Marketing: How WolframAlpha Can Stir up Attention
If you don’t know about it yet, WolframAlpha is a new search engine that can provide data and fact based answers to a number of questions. My description doesn’t do it justice so go watch this video to get an idea of how it works.
So far, I love their execution and I think they have a terrific idea. Once they develop a strong database that can cover a wide array of topics, I could see it being picked up by the mainstream. The catch being that to continue with extensive development, more people are going to have to start using it. Here are two ideas that popped into my head on how they can garner a wider audience:
- People Love Easter Egg Searches:
Easter Eggs are hidden features that can be found in software and on websites. Early equivalents of this were the Google Bombs which falsely linked search results with something unrelated or humorous. This practice has since changed but lots of people knew about basic Google Bombs which provided hilarious results. I remember that Yahoo Answers began to come to my attention when I started seeing screen grabs like these pop up on forums and other websites.
Similarly, WolframAlpha has some search results which are amusing and humorous. The Wolfram team has obviously picked up on this, wisely using it as a marketing tool. Responses to questions like “Are You Skynet” have popped up on Digg and brought them a lot more users. Check out some of their other Easter Egg searches here.
2. Know/Target Your Initial Audience
My perception might be biased, but I would like to think that the initial users of Wolfram Alpha are going to reflect the user base of Digg. Young, educated and knowledgeable about computers and the internet. If Wolfram Alpha was able to grab a share of this audience, that would be a huge success. To do this they should focus on providing that demographic with data and answers that would be of interest to them. Targeting a specific audience and making sure the website serves that audience is the main goal of Ratemyfraternity/ Ratemysorority. While Wolfram is aiming to catalogue all systematic knowledge, it would be a smart move for them to initially target a specific audience in order to drive traffic and bring them a solid user base.
I hope their project succeeds. The direction Wolfram Alpha is taking is one which all search engines should be aiming for. I’m looking at you Bing.
