What implications do Web 2.0 technologies and concepts have on developing and managing customer facing content on your site?
What is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 is the name given to a collection of technology that is changing how we work with the Web, whether as consumers, software developers or businesses. Instead of presenting content/information/knowledge in a linear sequential manner, customers are provided with a rich array of tools and resources to create a productive learning experience.
Web 2.0 allows more touchpoints between businesses and customers earlier in the cycle than traditional methods (e.g., email). Using product review applications that are openly available to all and allow customers to provide feedback on products can be captured immediately.
Some examples of Web 2.0 include:
- Instant feedback, rapid evolution of offerings through co-innovating with the people actually using the products (e.g., package tracking information via mobile devices)
- Custom product recommendations (e.g., product suggestions based on shipping history)
- Product ratings and reviews by customers
- Really Simple Syndication or RSS, a common format for Website syndication. RSS allows browsers or RSS aggregators to “subscribe” to feeds and to provide up-to-date content to the user. (FedEx News and Events via podcasts)
Forms of Web 2.0 Technology
- Ajax - application groups
- Podcasts/RSS Feeds
- Mashers – data portals
- Blogs – journals
- Social Networks/Enterprise Management Systems
- Wikis – interactive content sites
- On-Demand commerce services
What’s in it for your company?
- Provide an interactive experience for the customer
- Improve business value
- Provide significant competitive advantage
Current sites offer
- Linear instruction-based design
- PDF documents
- Package Tracking application
- Customer login applications
How does this affect developing and managing customer facing content on your internet site?
- Content will change from inventories of linear information to an online interactive, community-based business
- New mechanisms will be created to track what products customers are using, saving particularly popular data sets and making them shareable and reusable
- RSS feeds will enable customers to receive package updates in real-time.
- Use of enterprise social networking services such as LinkedIn and Visible Path to locate sales leads and prospects from the collective contacts of employees
- The corporate intranet will become more collaborative with the introduction of Wikis and social networks to improve training and communication
How do we integrate Web 2.0 technology into your site?
- Open our marketing processes to the experiences of outside participants
- Actively listen to where and how they participate
- Harness that collective intelligence to create products, services and brands
- Focus on finding out how these tools work with the actual users
- Gather valid/reasonable data to verify that these tools are achieving business goals
