60% of Fortune 1000 Will Host a Form of Online Community by 2010

Gartner research tells us that more than 60% of the Fortune 1000 will connect with customers via an Online community by the year 2010.

One key benefit of the customer community is that an organization can gain tremendous amounts of valuable information about its customer base. Such valuable data is used for campaign targeting, product development, loyalty improvement, customer interaction, customer segmentation. This wealth of data can be used for marketing, in particular, as well as an entire customer-focused organization.”

Gartner warns however that an online community has its hurdles. Gartner predicts that by 2010, more than half the companies with an online community will fail to establish effective purpose, ultimately possibly deteriorating customer relationships. To combat this, companies will have to look to new skills to better understand the needs of a connected customer.

Posted by admin on June 1st, 2009 | | Print |

Developing the Customer Social Network…

Company Controls

Consumer expectations have long defined the business world as a whole. Decades ago, meeting those expectations was a relatively simple process. The balance of power was clearly on the side of the company. While a consumer might bother to complain or praise the company to his or her neighbor, little could be accomplished on a mass scale, and that meant that the company literally owned all of the information necessary to hone their marketing techniques.

Even after internet marketing and sales became part of the international vocabulary, the balance of power was still very much with each and every company doing business online. Customers were suddenly offering more information than most companies could ever imagine. Every click and every search meant additional data, and consumers were wholly powerless to stop the information gathering that ruled the ecommerce world. If you wanted to shop online, you had to become part of the data collection heap. The best companies at the time made sense of the data and integrated it into their business models. Others however, had little time to understand all of it and simply shoved it under the rug for a rainy day.

Power Shift
Former Chief Scientist at Amazon Andreas Weigend, recognizes a new data revolution which he dubs as “me-business.” Customer collaboration and socialization are key components of today’s me-business world. In the “me-business” revolution, customers expect to be given access to each other through various means. Forward thinking companies have developed “systematic tools” to connect customers together such as corporate social networks. The proper design, deployment and use of corporate social networks result in keenly defined customer expectations, and those customers who are offered solid incentives contribute meaningful information to the company. There is growing evidence today that an online social network community is likely to be more helpful to the customer than a representative employed by the company.

Today as the balance of power shifts to the customer, it can also mean amazing opportunities for companies who are ready to listen and respond. Weigend states that customers now understand that the material they contribute results in value like never before, but they expect something from the business world in return. For progressive companies, development of proper incentive systems as well as a better understanding of how to address customer expectations is the key to future sales growth.

Posted by admin on June 1st, 2009 | | Print |

7 Reasons Why Your Company Will Benefit From Creating Its Own Social Network:

When I talk to many small and mid-sized business owners they cringe at the word “social network.” Mistakenly, they believe the tools powering sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn are only for college kids, or just to find a college classmate from years ago. Sure, many of us use social networks in our personal time for that, but the fact is that the corporate world benefits just as much — if not more — from these tools. Those same business owners only start listening when I tell them that some of the largest and most successful companies in the world — big names like IBM, Kodak, Reebok and Oracle — have been using their own social networks to engage their customers and improve employee productivity within far-flung departments and offices.

But this is the clincher: when I tell them that creating their own social network website can make the company money, save on costs, boost their image, and even help them develop future products, suddenly they’re a whole lot more chatty.

It’s No Waste of Time

The problem, I suppose, is the misconception. At its core, social networking is just a series of tools that make it easy for all of us to talk, interact and help each other online. What we do with that tool is really what determines if it’s productive or a waste of time. Think about the television set. You can turn on daytime TV and watch your brain cells gradually atrophy, or you can tune in to an educational course on PBS and learn Japanese a little each day. It’s the same tool, but put to different uses it has two different effects.

The same idea transfers to the online space. Forget about MySpace for a second and create a social network on your own terms on your own corporate site. Watch how quickly your customers connect to help you understand their needs, and step up to help each other solve sticky support questions. Marvel at how easily you can communicate to your own employees, and how they collaborate to get more done in less time, and become proactive about finding solutions to problems down the chain you didn’t even know existed.

7 Benefits of Creating a Social Network

Here’s just a taste. Nothing speaks more to the point than outlining the concrete benefits of creating your own corporate social network. Some have to do with your relationship with your customers, some with your employees, but all of them will help your bottom line.

