Back in 2011, SalesForce.com made headlines buying the domain name Social.com for $2.6 Million dollars
At the time one Tech publication opined that “Social.com could be used as a new name for Radian6, the social media monitoring company that it announced earlier this year, or perhaps it could be used as a hub for all the company’s services currently being promoted under the “social enterprise” banner.
Well in fact the domain name is being forwarded to ExactTarget.com, which is a pretty much a general Salesforce platform that is described on the website as:
“Your customers expect 1:1 experiences—communications that provide the information they need the moment they need it. To stay relevant, marketers need to become customer companies, manage the customer journey, and build 1:1 customer relationships at scale. And with the trusted infrastructure of our 100% cloud-based, secure, and highly available platform, you have the flexibility and reliability you need to go further.”
I’m sure Salesforce didn’t pony up $2.6 million for a domain thinking that is would wind up just redirecting back to another URL, but anyway you slice it $2.6 Million is a hefty price to pay for a domain that is being redirected.
Hello MHB,
Thanks for your Marketing Strategy views and we find a hidden message in this real life usage of a .COMs superior ability to channel traffic. On the other hand for example can you imagine any GTLDs ability in matching the same results employing this tactic ? GTLDs are a severely flawed marketing strategy that will always be superceded by the .COMS Superior ability to attract Traffic.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
@Jeff Schnieder: .COM is a great extension, and incredibly valuable for resale and traffic. That said, your example is like comparing a 30 year old to a toddler in professional sports. 20 years from now the game will be quite different.
@ Jothan,
20 years from now the new GTLDs will be as obsolete as they are now Bro. That is if they are even allowed to be in existence, the New GTLDs are a Brainchild cooked up by a think tank where everybody involed had a brain fart and created this bastard child. Hows that for some of your Millenial style misinformation language ? You had better take off your Googleglasses and see the brick wall coming at you straight ahead before you fall victim to this search engine attempt to subvert DNS Neutrality. We suggest you do research before you waste any more of your valuable time.
Gratefully Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
I remember 20 years ago when similar things were said of .com and the World Wide Web.
It is amazing to see history repeating itself… There were many who felt and expressed a similar vigor and passionate lather about rolling up everything under the ccTLD hierarchy and that gTLDs in general were a bad idea.
My point was not to wave the flag of new top level domains in your face, only to say that hindsight can be 20/20, but foresight is 50/50. The future will be whatever the future will be.
Claiming a microwave victory in a crock pot race can prove hazardous.
20 years from now maybe the game will not be so different or maybe it will be different in a way that is not what you and others think. 🙂
If it received 10k type-in every day, still a good investments in terms of the traffic.
I know .COM is a great extension and incredibly valuable for resale and traffic. Until now, I am still looking for the highest price for .info. Can you review it in the next post?
We, as domainers, think SalesForce is nuts by not utilizing a premium domain like – Social,com.
However, we have to remember that SalesForce is a huge corp with annual revenues of $ 5.3 billion with a market value of $ 42 billion. $ 2.6 mil. is not as important to them as it would be to us.
It is like asking the U.S. Defense Dept. why are you not using the destroyer ship sitting idle in Norfolk, Va.? The Navy might say – “We know that it is there. We have plans for it. We will let you know when we re-launch it. Thank you for your concern. ” 🙂
$2.6M was a good bargain price for the buyer.
That is amazing price for $2.6M,, but the value is definitely comparable At that rate