Internet World Looks to Social Software to Boost the Market

(By Philip Carnelley 11.00am 29th Apr 09) Yesterday I visited the Internet World exhibition at Earls Court which runs for 3 days until Thursday. The name is slightly misleading: it’s really an online marketing show, with oodles of companies (around 300) who help businesses with their web – and mobile – sales and marketing. They run from marketing agencies with whacky names like Lost Ferret, Chillifish and Punkyduck through core software companies like Autonomy-Interwoven to hosting companies like iomart.

A few themes struck me.

First, that many companies are willing to spend on marketing through technology to get them through the recession. No-one’s saying it’s a panacea, but pre-registrations for the show were up on last year, and the organisers tell us that the related TFM&A (Technology for Marketing and Advertising show) they held a couple of months back had attendance up 20% on last year. That said, some exhibitors thought it was a bit quiet on the first day, although many seminars were standing room only.

Second, that mobile marketing is of even more interest than straight web sales and marketing – at least if the number of exhibitors is anything to go by. Many companies of course are looking for blended approaches to online.

Third, that surely this is an area ready for a shakeout. Perhaps it’s a sign of its immaturity and rapid evolution but there seem to be a lot of companies who are so similar in their offerings that commercial pressures must be intense. There are many new entrants, from as far afield as Latvia and Bulgaria as well as many British companies – the market can only stand so many. The most obvious example is companies offering domain name registration. There can be few more ‘commoditised’ services than that.

And, finally, the most striking theme is that social software continues to intrigue businesses as a potential tool. There were many seminars with a social software slant. Innovation continues, such as Jadu, a web content management suite which can now manage Twitter messages alongside other stuff. But still companies struggle to understand how best to use social software. The organisers tell us that one of the most keenly-awaited seminars is a session on using Twitter for business benefit, with panellists from Carphone Warehouse and others.

As a footnote, apparently quite a few visitors have been drawn to register for the event – even from overseas – at least in part because it offers “Tweet-Ups” – a chance to meet face to face those you have been ‘tweeting.’ Strange but true.

Note – Philip Carnelley joined us this month as an Associate. You can read his biog here. We will be running occasional HotViews posts from our Associates in the future.