1. The Ultimate Focus Group – Some companies waste time sending out surveys to ask customers how they’re doing. Instead, what they should be doing is listening to what customers are telling them and what they are saying to each other. There is no better place to do so than through the online forums and discussions of your own networked site.

2. Say It Right – If you think a memo is impersonal, imagine the slosh of corporate emails many of us receive daily. You can communicate your company’s plans (and avoid employees hitting the ‘delete’ button) much more personally, effectively and efficiently by interacting directly with your team on the social network.

3. Spread Your Message – What better place to announce (or test out) new products and ideas than on your own social network? Get valuable instant feedback from the people that matter most: your customers.

4. Engage Enthusiasm – At some point every company that makes good products or provides valuable services creates a groundswell of popular support. However, few of those companies have the means to take advantage of it. With a social network, your customers can evangelize your products more effusively, passionately (and cheaply) than those lame banner ads the marketing team has been pushing.

5. Help Them Help Themselves – Any company with workers or contractors in different buildings (or different countries for that matter) knows that functioning together is key. Social networks make it easy to collaborate, message, build camaraderie, catch mistakes, solve problems and break down even the most ‘virtual’ of walls.

6. Save on Support Costs – Granted, you’ll never really replace customer service, but you’d be shortsighted not to see how much customers can help each other. Companies that implement social networks reduce their technical support costs as users discuss and provide answers to one another — often with surprisingly more detailed solutions than your own staff knows.

7. See Into the Future – What are you customers talking about or complaining about? Which other sites or competitors are they thinking of jumping to? What features do they need implemented right now? You’ll know in real time if these discussions are taking place on your social network and not elsewhere.

I could go on — and I will — in the coming weeks on this blog. Different companies have different needs, and your own social network can (read: should) look and function with your company’s specific goals in mind. There is still a lot to discuss about the technology behind social networking, how to go about implementing your own social network and making sure you are getting the most out of this amazing tool. There are case studies from my own experience I’m excited to share and pitfalls I will make sure you avoid. The technology behind social networks is readily available and truly is the easy part: the strategy is what I want to discuss at length.

I practice my own medicine too — so feel free to leave comments on this blog and let me know what you want to learn more about. It’s a wide, wide Web we live in and interaction is the key to the future.

Posted by admin on December 18th, 2008 | | Print |

Why Flash Video

This is an excellent article by Robert Reinhardt on the benefits of Flash Video

You can see the evidence of Flash Video on just about every major video-enhanced web site. Here’s just a few that have made the headlines:

• YouTube.com: This popular UGC (User Generated Content) site delivers all user-uploaded content as Flash Video (FLV).
• Google.com: The video search component of Google.com uses Flash Video (Flash Player 6 compatible, Sorenson Spark) for search results.
• MTV.com Overdrive: As of the end of summer 2006, MTV.com’s popular Overdrive web destination has switched from Windows Media to Flash Video.
• ABC.com: The ABC broadcast network currently features video clips in the Flash Video format, and uses real-time Flash Video streaming for their Emmy-winning Full Episode Streaming site, featuring full-length TV episodes with limited commercial breaks.
• NBC/Universal sites: NBC and its sister channels (Bravo, USA, SciFi, Telemundo) now use Flash Video to stream video clips of teasers, deleted scenes, and promotions.

The other video players on the market, such as Microsoft Windows Media, Apple QuickTime, and RealNetworks Real Player, used to be the mainstay on nearly every video-enabled web site. Now, they’re left scratching their heads as to why Flash Video has taken over major segments of the industry in so little time—it’s nearly an “about face” from many video distributors in this year alone.

Ubiquity

Flash Video content can be viewed on any Flash Player distributed in the last four years. Starting with Flash Player 6, Adobe (then Macromedia) added the Sorenson Spark codec to the player plug-in. Flash Player 6 is installed on over 96% of Internet-connected computers in mature markets, such as the US, Canada, Japan, and Europe. Flash Player 7 and 8 have adoption rates higher than 90%. The Flash Player is also widely distributed across multiple computer systems, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS 9 and X, and Linux. No other video player can boast that fact—more on the “numbers” later in this article.

