In recent years, we have witnessed a significant shift in the way people use the Internet, their online expectations and experiences. Many organisations have recognised the passiveness of consumers to traditional sales messages and in light of this have shifted greater powers to their audiences. The realisation that people will respond more favourably to recommendations from peers rather than traditional marketing messages means that many organisations have directed their marketing focus into the public domain. In this way, the consumer has become an integral part of the business community in which communication and collaboration are encouraged.
Web 2.0 is characterised by information ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’, user generated content, openness, sharing, collaboration, interaction, communities, and social networks. It is a set of applications and activities that in combination provide a new way of thinking about your marketplace, business, customers, partners and competitors. Companies are impacted by Web 2.0 whether they choose to recognise it or not.
The revolutionary nature of such changes is having a profound impact on consumer behaviour and decision-making across all SMEs and organisations. Success in a Web 2.0 environment demands new, innovative approaches to business strategy, marketing and customer relationship management. Rather than ‘talking at’ customers, Web 2.0 requires that you ‘talk with’ them. It is ‘marketing as a conversation with your customers’; a 'conversation with your network'.
With Web 2.0 covering a range of web-based services and applications including blogs, forums, wikis, social bookmarking, social networking, multimedia sharing, podcasts, RSS etc, it can be daunting to know where to begin. It is important that you have a strategy in place to control these services, ensuring that you are adopting a collaborative approach and using each effectively for your business area. This involves understanding your audiences, their online habits and identifying suitable channels to reach them. At Innovation Digital, we can help you with your social marketing strategy and provide solutions that are tailored to your business and your audience. As well as developing a strategy, we can also provide you with the tools and training to monitor each service using Analytical tools.
You may also be interested in attending the 'Web 2.0 Strategy and Management' course on 24th September 2009. This is a continuing professional development course developed by Alan Stevenson, Associate Director at Innovation Digital, Dr. Jim Hamill and the University of Strathclyde. For further information on this course, including how to register, please see the event details.