Scbd Blade
Register. Pick a template. Customize it. Add a widget. Drag and drop. And presto, you've created a blog, user community, or website. After years of hearing about the amazing Web 2.0, it finally seems to be arriving in a big way. Companies are scrambling to create their Facebook fan pages and executive blogs.
Watch out, online marketing can backfire
But like any other kind of marketing, the online kind requires a bit of thought, planning and work to make so-called social media work effectively for your business. And if not handled properly, it can work against you. For example, starting a user group can help you gain credibility. If you were an airline, for example, it could be a site about travel in general, about island paradises or about the history of aviation. It would all depend on your business situation and communication goals. Such a site could strengthen your brand and bring you closer to customers. On the other hand, user groups and blogs require giving up some control of information. Who knows what users will say about your company? But the very fact that you're giving them power is what gives your site credibility, and the rewards can make it worth the time and effort.
The shocking news? Web 2.0 ain't magic
User groups and blogs require a lot of time and energy to create or find content, manage and monitor. But they can do wonders for your image. For example, in 2005 when the public's perception of Microsoft as aloof and distant was at its strongest, employee blogs helped alter that perception. Robert Scoble convinced his boss, Bill Gates, that blogging was a great way to generate positive PR.
Scoble's and other Microsoft blogs may not have totally changed the public's perception, but the open honesty of the blogs made Microsoft appear, as The Economist put it: "marginally but noticeably less evil to the outside world." (Feb 15, 2005)
Social media: The most important thing to remember
Control of information is what businesses are afraid to give up. But it is the very lack of control that makes the social media sites credible. The feeling that there is a real exchange of information that's not orchestrated behind the scenes. That's why tone of voice just might be the most important factor for social media success. If it feels like your communication has been created by a PR department, approved by legal, and controlled by a corporate censor, the reader will feel it. That's worse than not communicating at all because it'll make you look tricky, fake and old-fashioned.
A former web editor at Microsoft, Oren Shafir has been developing marketing communications with a particular interest in the fascinating possibilities of new, interactive and social media since the 90s. He is currently an online copywriter and web content consultant at Web Site Doctors: http://www.websitedoctors.dk
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