Back in the last century the web was seen as a great way to create an on-line brochure. The idea was that if you had a web presence you could be attracting new business 24/7 while you were sleeping. Alas the days of the static website have come to an end. Its simply not good enough these days to slap up a web site and leave it to stagnate for months. There’s nothing worse from an audience perspective than returning to a website that hasn’t changed since your last visit or worse a site that has dated “news”. I don’t know about you but when I go to a site like that I assume the company is kaput and go elsewhere.
A website is no different from having a phone, if no one knows your number then no one is going to call, if you don’t answer or return your calls then having the phone is pointless. Interaction is key. Likewise a website is simply a tool to facilitate business but if there’s no interaction you may as well not bother.
Fortunately technology has also come a long way in the last decade or so and its becoming easier and easier to create dynamic user experiences that will keep visitors coming back. A blog, for example is the perfect way to ensure that your site is updated regularly and it encourages users to interact. RSS feeds are another way to make your site fresh by linking to applicable news feeds or posts from iconic blogs in your industry. Using photo and video technologies to showcase your offering and allow for an enhanced user epxerience is made simple by the likes of Flickr and You Tube. None of these techniques cost much to implement but the impact of these on the effectiveness of your web site can be huge.
Right now there’s so many exciting developments in new media, marketing and on the Internet in general, that its becoming quite a task to decide which makes me the most cheerful. November saw Google announce Open Social and Facebook enter the Internet advertising market with SocialAds, the XO was launched as was Kindle which lead me discover my first reason:
Askville by Amazon is a neat application, you can ask the community any question about any topic and with any luck the community comes up with satisfactory answers. I always have questions so I expect I’ll be using it a lot.
Docstoc - has a wide range of business templates and documents available to share. There’s some debate about the quality of some of the documents therein but the concept is great especially for small businesses.
Zoho - I Stumbled upon this on-line solution aimed at providing everything from word processing and spreadsheets to CRM and project management.
Kijiji- I like Craigslist and use it regularly to good effect so I was pleased to find this Canadian alternative.
I’ve been using Google Adwords for a while now for targeted online promotion of my business and so far so good, I’ve been relatively happy with the results. What I like best about AdWords is the fact that you can get going and test the waters really easily. For as little as $5 per month you can get started with campaigns and tweak to see what works and what doesn’t before expanding your promotions.
Enter Facebook and their business pages. Business pages are great - a free way to raise brand awareness amongst your network and their friends. However, their advertising component whilst being attractive (you can reach out and promote to a highly targeted demographic including age, location, sex, keywords, education, workplace, views and relationship status) isn’t great for those who want to test the waters. Unlike Google, Social Ads have a minimum daily investment of $5 for advertising. Really what you are paying for here is the targeting capabilities and the investment may be worth it. $5 is not a lot you may think but for small to medium sized companies already happy with Adwords it may be prohibitive (especially since the Facebook option is new and the effects of advertising in this forum are untested).
Has your organisation tried Social Ads yet? What response rate are you getting and how do the results compare to your experience with Google Adwords (if you’ve used that)?. Please let me know and so that we can feature your comments in a future Out-Smarts Internet Advertising blog post.
When I meet with executives in the finance sector and talk about new media adoption I usually get the response that investors are typically old school and like to do business the “traditional” way. I always have to ask about the next generation of investors - those for whom new media adoption is the norm: have these financial organisations considered how they will attract these new investors in the future without using new media?
Steadyhand, a local financial organisation that provides mutual funds does just that. It bucks the trend both in terms of the mutual funds services it provides and its approach to new media adoption which is leading edge to say the least. The company has adopted a blogging policy that encourages all employees to contribute as well as Internet advertising and social marketing strategies that effectively reach and involve their target audience.
Traditional finance companies should take note - this is the way of the future.
According to a Gartner report, corporate spending on Web 2.0 is set to increase. Companies are catching on to the benefits of Web 2.0 and these technologies are set to gain a bigger share of the corporate budget in coming months.
