Vital is pleased to announce a new opportunity that allows you to support your dealers and connect with consumers in a powerful way. By matching the location of Vital users with your dealer database we can display your local retailers to users across the country. Users in Columbus, Ohio, will see your retailers in that area, while users in Portland, Oregon, will only see shops in their area.

The process is simple: you design the banner artwork (blue area on sample ad below) and we’ll pull the needed retailer information from your dealer database. Pricing starts at $500/month and goes up depending on how many impressions you buy.

Below is a mock-up using a Chevron database. Notice how you can use the arrows to see more locations? Also, although not done in the example below, each shop can click-through to a different URL.

Let me know if you’d like more information.

Vital has officially wrapped-up the 2013 Test Sessions: 5 experienced test riders hammering 22 trail bikes in the desert near Saint George, Utah. 

The combination of respected test riders, a willingness to “tell it like it is,” and some of Utah’s most varied and aggressive trails, made for bike tests that stand out from the crowd as particularly interesting and trustworthy. As a result, Test Sessions is attracting savvy consumers who appreciate the authenticity of the reviews and are coming to Vital to research their next bike.

Check out what Vital MTB members had to say about Test Sessions:

The bottom two quotes point to an interesting contrast between Vital’s bike tests and traditional print reviews. Not only does Vital’s digital format allow us to go deeper and show more, but reviews can be easily found in the Vital MTB Product Guide or by search whenever it’s most relevant to consumers. 

Also, Vital’s commenting system allows our audience (and brands) to weigh-in, providing a dialogue that adds more depth and perspective. We are continually impressed with the technical knowledge and sophistication of our members’ comments and appreciate what they add to our test efforts.

We heard loud and clear from our audience that we’re doing something right with Test Sessions, and we look forward to building on this momentum as a credible source for riders looking for information on MTB product. 

Navigating the mobile sites of Vital Media Network just became a little more user friendly. Previously, users would scroll down through content, looking for something to pique their interest. Now, much like our standard sites, the mobile sites have a marquee location where users can horizontally swipe through Vital produced content. Up to 8 current features will occupy this space, providing visitors with a mobile navigation gesture commonplace among smartphone users and an efficient method for checking out new content.

With so many users looking to their cell phones and tablets for mobile content, we’re truly excited to take this simple, yet important step forward, giving our users a quality mobile experience.

Notice how the marquee image horizontally "swipes" from right to left revealing the new feature content.

Vital MTB reached a big traffic milestone – 503,859 unique visitors over the last 31 days! This is the first time the site has been over 500k, and it’s a 65% year-over-year increase. Our content team has been on fire this past month. Between Test Sessions, Super Session, and Sea Otter coverage, they’ve been producing tons of great content that users are responding to.

Vital BMX Content Director Kyle Carlson recently launched a new feature to highlight the best video content of the previous month. Since Vital’s inception seven years ago we’ve focused on original content as one of our cornerstones, so unique content is nothing new. What did surprise me, even though I watched most of these videos already, is how much great riding Vital debuted in just one month.

Take a look for yourself at Vital BMX Best of March with riding from Brian Foster, Raul Ruiz, Garrett Reeves, Simple Session, Kyle Baldock, Session at Murray’s, and more.

This past weekend, Vital MTB hosted our second-annual Super Session event at Woodward West, presented by Bell and Scott. Riders from around North America came together for a weekend of world-class riding, camaraderie, and to compete in some not-so-serious events like footdown, bunny hop, long jump, and high jump.

The first Super Session events, hosted by Atomlab’s Mike Flaherty nearly a decade ago, offered an opportunity for riders of all styles to come together during the off-season to hang out and ride. Last year, Vital MTB decided to resurrect the Super Session tradition, motivated by our desire to contribute to the MTB scene with an event that is as much about having fun as it is about competition and progression. Check out the recap video from this year’s event below.

VIDEO: 2013 Super Session Super Recap – More Mountain Bike Videos

Super Session brings people together, builds connections and community, and reminds everyone why we ride bikes: because it’s fun. The event’s relaxed environment and emphasis on having a good time makes for great content and fills a unique niche within the MTB calendar of events. Our goal is to be the point of connection between riders, brands, and consumers – and Super Session helps build these connections in a way that is authentic to Vital MTB and its community.

Our friends at DeCal Works have approached advertising in a very simple way. Go big…really big. The familiar DeCal Works logo is ubiquitous among the motocross community and with good reason. Ron Joynt and his crew are bold yet methodical about their approach to advertising. So when Ron became a marketing partner, we knew we’d have to come up with something that would live up to the DeCal Works name.

Having a solid presence on Vital MX means banners, and lots of them. But Ron wanted that extra something. He wanted additional exposure. Lucky for us, we just launched the Vital MX Bike Check section, a perfect fit for a company that builds a product for just about every bike out there. “How about having DeCal Works become the presenting sponsor for the Bike Check?” we asked. With a solid banner presence and some custom integration, this was a perfect solution to achieving additional exposure.

Notice the "Presented by DeCal Works" graphic. A great way to reinforce their banner ads.

See, every day we pick a Bike of the Day from our Bike Check section. Ron liked this idea so much he wanted to sponsor this spot as well and take it one step further. He wanted to give something away every month to a bike that really stood out. So that’s what we did. Enter the Bike of the Month.

Another example of consistent exposure, this time on the homepage.

