When running a Stumble Upon advertising campaign, good feedback is a very important factor to consider.  This is important  for a number of reason.  The first is the obvious reason that you should want your message to be as well received as possible.  If someone likes your message they will more likely take the action you want them to take.  This, however, is not the only reason that seeking feedback is important. 

The way stumble upon works is that feedback ratings are taking from users, mixed with the number of new posts that user submits, and that user gets a ranking.  The ranking of a user determines the weight of their thumb.  A new user with a low ranking may thumbs up a post with little effect or possibility of someone new seeing it.  A top stumbler can thumbs up a post which will be guaranteed to be seen by 100+ people because of their weight.  If more people like your post, the more chances you have to land a top stumbler who will hopefully add a thumbs up and carry the piece even further increasing the viral effect of StumbleUpon.  As a side note, it is very important to keep up with a good stumble upon account and use it regularly to increase the weigh of your own thumbs up.  That is a very simple way to push the content of a campaign a little bit further.  Which, as with good feedback from other users, gives you more bang for your marketing dollar.  It is possible, if not common, to see StumbleUpon yield 7-8 times the visitors than were expect.

How can you get good feedback on an article?  The first and obvious way is to make the content as good as possible, make it shine.  Since a relatively few number of people will actually give a thumbs up, every thumbs up counts.  The other major way to get good feedback is to target the right category, and do some testing between categories.  If you have a funny picture, it might be tempting to categorize that picture in “Photography”.  Big mistake.  The photography category is one of the hardest categories to get good feedback from.  This category contains some very amazing work, and is very difficult to get good feedback even for professional photographers.  Often times, good but not great works will get a thumbs down since the bar for quality is set extremely high.  However, the “Humor” category is probably one of the easiest.  If it is mildly funny, someone might give it a thumbs up, but they are  less likely to give it a thumbs down, which can limit the number of people who see the content.  The best bet is to try a little bit of traffic in a couple of different categories, then pick the one that has the most positive ratings and stick with that. 

Mike Palmer
Analyst

This is a little piece of advice for the people who don’t promote themselves.  If you have good content, and you know it, it is ok to promote yourself some.  There  are numerous people out there who seem to feel like promoting themselves is wrong.  This is not the case,  it is perfectly  fine as long as you don’t cross that line into “shameless self-promotion”.  As long as you aren’t the person who introduces themselves and begins pushing their stuff  without regard for tact or decorum, you’re fine to do a little promotion.   It is all about the conversation.  It is perfectly fine, if in the course of a conversation, be it online, in person, or wherever, to tell someone else about what you are doing or what you are excited about. 

So how do you apply this to marketing or traffic driving?  Go ahead, take the first step and digg your own content.  Give your article a Thumbs Up in StumbleUpon.  It is MUCH more difficult to get an outside person to give the first digg  or thumb than the second.  It requires much more work to describe the article, select a category, verify the entry, and finally submit it than just rating it.  By adding the first one, you are giving your approval, saying you like the content (which hopefully you do since it is yours) and adding a “face” to the piece.  You could also think of it as asking for feedback so that you can improve you content.  Getting the initial momentum will place the piece in front of a few people, and hopefully, if the content is good enough, approve it so that others can pass it on further.   

Here is an example of someone trying too hard to promote their stuff, and coming across as shameless self promotion.  This is at the top of many of their articles:

Hey, Stumbler! Don’t forget to look around before hitting the Stumble! button again
http://www.holycool.net/2008/03/gun-egg-fryers.html

I looked around, it wasn’t that interesting.  Since I gave them the benefit of the doubt and was let down they got a thumbs down instead of just moving on.  In addition, this tactic is a little misguided.  A ThumbsUp is more valuable than the two or three pageviews you will get from a new visit because  a positive review will put the article in front of more people.  It is the difference between three  pageviews, or six more new visitors (and however many pageviews they visit). So, it would be more beneficial to say something like:

If you liked this post, don’t forget to digg it or give it a thumbs up. Thanks.

The reminders and mild self-promotions work, you just have to let people decide what they like.  Don’t be afraid if people don’t like it that just means you need to change something, and try again.  Eventually something will take off.

By Mike Palmer
Analyst

Dear Bloggers,

You are a unique group of people.

Some of us like to blog because we have something to say - or maybe we want to impact change.

Some of us blog because they are trying to earn extra money.

I blog because it gives me a voice - a platform to express myself.

