The Official State of the Financial Blogosphere 2012 (FinCon12)

OFFICIAL STATE OF THEFINANCIAL BLOGOSPHERE

2012

Greg Go & Ashley JacobsWise Bread

FINCON12 – Denver, CO

The state of thefinancial blogosphere is…

STRONGSTATE OF FINANCIAL BLOGOSPHERE – FINCON12

STATE OF FINANCIAL BLOGOSPHERE – FINCON12

About Us

GREG GOChief Technologist

ASHLEY JACOBSCommunity & Social Media Maven


Obsessed With Numbers


Pulse of the Community


Agenda

BloggersReadersTopicsSocial MediaExpert TipsCommunity

5ACTIONABLETAKEAWAYS


Don’t Take Notes

SLIDES

WiseBread.com/FinCon12

VIDEO

Virtual FinCon12


What is aFinancial Blogger?


Everyone has a Blog


Company Blogs


The Writer is the BlogMiranda Marquit Jason Steele

JasonSteele.com

http://ptmoney.com/


Advanced Self-Publishing

TODD TRESIDDERFINANCIAL MENTOR


Jeff “The Rock” Rose


#rothiramovement

Huffington Post (3/20/12)“Roth IRA Movement Takes To Twitter”


TAKEAWAY #1

Think of yourselfas a BRAND,

not just a website.


Financial Blogsby the Numbers


Too Much Info!

ALL BLOGS

Median: 999Average: 9,999Highest: 999,999Lowest: 9

TOP 100Median: 9,999Average: 99,999Highest: 999,999

Lowest: 999

Better than half the sphere. As good as a Top 100 blog.


Linking Domains

ALL BLOGS



Lowest: 705

Source: Majestic SEO


Alexa Rank

ALL BLOGS

Median: 795,531Average: 3,277,673Highest: 11Lowest: 25,665,064

TOP 100Median: 90,411Average: 106,885Highest: 11

Lowest: 770,920

Source: Alexa


Monthly Pageviews

ALL BLOGS

Median: 2,601Average: 28,413Highest: 1,891,584Lowest: 39

TOP 100Median: 37,158Average: 120,844Highest: 1,891,584

Lowest: 14,050

Source: CompeteNote: directly measured traffic is typically 3x more.


Feed Subscribers

ALL BLOGS



Lowest: 42

Source: Feedburner


Facebook Page Likes

ALL BLOGS



Lowest: 47

Source: Facebook


Twitter Followers

ALL BLOGS



Lowest: 517

Source: Twitter


Klout Score

ALL BLOGS

Median: 40Average: 36Highest: 79Lowest: 1

TOP 100Median: 53Average: 54Highest: 79

Lowest: 32

Source: Klout



bit.ly/top-pf-blogs


What Readers Need&

What We’re Writing


The Great Recession of 2008-?

Unemploymentspikes in 2008.


Long-Term Concerns

LOW-WAGE JOBS

HIGH-WAGE

MID-WAGEJOBS

SOURCE: THE ATLANTIC


What We’re Writing


Topic Distribution


Top 10: What You’d Expect


10 Least Covered: Opportunity!


TAKEAWAY #2

You can (and should) write about more topics.

Finances touch every part ofour readers’ lives.


Browser & Device Trends


Browser Share

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Internet Explorer

Chrome

Firefox

Safari

Opera

Other

8/2011 – 8/2012STATCOUNTER.COM


New King Since Forever

8/2011 – 8/2012STATCOUNTER.COM

Chrome overtakes IE astop browser in May 2012.


Rise of Mobile

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

2009 2010 2011 2012

Mobile

Vis

itor %

SOURCE: STATCOUNTER

Mobile website visitors aredoubling every year.


13% Own Tablets

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Feb-11 Oct-11 Jan-12

SOURCE: GOOGLE INSIGHTS

1 in every 7 usersuse a tablet tobrowse Internet.


45% Own Smartphones

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Feb-11 Oct-11 Jan-12

SOURCE: GOOGLE INSIGHTS

Over HALF thepopulation use smartphones!


TAKEAWAY #3

The small screen is back.


What are the Social Media Options for Bloggers?