Web 2.0 is the ineractive web. It gives companies the ability to go full circle in their on-line relationships with clients (it closes the feedback loop and turns it into a constant cycle of communication as well as an invaluable source of research). Web 2.0 also has applications within the organisation allowing widely dispersed teams (for example) to communicate more effectively and work better together thus positively impacting productivity rates.
When it comes to Web 2.0, collaboration is key and any area of your business that will positively benefit from enhanced collaboration and communication could potentially benefit from implementing a Web 2.0 strategy.
I was going to keep this one for our Reasons to be Cheerful post for October but its too good to wait. I am always looking for examples on the web of innovative companies that are using Web 2.0 and its collaborative capabilities in really innovative ways. I came across an example of a web site that really does this well called Threadless. This T shirt design company that truly engages clients online by:
encouraging visitors to design their own T shirt or order from the catalogue of unique and popular shirts;
promoting participation by using blog technology so that visitors can share tips on design, opinions on T shirts and other hot topics;
hosting an ongoing competition that draws visitors back by having them vote on the best designs submitted this month - winners get a cash reward;
building a loyal following that shares photos of T-shirts and wearers building loyalty;
having users sign up as members of the “Street Team” and begin promoting the Threadless web site to earn T Shirt credits and virally spread the word.
Threadless uses Web 2.0 to market its offering very effectively - go take a look and be inspired!
Blogging has long been dismissed by traditional print media as being unprofessional, not “real news” or too subjective. It would appear that these opinions are changing. Newspapers in particular are altering their perspectives and looking to blog posts to rekindle the flagging interest in their editorials. Our local rag, the Vancouver Sun now boasts several staff writers who publish blogs regularly under categories such as business, news, features and so on with varying levels of response. The Sun is using the blog tool to reach a younger, wider audience.
There is a lot to be learned from a businesses perspective from this. Blogs are associated in many people’s minds as on-line journals and many question how that relates to business. A corporate blog isn’t a company diary, its a way of communicating your message more effectively, establishing your expertise and like the newspapers are learning - its a way to reach a wider audience.
GoogleAdWords is a great way to easily target your niche audience and promote your product to that audience. With hundreds of millions of Google searches performed every day it makes sense to tap into that huge potential market and thats just what GoogleAdwords lets you do.
When you next google something look at the right hand side and the top few searches of the page: these are ads (usually highlighted) placed and paid for by companies using the GoogleAdWords service.
The major benefits companies find in using this service (increased traffic notwithstanding) include:
ability to get started on a minimum budget: as little as $5 per month;
manage your budget effectively with monthly spend limits;
test the waters, try different keywords and ad wording and make adjustments easily;
you only pay for actual clicks (people who click through to visit your site);
advertising with Google, unlike advertising in traditional media, is highly targeted by location and language;
its relatively simple to get started
and the service offers advanced reporting options if you are so inclined.
All in all, GoogleAdWords brings great bang for your advertising buck.
If you are wondering about wikis: what they are and how you can use them to your benefit, you should check out this great video from WetPaint which explains all you need to know about this collaborative Internet technology in a short and entertaining video.
This month’s reasons to be cheerful were brought to my attention by TechCrunch, a group of expert panelists and bloggers that review innumerable entries to shortlist a few of the most innovative startup companies of the year.
This years TechCrunch list featured 40 of the neatest Web 2.0 offerings. Here are my faves:
Wixi - promises all your photo, video and music in one place accessible anywhere simply by logging in.
Teach The People - is an online social network based on sharing knowledge and educating others.
Ceedo - aims to allow people to virtualise their Windows desktop and makes this portable via USB or even phones - don’t ask me how!
Kerpoof - is a site aimed at encouraging kids to get creative. It allows kids to create art, stories and animation and share their masterpieces with their friends.
A website is no different from having a phone, if no one knows your number then no one is going to call, if you don’t answer or return your calls then having the phone is pointless. Interaction is key. Likewise a website is simply a tool to facilitate business but if there’s no interaction you may as well not bother.