Quality

Flash Player 8’s addition of the On2 VP6 codec has been a major driving force in the quick update of Flash Video on the web. Many online distributors felt that the quality of the Sorenson Spark codec simply was not good enough to carry their brand image on the web—Sorenson Spark, while processor- and RAM-friendly on a wide range of computers, just didn’t have great quality over low bitrates compared to those offered by Windows Media, QuickTime, and Real Player. With the new VP6 codec, however, image quality and definition improved greatly, especially at lower bitrates.

Posted by admin on May 12th, 2008 | | Print |

Top 10 Reasons A Website Fails

A website is a tool and can be of significant help to your business. It can cut a lot of time you put into giving information to customers. It can answer questions and perform tasks for you. Find out where websites fail to perform and how you can figure out where to make it better.

1. Undefined Website Objectives
Some sites try to do way too much at once, or worse, they have no definable purpose. Many offer no clear objective. A site can do more than look good and flashy and have your contact information.

Websites can be informational, storing content and articles based on a topic. Sites can run eCommerce solutions that help you with your sales process. It can also generate leads, asking customers to fill out forms with their information and interests. It can also be a hybrid site, with mixed purposes, like offering a free ebook or free access to information (informational) in return for contact information (lead generation).

Defining the purpose of your website gives a clear direction to your customers. Where should customers arrive when they find your website? Where do you want them to end up? Using a clear path and clear objectives, you can lead them through your site, your products, and your information, depending on how you need to sell your products. Not all products or services can be sold directly in an eCommerce situation. Maybe you prefer just getting to know your customer a bit more, and being able to forward marketing materials, so a lead generation type of site might be more suitable.

Assign a secondary objective. Maybe after visitors sign up for free access, or an ebook, they are encourage to ask more by contacting your sales reps, or perhaps they can make a direct purchase online. Use clearly definable call to actions. “Email for more information.” “Click here to sign up.” Tell visitors where to go.

2. Unidentified Target Audience
Demographics have been used in marketing for generations. Marketers use the information because it works. Knowing who your audience is defines the purpose to your website more and calls out those who qualify and would be interested in your products. Marketing is the one area where discrimination is actually a good thing! You don’t want to waste the marketing dollars that draw people to your site who won’t need your products in the first place.

Get to know who your clients are. Are they male or female? How old? Where are they located? What do they do for a living? Habits, income levels, preferences, they can all be discovered with a quick email, phone call or have your current customers take surveys and help you figure out what your clients want.

3. Building for the Wrong Audience
Your site can have a purpose and a select audience, but if it doesn’t appeal to audiences, they tend to go elsewhere. Finding preferences is only the first step. Once you figure out what your demographic is, it is time to find out what appeals to them, and use that to your advantage. It could be something as simple as site colors and images, to where and how they prefer to use navigation systems and the type of content presented.

Maybe you need simple content, easy to read and understand for younger audiences. Perhaps you need something a bit more technical for professionals. You can even see if you need to add features for those who are visually impaired. Paying attention to your demographic and their preferences can mean building your website around their likes and getting more responses.

4. Oblivious to Web Traffic Sources

A link on a Harry Potter fan club forum to your website can bring in traffic, but does it really bring in the right customers? If you’re not directing traffic from sites relevant to yours or where a matching market exists, you might end up with empty hits to your website. It looks pretty on stat pages but it doesn’t really do anything.

Refocus your efforts on search engine optimization and focus on keywords that do fit, not just what might be popular. You can plan the sort of traffic you want and focus your outreach efforts on that. Planning your search engine campaigns can make them more effective, bringing the right customers to you. You don’t need 1,000 random visitors a day, when 100 qualified visitors will do.

5. Underestimating the Competition
Who says you can’t grab ideas from your competition? Find out what they are lacking and draw customers to your site by adding more features and information. Your target audience is searching the web for your product. Don’t let your competition become more appealing.

Understand your competition by observing their sites. Where are your competitors linking? Where aren’t they? What designs do they use on their site? Does your target audience like that type of design or do they want something better? Figure out how to improve on your own site and make it better than your competition.

6. Poor Site Communication and Inconsistency
If you’re building a website, is one page orange and another blue? Does one page have your logo and another doesn’t? People love consistency.

Does your content and images display the right message? Your website might have pretty pictures of your children, or a fun story about what happened to you last Christmas, but is it really what your customers want to know?

