Web 2.0, What is a Company To Do?

With no clear definition of Web 2.0, yet more consumer participation in this phenomenon every year, what is today’s company supposed to do to stay relevant and profitable? With some suggesting companies no longer control their message, how are they supposed to communicate their mission? How does one advertise? Well, let’s take a step back and put all of this in perspective.

Before the Internet, companies relied on printed press, radio, and TV branding to gain market share. While these methods still play a role, the Internet is the fastest growing and most cost affective way for companies to establish their mission and brand. If your company doesn’t have a website, you’re already becoming obsolete. Now, your being told if you don’t participate in Web 2.0 (not to mention Web 3.0) you can become irrelevant instantaneously, but what is Web 2.0?

Just as communication developed from print, to radio, and eventually television; the Internet is doing the same, just faster than many people can keep up. With the Internet starting (Web 1.0) as a way for professors at different universities to communicate, who would think of discussing such an issue one short decade later? When the Internet became mainstream (widely accessible to the average population), companies created websites that were essentially brochures accessible by computer. With the invention of algorithm search mechanisms, this changed. Companies who wanted to stay on top had to develop an SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. That’s another topic that’s also rapidly evolving, so let’s get back to Web 2.0.

What is Web 2.0? Some have defined it as any website that allows viewers to post content – such as social sites, wikis, and blogs. To simplify things, I’ll add an easier to utilize definition. I define Web 2.0 as any site on the web that allows interaction by two or more parties. Pretty simple, right? But how does a company use Web 2.0? As stated above, some suggest companies can no longer control their message. This conclusion is drawn from some mishaps where companies did not respond to seemingly harmless complaints posted online. This is where the two or more comes into play. Consumers sometimes identify a complaint, and when a company doesn’t respond, one complaint can turn into one hundred, one thousand, or worse. Obviously Web 2.0 cannot be ignored, unless you don’t mind potentially losing millions of dollars and / or your business. So, what to do?

For a company to survive in today’s business climate, it is important to be web savvy or employ people who are. I strongly disagree with the opinion companies can no longer control their message. In fact, I believe it is now cheaper and easier for any business to get their message out. You just have to be a little smarter than you were twenty years ago. As any skilled politician will admit, negative press can be spun into a positive. The tools of the trade are just a little different now. Not long ago, all a company needed to be web savvy was a website. Nowadays, it is wise to consider a website, a blog, company newsletter, link partners, and a YouTube channel (I’ll cover this more when the 3.0 hysteria hits.)

Sure, customers can say whatever they want about your product or service online, but if you plan ahead, you can already have a response, a press release, a new Internet branding campaign, and to add a personal touch, a personalized video message from your CEO to all of your consumers. And the best part, all of this can be done yourself, for free! If you don’t have the time or know-how, there is an increasing number of Internet marketing experts available full time or by contract for services. With the emergence of cutting edge, forward thinking institutions such as Full Sail University, any company can employ one or one department of well rounded, web-savvy marketers.

So sure, these days anyone who knows how to type can destroy an unsuspecting corporation’s reputation in days. But, a company who monitors it’s industry specific blogosphere (if you don’t know what this means then you probably need to hire someone), updates it’s website regularly, maintains a flexible strategy of Internet marketing and branding, and of course continues to offer competitive products and / or services, has more potential than ever. Never before have corporations had so much access to free media to convey it’s message and build a brand.

In summary, don’t listen to skeptics who say a helpless business is subject to execution by angry consumer mobs at any moment. Instead, view these times as the best chance a business has ever had to communicate with its’ consumers. Now you can find out what people want to buy, and want to change, without purchasing expensive surveys or testing focus groups. Web 2.0 offers companies a never before seen opportunity to have a 2-way dialogue with its’ customers. Embrace it. Nurture your relationship with those that pay your salaries (your consumers, not your payroll department.) Enjoy the best environment we’ve ever had for corporate ingenuity.

To your success (if you need any help, feel free to hire a consultant)…

By Joseph Smith

Internet Marketing & Sales Consulting, Inc. (aka e-Profit-PRO$)

www.eprofitpros.com

consulting@eprofitpros.com