The following is an excerpt from research done into which sites are currently popular social media destinations for women aged 18-34.

Source: Nielsen Netview

Social Media / Community sites

According to Nielsen Netview 56.7% of Australian online users visited to a Community/ Social Media site.

48% of the visitors to Community/ Social Network sites are females.

80% of female visitors aged 18-34 who visited a Community/ Social Media site also visited Facebook

Females 18 – 24 years old visiting Community/ Social Media sites

84% visiting Community/ Social Media sites visited Facebook

54% visiting Community/ Social Media sites visited Myspace

Skew toward female (vs male) audience visiting: Facebook (21%), Bebo (36%), Live Journal (40%), Linked In (42%), Nine MSN Groups (50%)

Skew toward male (vs female) audience visiting: Blogger (40%), WordPress (38%), Digg (760%)

Females 25 – 34  years old visiting Community/ Social Media sites

77% visiting Community/ Social Media sites visited Facebook

38% visiting Community/ Social Media sites visited Myspace

Skew toward female (vs male) audience visiting: Facebook (11%), Myspace (75%), Window Live Spaces (42%), Yahoo7!Groups (66%), Live Journal (30%)

Skew toward male (vs female) audience visiting: Bebo: 89%, Six Apart Typepad 137%, Digg (150%)

Note: Nielsen Netview data comes with explanations regarding their methods and limits of extrapolation for certain sites with minimal sample results.

See: http://www.nielsen-online.com/ for more information.

A review of some domestic and international casino websites revealed a trend in immersive, visual content verging on the cinematic. In order to convey the experiences casinos have to offer, the more innovative sites employed narrative techniques ranging from voice over narration to serving content based on common casino visitor profiles or idealised personality types.  Some sights are dabbling with the creation of a social networking presence, such as a Facebook profile for a Virtual Concierge, but there is no user generated content. Seems what goes on in casino complexes, stays in casino complexes…

Business Objectives

The manner in which each site  is designed to get more people to visit a Casino varies significantly from site to site. Six broad online  business objectives were identified consistently across the sites.

User Goals

The majority of User Goals on each site revolve around Event Attendance, Hotel Promotion and Event Planning. The most popular goal for domestic sits, beyond booking is downloading PDFs – ie. providing  information. Microsites also feature commonly. Secondary User Goals are related to Gaming, Venues & Loyalty.

The most common activities are Email Loyalty programs,  “How to Play” information and Maps.

Site Features

The analysis provided insight into specific features including:

1. The Brand Experience
2. User Goal Promotion
3. Member Services
- Campaigns and Email Promotions
- Value Programs
4. Other Subscriptions
- RSS
- Podcasts and Webcasts
5. Interactive Media
6. Interactive Utility
- Music Player, Interactive Maps + Interactive Tours
- Photo Gallery & Virtual Tours
- Interactive Maps
- Personas
7. Distribution
- Personal Invitations
- Mobile Services

Engagement Tactics

Engagement tactics define the user experience of the site and consequently provide an opportunity to “experience” the brand attributes and create brand affinity.

MGM Grand: Cinematic video links home pages for site sections, dynamic navigation, streaming audio, video, virtual tour and slide shows for each element of content. Focus on booking and email newsletter promotion. A sensory experience at: http://www.mgmgrand.com

Mandalay Bay: “From the five personas … select the one that best describes why you come to Vegas. Based on your selection, you’ll go to a site designed around your interests and desires, so you can quickly and easily create your own experience …” Users “own the experience” at http://www.mandalaybay.com/

Wynn, Las Vegas: Novel image based navigation,  streaming audio and commentary, video interviews, slideshows. Class and ambience set by the music, time to enjoy the experience at: http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/

Content

Looking at content by home page prioritisation and site sections revealed a significant difference between domestic and internal casino sites. While the Australian sites prioritise Events, Gaming, Bars and night life, global sites prioritise transactions that can be completed online including Hotel reservations & subscriptions to email Loyalty programs and Offers.

Variations on the standard site sections are Conrad Jupiters who provide navigation by experience and Mandalay Bay with a range of experiences by persona.

Summary

The online business objectives are supported by a range of user goals and interactive features:

Online Bookings
Special Offers, Packages, Competitions, cross promotion and the creation of exclusive opportunities through loyalty programs
Reach New Audiences
Personalised invitations, Social Network presence, Mobile services and online subscription services such as podcasts, webcasts and RSS
Improve 3rd Party Relationships
Integration of third party booking systems
Assist offline business goals
Have the site replicate the brand experience.
Increase user loyalty
Email promotions, value programs and club newsletters, podcasts, rewards     program, user generated content and itinerary creator.
Increase user engagement
Personas, a cinematic experience, Photo/tour Gallery, Event search, Music, Video, 3D or Interactive tours and maps.

Below are a few choice quotes from articles on future of digital marketing and economic downturn from recent US & Global reports. If you want anything else please let me know:

(Global)  Zenith Optimedia: Forecast: Advertisers to Continue Shift to Online  - Online component of advertising spend to increase in 2009/10, and exceeded 2008 predictions …  ”Faced with an uncertain economic future, Western advertisers are shifting even more of their budgets online, where the returns on their investment are obvious, and easy to quantify and fine tune,” reads the report. “The quantity and quality of online video is improving all the time, and online audiences for full-length films and television programs — and the ads that surround them — are growing rapidly.” Jul 1, 2008 From:  http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3630097

(Global) Executives from IAB and Pricewaterhouse Coopers remain optimistic about Internet advertising’s future. “The fundamentals of interactive advertising spend continues to be positive and I would expect to see continued growth in the future,” Silverman said. IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg weighed in: “We expect growth to continue, as consumers spend more and more time online, and marketers find more — and more innovative — ways to reach them through digital media.” Jun 18, 2008 From: http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629953

(US) IDC: Internet Ad Spending Spared by Troubled Economy: IDC recently issued an Internet ad forecast that made similar points. It contended the economic downturn is actually helping the Internet marketing industry and IDC predicted the overall Internet ad revenue will double from $25.5 billion in 2007 to $51.1 billion in 2012. Internet advertising revenue in the United States reached $7.1 billion in the first quarter of 2008, a jump of nearly 24 percent compared to the same quarter in 2007, according to IDC. The research company said the figures show the economic slowdown crushing many other industries in the nation has not had an adverse impact on online advertising. In fact, IDC said it expects Internet advertising to rapidly grow throughout the rest of the year despite a general pullback in overall ad spending. Jun 10, 2008 From:  http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629859

(US) Social Networks continue to show a strong future of growth. Two recent Forrester reports published by my colleagues, Josh Bernoff and Oliver Young, both showing the future of social computing for the interactive marketer and for enterprise 2.0 purchasing. “Social networks will get the largest number of increases, over 40% of those using it, along with user-generated content, blogs, and that old standby, email marketing.” May 05th, 2008 From: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/05/05/social-network-spending-to-increase/

(US) Nielsen Sees Moderate Q1 Online Ad Growth, Led by Search: … Sponsored search link impressions in the health and telecom industries led growth in online advertising, said Nielsen. It reported search link impressions for health were up 108 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis while telecommunications saw 80 percent growth. Rich media showed the biggest growth in the display category, according to Nielsen. Among verticals, the researchers found that hardware and electronics advertisers both saw a 65 percent increase in display impressions, while automotive and consumer goods companies also did well, increasing 45 percent and 42 percent respectively. Jun 17, 2008 From: http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629945