The MySpace Halo Effect
MySpace is so dominant in the social networking space that is often the top referrer to not only commercial sites, but to other social networking sites also. The recent Hitwise study on the “Rapid Growth of Social Networking” pointed out how dominant MySpace is.
Top Social Network Sites By Traffic
Hitwise ranked the top 20 social networking sites by traffic for September 2006. Out of the twenty sites, only six have a market share of over 1%. They are:
|
Name |
Market Share |
|
MySpace |
81.92% |
|
|
7.24% |
|
Xanga |
1.86% |
|
Yahoo! 360 |
1.21% |
|
BlackPlanet.com |
1.12% |
|
Bebo |
1.02% |
The MySpace numbers are just incredible with an 82% market share. I cannot think of another web site that dominates its competition as much as MySpace is dominating the social networking space and MySpace shows no signs of slowing down. In the six months between March 2006 and September 2006, MySpace saw its market share of Internet visits increase by 51%.
What is most striking about MySpace is that when you look at the top nineteen social sites (excluding MySpace), 24% of the visits to these sites came from MySpace. So while users are trying out other social sites like Bolt, Bebo, Orkut and Gaia Online they are not giving up their MySpace connection.
MySpace Commercial Impact
The impact of the “aging of MySpace” is being felt across the Internet. Hitwise demographic data shows that for the four weeks ending September 30, 2006, 59% of MySpace users were between the ages of 18 and 34. MySpace is no longer the domain of the young. It is now home to an older, more affluent demographic and that presents tremendous opportunities for commercial sites. The old MySpace used to be about music. While music is still an important focus on MySpace, users are interested in more than downloading songs, they now are going to sites like Ticketmaster and Fandango to buy tickets to watch movies and concerts.
Even eBay is seeing an impact from the aging of MySpace. In September 2006, 3.6% of eBay’s traffic came from MySpace. With an older demographic comes more disposable income and eBay appears to be feeling the impact of the MySpace Halo Effect.
Examples of the MySpace Halo Effect
Nowhere is the MySpace Halo more apparent than with in regards to MixUnit.com and hottopic.com. Mixunit.com is a hip-hop related website that sells CD’s and other hip-hop related merchandise. Mix Unit has created a MySpace profile that links to its retail store. In September, that MySpace was the leading referral for Mix Unit, accounting for 15.75% of all traffic to the web site.
Hot Topic fits in the Apparel and Accessories category. In September Hot Topic received 0.01% of the downstream traffic from MySpace (that is traffic leaving Myspace.com and going to another web site). While 0.01% does not sound like much, when you are the dominant social network, that 0.01% can become the biggest referral source to another web site which is what happened to it Hot Topic. The traffic from MySpace accounted for 17.4% of all traffic to Hot Topic in September and was there largest referral source.
MySpace Going Forward
While competitors like Bebo and Bolt’s get ink as a result of their impressive growth rate, any social networking marketing plans must include MySpace. MySpace is more than 11 times larger than its nearest competitor and with 59% of its users between the ages of 18 and 34, MySpace is delivering the types of demographics that marketers love.
They offer an audience whose discretional income continues to grow, and whose interest has moved beyond music to telecommunications, banking, travel and apparel. At its heart social media optimization is making your web site visible in social media circles. Savvy marketers like Hot Topic and Mix Unit are already successful in driving significant amounts of traffic from MySpace to other web sites. How is your MySpace marketing plan performing?
Filed under Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Optimization : Comments (3) : Nov 13th, 2006
November 13th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
[...] Original post by David Wilson for Myspace News The MySpace Halo Effect [...]
November 27th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
[...] Original post by David Wilson and software by Elliott Back Filed under Internet Marketing, Social Media Optimization, SMO, Brand Marketing, socialmediaoptimization by Permalink • Print • Email • Comment [...]
March 25th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
[...] Combined these two behemoths attract over 91% of all social networking visitors, up from 89% in September 2006. Market Share of US Internet Visits to Top 20 Social Networking Sites, February 2007* 1 MySpace 81% 2 Facebook 10% 3 Bebo 1% 4 BlackPlanet 0.88% 5 Xanga 0.87% 6 iMeem 0.73% 7 Yahoo! 360 up 0.72% 8 Classmates up 0.72% 9 hi5 0.69% 10 Tagged 0.67% 11 LiveJournal 0.49% 12 Gaiaonline 0.48% 13 Friendster 0.34% 14 Orkut 0.26% 15 Live Spaces 0.18% 16 HoverSpot 0.18% 17 Buzznet 0.18% 18 Sconex 0.14% 19 MiGente.com 0.11% 20 myYearbook 0.11% Based on Hitwise sample of 10 million US Internet users. [...]