Today, the blogosphere represents one of the most influential groups ever to live on this earth. Together, we have impacted elections, forced economic and environmental change, and even made millions of dollars for people.

At Yovia, we believe this new mechanism for ’spreading the word’ about things is the future of all media.

During the month of March 2008, we will be featuring bloggers from around the world. We will promote your site wherever we possibly can. It will be linked from all of our blogs, from our Facebook groups, from YouTube - wherever it is relevant. We will read, comment on and link to every and any blog we can.

If you are a blogger, and are in need of some exposure for  your site, well this is the month for you!

Let us know what your URL is…and we’ll take care of the rest. Sit back and relax, and watch your traffic grow - it’s Blogger Appreciation Month…

Click Here to Get Your Blog Profiled

Spread the word,
Jalali

We have two new groups on Facebook, which we want you to join. It’s truly amazing how powerful Facebook can be as a promotional and networking tool, so take advantage of it.

“This Just In - Lovers of Entertaining News” is for promotion of all news-related articles on Yovia, and for discussion of anything newsworthy. If it’s news and it’s entertaining, post it! Celeb news, weird news, world news…you name it. Join the “This Just In” group here.

“Get Paid to go to concerts” is the group accompanying our exciting new project, which is exactly what the title says. Get paid to attend concerts and tell us about your experience. Join the group here and find out more information about the project here.

Please consider Facebook if you don’t have an account. You don’t have to join to catch up with old friends or make a detailed profile with bells & whistles. You can participate just by signing up and joining our Yovia groups. Free, simple, beneficial, fun. Why not?

For Immediate Release
December 3, 2007
Jacksonville Beach, FL

Yovia and Gemini Sun Records Unite to Launch Opera Star Vitas using Social Media

Yovia, the pioneer of social-focused advertising has partnered with Gemini Sun Records to launch the U.S. career of Russian opera star Vitas. The unique singer and world-renowned performer’s fresh style and wide vocal range have already earned him millions of fans globally, including over 4 million fans on the popular video-sharing site YouTube.

Gemini Sun Records and Yovia are using an innovative new social media optimization (SMO) approach to introduce Vitas to the U.S. market. Yovia will utilize social media marketing techniques to harness Vitas’s expansive online presence, and ultimately market and sell a new exclusive Collector’s Edition audio-visual CD/DVD set designed to showcase the best of Vitas’ stunning live performances to North American fans.  As part of this extensive campaign Vitas will be introduced on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Google, as well as through a broad blog network.

“This is the future of advertising,” said Jalali Hartman, CEO of Yovia.“Consumers naturally spread the word about things that are interesting or valuable, and with over 4 million YouTube fans and 20 million fans in Asia and Europe, Vitas definitely has that broad appeal. He showed up on our radar over a year ago, and we’re excited to represent him online.”

“We’re taking advantage of this social media approach to spread the word about this amazing new artist,” said Nicholas Gunn of Gemini Sun Records. “Frankly, record companies need to really embrace this new media. Yovia is pioneering this distribution technique, so we’re excited to partner with them to bring Vitas to the U.S. Market.”

The companies entered into a joint venture this week to introduce a new English-language Vitas fan club, which will serve as the central property for an internet-wide campaign to launch Vitas in the United States.

Fans can visit the new fan club and participate in what is being called the Vitas!Vitas! Movement at http://www.vitasvitas.com

About Yovia:

Yovia, the first social media agency, is pioneering this new way to advertise. Employing their network of over 150 bloggers and contributors around the world, as well as 167 of the world’s top social networks and search engines, Yovia uses a patent-pending methodology to ‘spread the word’ about various topics. By creating and engaging in natural conversations with millions of people, Yovia is able to create large amounts of internet traffic for advertiser partners, including publishers, movie studios, musicians and online communities. Founded by executives and researchers from MTV Networks, DoubleClick and MEC LABS, Yovia has offices in Florida and New York.

For more information, visit Yovia on the web at http://www.yovia.com

About Gemini Sun Records:

Gemini Sun Records represents an eclectic roster of musicians including Terry Oldfield, 2002, three-time Grammy nominee David Arkenstone, and recent acquisition Vitas. President/CEO Nicholas Gunn, himself a multi-platinum musician, ensures fans of Gemini Sun’s artists benefit from cutting edge internet trends in delivery of multimedia, internet radio, and downloads. Gemini Sun Records is based in California.

For more information, visit Gemini Sun Records on the web at http://www.geminisunrecords.com