Book Report: The Long Tail
The future of business is selling less of more. This according to Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail. Anderson looks at why the future of commerce and culture isn’t in hits, the high-volume head of a traditional demand curve (and what is still driving the motion-picture and music industries). He makes the case that the future is now in what used to be regarded as misses- the “long tail” of the same demand curve.
Rise and Fall of the Hit
Remember when Britney Spears was known as a pop artist rather than a freak show? The commercial success of teen pop hits like Spears is best demonstrated by the group NSYNC. On March 21, 2000, Jive Records released NSYNC’s latest album No Strings Attached. The album sold 2.4 million copies in its first week… 11 million by the end of the year.
Anderson argues that this will never happen again. So what happened to the hit parade? The industry blamed piracy. Anderson states it was choice. Not only were users able to download music freely on such services as Napster and Limewire, but they were given unprecedented choice in what music they downloaded. Today’s iTunes model uses this same choice to create a legal system for accessing millions of tracks, from the hits to the obscure.
So what’s the take home here? If you don’t have the resources to create a big hit social network like Facebook or Netflix, don’t worry. With the right niche and the ability to offer infinite content within that niche, you can build a strong brand by supporting and encouraging the right users. What’s more, with technology advancing to a point where anyone can be a media producer, you can offer it faster than any of the hits could hope to.
Niche Culture
American political and cultural writer Virginia Postrel observed that the popularity of niche is nothing more than a reflection of the diversity inherent in any population distribution:
“Every aspect of human identity, from size, shape, and color to sexual proclivities and intellectual gifts, comes in a wide range. Most of us cluster somewhere in the middle of most statistical distributions. But there are lots of bell curves, and pretty much everyone is on the tail of at least one of them.”
Anderson observes people reforming into thousands of what he calls tribes of interest, connected less by geographic proximity and workplace chatter than by shared interests. You can find the niche for your social network by having a tightly defined purpose and audience.
Long Tail Rules
The book is well summarized by the last chapter, where Anderson states the secret to creating a thriving Long Tail social network as
- Make everything available
- Help me find it
Seems simple enough. The first part can be a challenge, as copyright may be an issue, as well as digitizing some content. But with the cost of storage and bandwidth decreasing rapidly, it will continue to get easier to offer everything within a niche.
The second point is moving quickly with the rise of powerful search engines acting like filters. Programming an effective search feature on your social network, as well as performing appropriate search engine optimization, will drive traffic down the long tail and to your network. Remember- the power of the recommendation trumps all, so be sure to include some type of ratings system within your website.
Overall, The Long Tail was a quick read, well worth a trip to your local library. If you are short on time, you may consider checking out this book for the last chapter alone. Anderson’s nine long tail rules are critical for any social network being considered.