So now, DeCal Works is the presenting sponsor of the Bike Check, the presenting sponsor of the Bike of the Day, and the presenting sponsor of the Bike of the Month. In all, they reinforce the DeCal Works brand by utilizing different areas of the site.

Another great feature of sponsoring the section is a link that takes visitors directly to DeCal Works' new DeSign Studio.

So what does this mean to you? You see DeCal Works realized that banner ads were a great place to reinforce their brand. That extra step was sponsoring a section of the site, a section that fit the company while simultaneously offering additional exposure. There are plenty of daily, even weekly franchise sections like this on Vital MX from Pit Bits to Chatterbox. Banner ads are a great foundation for brand building and are successfully implemented by marketing partners of all sizes. It’s when you combine a solid banner ad presence with custom integration that you really start to extend your reach as a brand. If you want solid, consistent exposure on Vital, a great way to get that extra attention is through custom integration.

I’m happy to introduce the two newest members of our growing team.

Zach Krejmas – Vital BMX Content Manager
A recent Cal State Long Beach graduate with a degree in theory and practice of cinema, Zach joined Vital BMX last month and has already made an impact. Working with content director Kyle Carlson, Zach is focusing on original feature videos and news posts. One of my favorite videos from Zach so far is this piece with Brandon Dosch he filmed over the last couple weheaeks. Zach is also a ripping rider – check out the video below to see him on the other side of the lens.

Welcome, Zach Krejmas – More BMX Videos

Eric Marcus – Ad Coordinator
Eric is Vital’s jack-of-all-trades on the business side. He oversees all ad operations, and is handling a variety of special projects. Eric graduated from Cal State Northridge with a degree in business administration. He started out as an XC racer at age 10, but nowadays he’s an avid dirt jumper and DH’er.

22 bikes, five testers, and great trails came together for the first-ever Vital MTB Test Sessions. Conducted over one week in Hurricane, Utah, the plan was to test a slew of relevant trail bikes in order to give our audience valuable product information at the start of this year’s riding season. The session was a huge success and is helping further Vital’s ongoing product mission. For marketers, reaching consumers as they’re researching product is extremely valuable.

This week an email from a Vital MTB user reminded us how valued our Test Sessions coverage is: “When’s the review for the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC? I am ready to order one, but wanted to wait for the Vital MTB review first.”

Below are links to the reviews that have gone live so far. Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of weeks for the remaining reviews.

Intense Tracer 27.5
Rocky Mountain Altitude 790 MSL
Niner RIP 9 RDO
Kona Process
Airborne HobGoblin
Norco Range Killer B
Giant Trance X 29 0
Commencal Meta SX 1
GT Force LE
BMC Trailfox TF 02

The Pew Research Center published a report this week stating that 25% of American teens surveyed say they are “cell-mostly” internet users: their smartphone is the primary way they access the internet.  The report goes on to highlight that 37% of American teens own a smartphone, a significant increase from just 23% in 2011. More and more, teens are moving away from desktop and laptop computers and towards mobile devices as their primary access to the internet. Teens are especially worth paying attention to, as their behavior and adoption of technology has historically predicted future trends in the greater population.

In addition to the Pew report, Cisco recently released its own forecast for mobile traffic growth, projecting that mobile internet use will surge by a rate of 66% each year for the next five years. Cisco expects that by 2017 mobile traffic will be three times greater than the traffic from more traditional desktop and laptop computers.

These reports got me curious. How, I wondered, does Vital’s mobile traffic compare with the general trends and projections? It also made me wonder whether Vital’s traffic was showing the same age-related correlation: Are the Vital sites with the most teen users showing more mobile traffic? (Median audience age: Vital MX – 37, Vital MTB – 29, Vital BMX – 17). I decided to dig into our analytics to find out…

Vital MTB had more than 110,00 unique visitors from mobile devices (includes smartphones and tablets) in January 2013, accounting for 30% of total unique visitors. When compared to January of last year, Vital MTB mobile traffic is up 89%.

Vital MX had more than 129,000 mobile unique visitors in January, representing 33% of total unique visitors. When compared to January 2012, Vital MX mobile traffic is up 52%.

Vital BMX had more than 141,000 unique visitors from mobile devices in January, accounting for 33% of total unique visitors. Compared to January of last year, Vital BMX mobile traffic is up 77%.

Vital’s mobile traffic growth is outpacing what even the current research would predict. Cisco projects mobile traffic to grow by 66% per year for the next five years, and the average growth in unique mobile visitors between Vital’s three sites from January 2012 to January 2013 was 73%. With regards specifically to age as a factor, Vital BMX has the lowest median audience age and is tied with Vital MX, the site with the highest median audience age, for percentage of mobile traffic. It seems that Vital’s audience members are increasing their use of mobile devices across the board, regardless of age.

Vital’s mobile traffic has grown significantly across all sites and demographics because we’ve invested in building and continually improving our mobile platforms. We’ve seen the migration to mobile coming for a while now, and we were early in creating mobile optimized sites and video players that are compatible across all devices. Looking forward, we’ve got big plans to continue to enhance the mobile experience of our sites. Look for many new exciting updates to Vital’s mobile platforms in the near future. In the words of Mary Madden, author of the Pew Research Center’s report, “We are barreling towards a mobile future.”  As such, Vital is actively positioning itself to continue to improve our mobile experience and help our clients connect with the “cell-mostly” consumers of tomorrow.