HostingCon 2007 Future of Web Host Marketing

Clickfire HostingCon 2007 coverage by Douglas Hanna

A bit old, but still relevant:

11:15 AM - 12:00 PM - Session 102 - Room 327

Speaker: Derek Vaughan, Chief Marketing Officer, TechPad Agency
11:16 AM - session is full.
11:18 AM - introduction. TechPad Agency is an ad agency for web hosting companies.
11:22 - web hosting is a “what was” industry. Early adopters were technically savvy and the sites didn’t require much.
11:23 – Four “Megatrends”

Internet Everywhere
Computer and Television Screen Merge
Convergence of Internet, Video, and Teleophny
Dawn of Perfect Information

Two – four years out
11:26: artificial intelligence and how that will continue to grow. Computers may not think on their own, but they will be able to get a lot of information much quicker.

11:27: Internet Everywhere

All access – all the time
Low cost or free
High bandwidth

11:28: Computer and Television Screens Merge

Full motion and programs in one place
Network TV and Hollywood movie content will be side-by-side with User-generated content.

Line is blurring between what is full motion TV (that we use televisions for) and what computers are used for.

11:30: Internet, Video, and Telephony Merge

Look at the iPhone. It does all of that.
Dick Tracy TV wrist phone is here.

11:31: The Dawn of “perfect Information”

Efficient frontier and MPT
Ratings – like Expedia reviews (Derek had problems finding hotel rooms until Expedia started reviews. Reviews are written by people who have stayed there recently. They are informative and you can enough perspectives to get an idea).
Social media and networks like Digg (People sharing a lot of information, but are trusting each other to report real facts they are thinking about buying so that everyone can have a better buying experience).
Why “perfect” isn’t “perfect” (People try to game and manipulate the systems).
What does your brand look like? (They aren’t thinking about search results of Pay Per Click, but the overall brand instead).

11:34 AM: Universal Search with Google (YouTube videos, images, etc. in search results)

11:35: Web Hosting Customers in the Future

Always on internet connection wherever they go
Can access data from different locations and tools
Groomed to expect more entertainment and feedback from the information they are getting out of the screen.
Network of trusted sources they can go to in order to guide informed decisions

11:36: Web Hosting Marketing in the Future

Brand is more important aspect. It isn’t about buying ads, but your brand is far more important. Engaging in reciprocal conversations as opposed to one way.

11:37 AM: Think Like a Television Network

Going to have to entertain people. No longer enough to just have a miniscule font with all of your specs on it. Programming, audience, what entertains them, what are they expecting, who is the face of your message, be true to your friend, On the customer service (offer video-centric products).

11:39: Will It Blend?

Internet troubles. Trying to get on the Internet to view the video.

11:42: Will it Blend video playing on their site.

11:43: Not quite. A bit of lag in the Internet connection. Got it working. Blending transformers. Obviously, blended into pieces.

11:45: Replaying video to see it all the way through (without problem).

11:46: BlendTec (Will It Blend Maker) stats:

Launched in November of 2006
Based on ‘destruction room’ testing at the factory. Engineer figured it out that everyone would always come and watch
$50 cost for first video
Generated 6 million visits to their web site in 5 days
Interaction with viewers lead to iPhone blend – in one week there were 1.1 million + views on YouTube (after a week)

11:47: Value First – Profit Second

Poster child for that is Google.

Create something of value that is unique
Give it away free
Get users to interact with your brand
Build confidence and trust

11:48: Conclusions

11:49: Question and Answer

Regarding giving things away for free: Example of Google Analytics and how it adds value to Google’s advertising customers
Giving away for free didn’t work: maybe it was because what was given away wasn’t good for the customer
Timeline about how fast the changes will be (may not be 2 years, may be more like 5 years)