SXSW Topspin Media Demo @ The Belmont

I was extremely excited for Topspin Media’s demo ever since the invite popped up in Google Reader the first week in March. RSVP’ing for the 5pm time slot, I arrived at The Belmont, a stylish American restaurant/bar on west 6th street in Austin. As expected the gathering had very laid-back, friendly atmosphere, featuring food, drinks and a diverse group of interesting people all wanting to find out more about the Topspin direct-to-fan marketing system.

Settling down to start the demo, Topspin CEO Ian Rogers (Link to Twitter) casually introduced himself and dove right into the software. I have seen the front end of the marketing system from exploring the Topspin site, but the back end technology and user control of the program blew me away. The system parlays nicely with its user base (generally creative individuals) allowing them to customize their marketing and online presence to align with their wants and needs.

The system is totally customizable, but not to the point of excessive complexity. This allows the user to become creative with their marketing efforts without having to wade through mountains of coding. Topspin and their affiliates take care of this end of things. The huge amount of data Topspin generates from gathering email addresses, social network, and IP related data allow the display of fan’s geographical information, purchasing behavior, social network popularity, among many other important metrics. It’s great because this information is not only useful for online monetization, but for long-term strategies concerning touring, product development, and whatever other creative way an artist wants to use the data about their fans.

The best part is that it is so easy to use. In around an hour and change we built:

• A simple site based on a WordPress theme
• Set up a Facebook store
• Created some creative product offers, including a couple different product bundles
• Online tickets for a show (which can also be bundled with other items)
• Generated some widgets (email for media, tweet for track) for use anywhere in an artist’s digital landscape

A new development in the Topspin system was discussed at the end of panel which allows the store to bridge multiple sites online without affecting the shopping cart. This basically means that if a fan is on Facebook and adds a item to their shopping cart, then moves to the artist’s website, they can alter or add to their shopping cart without interruption between sites. Myspace can also be thrown into the mix, which makes the store even more flexible and easy to use. Another useful Topspin tool allowing artists to cater to their fans.

Awareness → Connnections → Monetization