Blog
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Meredith Casey
Corporate Web Site Social Integration: Harnessing the Power of Consumer Conversation
May 26th, 2010
Jeremiah Owyang, the highly reputable Web strategist with Altimeter Group was a keynote speaker at the Gilbane Conference in San Francisco last week. The focus of his presentation was how companies can make their corporate Web sites relevant by leveraging and integrating social networks.
Before delving into Owyang’s talking points, it is necessary to set the scene. Many company Web sites have become bloated with content that their management, marketers, and the like have pushed out in order to satisfy their business needs. With pervading mantras like “content is king,” companies set out to generate and continually refresh content on their sites. Over time, these sites have become chock full of official corporate speak in the form of mission statements, company/management bios, service offerings, product directories, case studies, blogs, videos, press releases, etc. While these content elements are informative, in many cases, they do not directly consider or cater to the Web site’s user needs. Users are overwhelmed by corporate speak overload and dissatisfied by flawed Web site navigation and weak search functions.
What is the result? Users only visit your Web site when they need official information, but look elsewhere for avenues by which they can learn, discuss, critique, and review your company/brand/product(s) in an organic environment. These conversations are occurring on social networks like Facebook and Twitter that easily facilitate information exchange (i.e. word of mouth). The pervasiveness of social networking sites and Americans’ regular use of these platforms continues to elevate their impact on your brand equity, company reputation, sales, and overall business success. It’s all about the conversation, the buzz, occurring outside of your Web site.
Owyang acknowledged the widespread corporate Web site distrust in his opening remarks at Gilbane. If users (potential customers) find your Web site irrelevant, then they are making buying decisions based on other sites. The point of sale may live on your e-commerce platform, but factors influencing purchase decisions exist elsewhere.
The one-way, “command and control” output of content on most corporate Web sites has not enabled a two-way conversation to take place. Potential customers and even company/brand fans find it difficult to communicate with companies or each other in a corporate Web site environment. It is not satisfying to complete a Web based feedback form (with all of the various required fields) and hit “send” into the abyss. Consumers want to be heard. They like the instant gratification of posting a Facebook status message about the Apple iPad they just bought or their love of Tom’s shoes. They feel acknowledged when they tweet about their frustration with a delayed Southwest flight, and the company replies with an apology. Many consumers have a desire to share their preferences and opinions about their brand experiences immediately. Case in point, Facebook’s new “Like” button.
I agree with Owyang when he said, “The future of Web experiences will be based around people not products.” People drive the real-time conversation about your company/brand/product(s) and they want to interact with your company/brand/product on their own terms. This means that it is easier for people to engage with you through familiar social networking interfaces. Your company can harness the power of a customer fan base and their brand affinity via corporate Web site social network integration.
Owyang outlined a step by step roadmap for creating a social corporate Web site.
An important theme of his roadmap is architecting your Web site so that it empowers and encourages individuals to share their (hopefully positive) feelings about your company/brand/product(s). Your Web site should capture and ideally host the current conversation, and thereby reassert itself as a relevant resource for potential customers, fans, etc. This conversation hub should aim to strike a balance between organic, customer-fueled discussion and official corporate responses to comments. The ultimate goal of the roadmap is “seamless [social] integration.”
The challenge is to continually evolve your Web site and user experience so that it achieves successful social network integration. Easier said than done! And since I am a marketer myself, I cannot miss the opportunity to encourage you to consider NavigationArts for your Web site needs. We are here to help your company’s Web site remain current and relevant.
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