Foursquare, a location-based micro-blogging service that launched in 2009 seems to be on the verge of relevance. In preparation for their marketing push at SXSW they announced that they have added 500,000 new members bringing their total to somewhere in the 1 million area. Additionally, they are launching a free analytics service for business owners so that could create interesting marketing opportunities for businesses that are based on foot traffic. I’m rooting for them because this could become a very interesting marketing medium.

For a short while this past week, there was an accidentally revealed document floating around the web that shows some potential upcoming developments in facebook marketing…and they are definitely ideas that will make business page owners very happy. The document itself is no longer anywhere where I can link to it but there is this useful article about it on the Inside Facebook site. Here’s the high points:

“What are other people doing and what’s really working?” We got a sneak peak at some of the valuable information in The 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report from MarketingSherpa. The accompanying chart shows us which social media marketing tactics are most often used and considered most effective by our marketing peers.

The number of U.S. Internet users aged 65 and older increased more than 55 percent between November 2004 and November 2009, according to data from Nielsen. The measurement firm estimates that 17.5 million seniors are now online, compared with 11.3 million five years ago.

I hate the click. We obsess about clicks. We track clicks. We pay for clicks. We want more and more clicks. We are click-absorbed and it is time to make online marketing about more than this. This week marked the 15th anniversary of the first online banner ad so I have chosen this time to launch a revolt against the single-minded click-only metrics that prevail today.

If you publish a blog or any site with an RSS feed you have probably been frustrated by the lack of information that you get from the click activity in the feed. Though there are certainly ways around it Google has just announced an integration with Feedburner that makes RSS analytics easily accessible. This article from the Google Analytics blog explains it in detail but here are some of the highlights and a screenshot of what to expect.

The EVoter Institute has recently released a report entitles “Persuading and Motivating Voters: What Will It Take in 2010?” that drives home the importance of the Internet and the changing dynamics in the ways we all consumer news and information. The study is well worth the read no matter what industry you are in primarily because it illustrates the increasing ways that social media content is being used by consumers.

We see a lot of companies placing video on their websites and YouTube channels without much thought being given to whether the content will be of any real value to the audience or much benefit to the organization. Dave Chase recently wrote a great article showcasing 10 wonderful examples from several different industries that offer fodder for those looking to hone their online video marketing approach. The basic principle is to create content that is valuable and interesting, but how have others met that challenge and won?

Google recently introduced their new tool, Google SideWiki to create an annotated web browsing experience for any user willing to install the Google toolbar in their browser. Operators of brand websites are no doubt going to be frustrated by the idea of user-generated content outside their control surrounding the user experience of their website. However, there could be interesting opportunities here for marketers and tremendous advances for the consumer if the SideWiki adoption rate takes off.

All too often, marketers place videos on YouTube or even build channels and then walk away from them to view from afar the viewership they generate. I read this interesting study that confirms what we have learned from YouTube marketing in recent years- that using the community building tools of YouTube plays a significant role in the ranking your video receives and in its ability to be found by your audiences on YouTube. If you don’t engage, your YouTube success will certainly be more limited.