About Social Media Today
The social media space hit an inflection point last June when traffic to blogs (that were in motion) started to surge. The total number of unique visitors landing at TechCrunch each month increased by 534.2% over the past year. Readers who subscribe to TechCrunch’s full RSS feed and view content inside an RSS reader are not figured in the percent above. I incorrectly predicted TechCrunch would reach one million subscribers (FeedBurner) in weeks following the announcement that TechCrunch stories will appear on The Washington Post.
TechCrunch’s total unique visitors took a 8.3% drop in April. It was the first time TechCrunch suffered a decline during the past year. Some readers might view the drop as an early signal that TechCrunch is losing momentum, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Michael Arrington posted an announcement on Tuesday saying Sarah Ross joined the team and will be in charge of marketing and events. Her responsibilities include leveraging the TechCrunch brand, syndicating TechCrunch content and helping drive revenue. Ross is a former Yahoo employee and spent the past year helping Web 2.0 startups launch.
Yesterday, Erick Schonfeld introduced a community video project called TechCrunch Elevator Pitches. The site is for entrepreneurs to pitch their startups to the general public. Visitors can leave comments, vote on pitches and help filter through requests sent into TechCrunch each day by startups wanting to be covered. The Gillmor Gang has been hosted on another TechCrunch subdomain since April. Both subdomains will increase page views, something that helps drive advertising profits.
TechCrunch50 is replacing TechCrunch40 this year and runs September 8 - 10 in San Francisco. The TechCrunch Euro Tour is underway and helping to increase awareness of TechCrunch as a global brand. Real-life meetups are opportunities for entrepreneurs to shake hands, network and share ideas. TechCrunch started streaming live video at events like Google Campfire One using qik. Another video upgrade came in April with the addition of Seesmic video comments.
Erick and Michael have appeared on national TV a few times this year and members of the team have attended various conferences. I’ve noticed prizes and contests are gaining popularity as one way of interacting with readers. What does the future of TechCrunch look like? Probably a lot more expanding and connecting in similar ways. Social media is exactly what the title entails. Are you starting to get any ideas for growing your personal brand on a smaller scale?
