5 New Tech Trends You Can’t Afford To Ignore
Keeping up with the latest technologies and how consumers use them can feel like a full time job. But ignoring it can also torpedo your best marketing efforts. Here are 5 cutting edge tech trends that you may not be paying enough attention to: 1. Facebook Lite – A lighter cleaner version of Facebook originally designed for lower speed connections, including on smart phones, here and overseas, it's also gaining traction in beta with some media overloaded techies. Why care? A lot of those nifty widgets you're using to deliver content to your Facebook page won't appear in the Lite version.
2. Email Fatigue – Email
is still the number one way for artists to connect with tans –
particularly when making announcements. But just like the rest of us,
fans are suffering from email fatigue. Solution? Use email
judicially. Put info in the subject line and keep messages shorter sending them to the web for details. Most of all, create other avenues
of communication: Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, text messages, etc.
3. Google Wave – This open source app combines email, IM, chat, Twitter and more in a single stream or wave.(see video) Think of it is a feature-rich shared document or conversation. Google Wave opens up almost endless possibilities for artist and fan interaction. It's currently in limited beta; so check for updates and try to get on the waiting list.
4. Android & Blackberry – The iPhone gets all the press. But consumers own many more Blackberrys than iPhones and will for some time. Android should also gain traction with important early adopters as more phones hit the market based on Google's mobile platform. So don't just think about creating apps for the iPhone or worrying about how your pages load there. Other mobile platforms deserve your attention too.
5. Twitter Lists – You've worked hard to build your following, but your Twitter world dominance could change if you don't pay attention to a new feature currently in beta. Twitter Lists allows a user to aggregate multiple feeds together in a stream that they can share. How could this effect you? What if 6 of the hottest death metal bands in Cleveland create a mutual Twitter list and your not one of those bands. Start thinking now about who you can join forces with to build your own Twitter List.
!!!!! Good content, good list…thank you.
Nice list.. except I’m going to disagree with you about the Wave. I think it’s got a lot of hype, but it’s basically useless. A lot of us tried out the FriendConnect thing too, but how many of us still use it? It was awesome for a while, until we realized that connecting to a site using FBconnect, or OpenID was a lot more beneficial, and a lot less restrictive. Wave will be more of a distraction than a useful tool.
Phil
@phibble
Phenomenal post Bruce!
I would also add QR codes which are huge overseas & making their way Stateside. Perhaps also Data Portability/Social API’s, Augmented Reality, Virtual Gifts & applications for mobile phones, not just iphone but Android, RIM & Symbian aswell.
Youve inspired me to dive deeper into the issue…
@Phil – have you checked out https://rpxnow.com/ or http://www.gigya.com/public/Content/GS/Home.aspx
@Justin – Love your blog sir!
@Daniel – yes, I have checked/tested both those out. I like them both, but unfortunately they don’t work with the software I’m using. Thanks for sharing that though.
Phil
Might also want to add music -ray to the list. The technology platform offers artists a great way to get their music featured on a number of social networks with one click of a button. It’s at an early stage of development but I believe it’s going to turn into something special.
excuse the typo on that. it’s music X-ray.
also, @audiosocket would be happy to be on your twitter list.
cheers
Brent
While I totally agree that email overload is a major turn-off (especially to more casual fans), I think it’s also fairly common to undershoot the ideal frequency — the wilco and spoon jump to mind as bands I’d love to hear more from, via their email lists. I’d guess 1-2/month is ideal. It’s inevitable, and not inherently bad, for a subscriber to ignore an email when they happen to be busy/overwhelmed; you just don’t want them automatically ignoring/deleting out of annoyance or habit.
But that said, I’d love to see some compiled data on email frequency vs. click-thrus and unsubscribes…