Skip the personal info, unless it’s relevant and your audience wants to hear about it. You also need to make sure you present your brand in it’s best light, and consistently give visitors the same presentation very time and on every page. Let your brand stand out.

7. Outdated and Antiquated Site Features
Out with the old. Checking your site over for old content and images and delete them. Remove old links that go nowhere too. Forget pop ups and old methods of keeping visitors around. Content is great, but if it’s so old that it’s irrelevant, you’ll lose respectability and your expert status.

Stick to new information. Don’t be afraid to get rid of old articles and delete old images. Get an update on your site features, like navigation systems and contact forms.

8. Poor Overall Site Performance
You’ve plastered all there is to know about you on a few pages. Is this the right way to do it? Maybe not. Yes, you’ve given them something to look at, but you have to remember, your time to impress people on the Internet is limited to just a few seconds. Long passages of text, lengthy forms, even poorly constructed or confusing navigation can slow people down, which leads to people leaving.

Making your website flow is all about making your site easy to read, easy to browse and easy to find what you’re looking for. Include a search function, highlight popular pages, and make it simple for people to give you their information. Start with short forms, only the essentials, and a few simple questions. You can get more info later.

9. Lack of Commitment
When was the last time you updated additional information to your website?

Remember those “Website Under Construction” images from the early years of the Internet? Over time, people have learned those images are pointless. Your website is ever evolving, ever needing updating. Your website is never, ever finished.

You must make a commitment to update information and to improve interest in your site from visitors. It could be as simple as updating a blog once or twice a week, or updating about sales and special events. Give visitors something to come back to, and let them turn into regular guests.

10. Not using an Experienced Web Firm
You do a good job with what you do, and a good business and website owner knows when to call for help. Maybe you’re okay with writing content, but you need help with creating navigation and setting up forms. It’s okay to ask someone else for help, either with a few pages, or for the entire site design, and leave it to a professional.

It also saves money and time getting someone else to do the complicated things for you. Are you spending weeks on figuring out a web page design set up when it takes a professional a few hours to produce? When you’re in business, you consult with professionals who will help you build a better website, develop methods of search engine marketing strategies, and find out how to appeal to your target audience. You save time, money, and plenty of headaches.

Posted by admin on May 11th, 2008 | | Print |

Closing the Social Networking Gap

Every teenager from the last few years has been involved with social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. They use them to keep up with their friends and to make new friends. Advertisers are succesfully using this phenomenon to advertise directly to this group. According to government studies Teenagers in the U.S. spend over $84 billion a year. The money, which averages to about $3,200 per teen comes primarily from parents and jobs; and covered spending on clothing, food, entertainment, personal-appearance products, recorded music, and transportation. Social Networking gives content that the teens want in return for placing advertising on the sites for things the teens will be spending money on anyway. As the teens cross into their 20s they are staying with social networking and finding new uses for these sites.

The latest trend is the over 30 age group using the sites for keeping up with family or for connecting to specialized groups. Groups like Companies and Professional Organizations allow potential employees use the Internet to get the inside scoop on a future boss. Activities, Entertainment and Recreation & Sports help them to plan their free time.

Wikipedia provides a list of over 100 social network websites, with MySpace and Facebook being the mostly widely used in 2007. MySpace, with over 100 million visitors, is very popular with teenagers, and Facebook, with over 70 million visitors, is popular with college students. Each social network site seems to focus on a specific target audience based on location, nationality, ethnicity, or interests. Some social network sites, e.g., LinkedIn and XING, are specifically aimed at professionals.

38% of all Internet users, or 72 million people, used social networks at least once a month in 2007. Among 18-34 year olds, 25% visit social networks daily and among 9-17 year olds, 55% spent between 5 and 30 hours per week on social networking sites.* Social networks have transformed where users spend their time on the web and have revolutionized how users communicate with each other and how advertisers communicate with users.

If you’re concerned about showing up next to sensitive or controversial content, many of our social networking partners have created placements that only contain non-user generated content, such as the MySpace music or movies page. These placements allow you to reach just as many users in the social networking environment without worrying about your brand. Additionally, with the launch of cost-per-click placement targeting, you can placement-target any of our social networking sites and only pay when users click on your ads.

Posted by admin on May 6th, 2008 | | Print |