E-business opportunities with Web 2.0

In our mission to advise, inform and inspire business owners and managers we offer these ideas for your consideration. 

Have you been neglecting the e-business opportunities for your business?

In the early days of the Internet and e-business solutions the message was to "Catch the wave or be drowned by it". Every business was being told to get on the Internet to survive or stand back while the "new economy" took over their industry. Hype and hysteria were used to persuade entrepreneurs and investors to put large amounts of money into their e-business initiatives. They were motivated by either fear or greed.

Then the "old economy" rules hit the dot.com ventures and the bubble burst. Many investments ended badly. Some could be written off as an expensive learning experience. Some were just bad investments.  The hype and hysteria died and many businesses decided they could go back to business as usual. They were wrong.

The Internet revolution continues, albeit more quietly. The hype now focuses on Web 2.0 with highly interactive web sites and user generated content. Huge values are being placed on high traffic sites as they are acquired by Google, Microsoft, or the media moguls, but you don't have to be a media or Web-based business to take advantage of Web 2.0.

The businesses that are leveraging the new Internet most effectively are those that simply take advantage of Web marketing to attract business and use online services to build strong loyal customer relationships. Those are the e-business opportunities not to be neglected.

Here are some ideas to consider for using the new Internet in your business:

1. Try a search to see what a potential new customer will find if she "googles" your name, your company or your brand name.  You may discover, like I did when shopping for a new BBQ, that the most popular site is one full of customer complaints about "a dangerous piece of trash nobody should ever buy!"  How would you like that to be the first impression of a new prospect?  Or maybe you'll find a comment like this one when I checked a hotel on tripadvisor.com and read "put a fork in your eye before booking this hotel!"  So be sure you know what potential buyers are finding through search engines. It may give you an incentive to improve the search ranking of the sites that you would prefer they find. 

2. Remember that search engine marketing is more than putting keywords on your site and hoping to be found by new customers.  Optimizing your web site for search engine effectiveness is a complex process and it is worthwhile to consult an expert.  If the most common search terms are dominated by bigger competitors, the most effective strategy may be to target a very specific market niche that is not already over-served by competing Web sites.  Or use geo-targeting to focus on your local market.

3. Also consider sponsoring carefully selected keywords that will deliver interested prospects.  People searching for those keywords are motivated potential buyers.  Again there are many issues to assess, but you can start with a small budget and learn from the results to continuously improve the performance.  

4. You may also want to monitor and participate in some of those sites that talk about products like yours and add your own two cents worth.  Just be careful to maintain integrity speaking for yourself or your company.  Do not make the mistake of pretending to be a delighted customer.  Others have already experienced that PR disaster.

5. Many of the new Web 2.0 oriented sites attract very focused groups of site visitors who actively participate in the site.  Some of them may align very well with your target market and be very productive for your placement of relevant online advertising. For example, if your target market is young Canadian women then look at Divine.ca.  

6. What about a Blog? A personal diary on the Web is probably not helpful to your business unless you are already a celebrity. But you may want to make yourself more visible and available and to establish yourself as an expert resource.  Both objectives can contribute to building stronger customer relationships.  A Blog site will also improve your search engine rankings if it reinforces the same keywords and is linked to your company site and others that are relevant.  It does impose the  obligation though to keep adding new content.  See my Blog and links to others or VP Marketing at HP for some ideas.  Or try it yourself at Blogger.com.

7. Maybe you should create a Blog for your customers? Setting up an online users group might be helpful to exchange ideas and input while creating a higher level of brand loyalty and commitment.

8. Also consider Web 2.0 applications to reduce your costs and improve your services.  The available applications have evolved to deliver more for less.  Powerful and easy-to-use sales force automation and email marketing services are available from providers like Salesforce.com and Got Corporation.      

9. Your customers and employees may be very comfortable with all the latest applications - Blogs, social networks, user generated content, RSS feeds, Pod casting, Tags, Twitter, and Wikis.  Their expectations are high.  Can you productively integrate any of these applications into your e-business strategy? If you do not, is there a risk that a competitor or a new approach will lead customers away from you?  

Much has changed on the Internet, but neglecting it is not an option. Remember fear and greed still apply.

Del Chatterson

For creative, practical solutions that apply to the specifics of your business, please call us at DirectTech Solutions.

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