap up the month of May – I’d have to say it was a pretty damn good month no? I mean 23,000 people are still thinking about whether to delete their Facebook accounts. This is probably 1/10 of how many will join on May 31st. But, the whole privacy thing has marketers up in arms.
But this month it finally felt like the economy was coming back a little bit. I spoke with at least 5 clients this month that were getting marketing budgets going again. The conferences I went to were extraordinarily well attended, and people were in a super spanky mood.
Follow Friday
Because the wrap-up is happening on a friday – my #FF – FollowFriday love definitely goes out to @Note_to_CMO - whom I’ve just met but is already teaching me stuff through his tweets. @sliewehr – who was kind enough to invite me to speak at #GilbaneSF and also the upcoming Gilbane Boston. He’s just a super-bright analyst on Content Management. Then there’s @iantruscott – my speaking partner – and somebody I finally got to know well at Gilbane San Francisco. What an incredibly intelligent guy when it comes to marketing and content. He’s definitely my “man in England”. And, then I have to finish with @lorenmcdonald. He’s an old friend and one of the best guys you’ll learn email marketing from.
Some Highlights From The Month
Okay, so what did we learn this month…
- Well of course the big news was Facebook and privacy – and of course the Google I/O Conference.
- The Gilbane Conference on Content Management was a great kickoff to the conference season (is there such a thing). Ian Truscott’s post sums it up much better than I can.
- Robert Scoble pointed out how we might lie.. er… “like” something and create a false impression of what we really do. This feeds really well with why I think Facebook’s value for marketing is actually dropping – not rising.
- comScore is now adding a free service for startups. That’s really an interesting development and helps both sides of audience measurement.
- And we learned that most people Google themselves now. Whew… I’m not alone.
May… I’ll Have Another
I’m off to my first vacation weekend since I started up Big Blue Moose. The weirdest thing was not having to ask anyone if I could go….
Yeah, May was absolutely fantastic…. I’ll definitely have another helping in June…
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend…. See ya on the other side…
I love your comment about how the people leaving Facebook on Monday will probably only be a drop in the bucket compared to how many people actually join that day. I again think it’s going to be a couple of months before anyone can say if this privacy kerfuffle has any impact on Facebook (based on # of signups and monthly unique views). I have a feeling, it might cause a bit of leveling off, but not much.
Isn’t the whole “like” issue ironic? In making it “easier” for someone to connect with a brand, Facebook has actually devalued that connection. The numbers may go up, but the actual engagement will go down.
Have a great vacation weekend, and many wishes that June is as fantastic as May was for you and Big Blue Moose.