Well-Known Outlets


Non-Traditional Outlet


Most Popular


Stats: Based on the Wise1000

• 79% of blogs use Twitter– Average Number of Followers: 2,810– Average Number Following: 1,360

• 53% have a Facebook– Average Likes: 6,778


Facebook is Underused

Twitt

er

Twitt

er

Face

book

Face

book


Twitter: Stats and Patterns of the Top 50 Twitter Titans


Top 50 Twitter Titans Breakdown

Top 5 are Deals & Coupons Blogs


What are the Top Twitter Deals & Coupons Bloggers

Doing?


Two Strategies


What are the Top Twitter Personal Finance Bloggers

Doing?


1. Share articles.


1. Share articles.

2. Interact with followers.


1. Share articles.

2. Interact with followers.

3. Get personal.


Unexpected Findings for the Top 50 Twitter Titans

• 6 haven’t tweeted in the last 2 months.

• Pretty even split between tweeting a lot and tweeting a little.

• 11 employ a follow back strategy.


THE OATMEAL


Facebook: Stats and Patterns of the Top 50 Facebook Titans


Top 50 Facebook Titans Breakdown

The Top 19 Facebook Titans are Deals & Coupons Blogs


What are Deals & Coupons Bloggers Doing Differently?


Making it Personal


What Strategies are Both PF Bloggers and Deals & Coupons

Bloggers Using?


Sharing Content


Interacting with Fans


Added Sharing


What Other Strategies are the Top PF Bloggers Using on

Facebook?


A New Level of Asking Questions


Giveaways


Overall Social Media Strategies from the Heavy Hitters:

Wise1000 Top Bloggers on What TO Do


“Hold occasional gift card giveaways - the reader can qualify to win by liking and answering a question about personal

finance.” -Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers


“The more you get personal and have FUN on Twitter and other social media channels,

the more you’ll ‘connect’ with people.”-J. Money, Budgets Are Sexy


“My only real strategy is to personally and manually post updates.”- Jeremy Vohwinkle, Generation X Finance


“We work to reach out and support

other key influencers in the savings and

financial blogosphere.”

-Teresa Mullins, Get Rich Slowly


“Asking open ended questions has been the single best way to get people to chime in on Facebook and Twitter.”

-David Weliver, Money Under 30


“Hosting events like a weekly Tweetchat

is a great way to engage followers

and get a discussion going!”

-Will Chen, Wise Bread


Wise1000 Top Bloggers on What NOT To Do


Don’t Be Boring

GEEK AND POKE

“Anyone I've seen who just promotes the $hit out of their stuff fails miserably or gets bored and eventually stops.” -J. Money, Budgets Are Sexy

“Don't ask about taxes. Too boring.” -David Weliver, Money Under 30


“The worst strategy for me was having my Twitter feed duplicated on my Facebook status updates since I only used my personal

Facebook account as a personal tool.” -David Ning, MoneyNing


“We initially failed to realize the importance of Facebook in the marketing of our small

business.” -Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers


TAKEAWAY #4

Create and Use Your Facebook Page


What About Emails/Newsletters?


“I have an email newsletter that ends up being one of the more ‘social’ outlets on my site. It’s practically the most social thing I do for

MoneyNing!” -David Ning, MoneyNing


Others Agree!

“My email list is still my best way of communicating with my readers.”-David Weliver, Money Under 30

“I follow a few people that send out really good weekly email newsletters.”-Ben Edwards, Money Smart Life


So What’s the Bottom Line?


TAKEAWAY #5

Engagement is Key


“You have to really interact and talk with people to get the best out of these sites - at the end of the day we're all people!!”- J. MoneyBudgets Are Sexy


This Year,Our Community…


...Had Babies

WISE BREAD

GOOD FINANCIALCENTS

SQUAWKFOX

BUDGETS ARE SEXY


...Bought or Built (!) HomesBUDGETING IN THEFUN STUFF


...Made Feature Movies

ADAM BAKERMAN VS DEBT

http://manvsdebt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/good-baker-mug.jpg


…Asked the President QuestionsDAVID NING


...Escaped the Rat Race


...Connected in PersonFinCon lives on throughoutthe year via FinCon Locals.

Thanks PT!


Thank You!


The Official State of the Financial Blogosphere 2012 (FinCon12)

Economy & Finance

Transcript of The Official State of the Financial Blogosphere 2012 (FinCon12)