While higher ed has been insulated from economic downturns in the past, the current financial crisis is threatening to have a lasting impact on the long-term health of universities and colleges. As budgets tighten, university marketers will need to remain nimble, adjusting marketing tactics to take advantage of the growing “long tail” of the Web.
According to Chris Anderson editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, the theory of the Long Tail is that:
“Our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of “hits” (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. As the costs of production and distribution fall, especially online, there is now less need to lump products and consumers into one-size-fits-all containers. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare.”
And while the Long Tail concept is usually attributed to consumer products, we are also experiencing this phenomenon in Web 2.0 with regard to content distribution. Technology has given us a virtually unlimited choice in where, when, how, and from whom we access our news, information, and entertainment. This has profound implications on those of us in the communications field as we try to reach our numerous audiences.
So just how long is the long tail? Take a look at Go2Web2.0 and explore the 2,770 (and counting) social networking sites currently cataloged in this directory – the majority of which represent the long tail of social networks. In fact, eMarketer reported that of the $920 million spent on social network advertising in 2007, 8.2% went to niche sites. And by the end of this year, that share is expected to grow to 10%.
The long tail is particularly evident within the pages of the intensely popular Ning where anyone can create their own niche social network. In an interview with Fast Company, Ning predicted that by 2010 it will host more than four million social networks equating to billions of page views daily.
Posted by Rosie 
