Making Web 2.0

We all know about the Web 2.0 and the newly created spaces for us. The key takeaways of this 2.0 revolution are connecting, sharing and interacting in a virtual space that sometimes just outlives the physical spaces. Let’s see how that is translated into Marketing and what can be done more to connect, share and interact with the customers.

Connecting with Customers:
The new media not only introduced another media to connect with the customers but also innovative ways to attract the customer attention. TV and Radio as traditional media increased the reach of brands and also provided an opportunity to connect emotionally with the customers. With new media, websites became another way to emotionally bind new and existing customers, provide more information and be accessible when the customer wants. Like TV and radio, it undoubtedly increased the brand reach and allowed the message to be more accessible, as per customer demand, easy to alter to suit the weather, taste or business requirement.

Sharing with the Customers:
In Web 2.0 environments people are used to sharing not only text (basic information, opinions etc.) but share their digital possessions too. People post their favorite songs, videos, movie reviews, their personal photographs or videos and share them with their virtual friends. The growth of 2.0 has been funneled with the ease of generating and sharing content. Mobile phones with built-in cameras and webcams have really made the User Generated Content easy to produce and the 2.0 sites make it possible to share. The same can be done between the brand and the customers. The easiest thing to share is obviously the brand information but sharing digital content both public and proprietary is quite attractive too.

Interactivity with Customers:
Sharing the information can be made more fun and challenging by making the website interactive. There are tools that can make it easier for customers to interact on the website in the form of generating brand related UGC, running competitions for the customers and getting customer feedback at different product development cycles. All ideas should necessarily be not tried at once but different flavors of interactivity increase the ‘hits’ and create emotional value.

Some Bad 2.0 Ideas:
1. Push emails: we all have spam filters and almost all of the unsolicited marketing campaigns are put in spam or junk folders. Those emails in your customer or potential customer’s inbox really have no emotional binding. The take up of these emails and responses tend to be internationally less than 4% of not the target but of the total consumer base. Yes, these days the investment in the email campaign is relatively insignificant but the results are too.

2. Push SMS: SMS campaigns haven’t picked up much in Pakistan and the obnoxious nature of the unsolicited ding-dong is best to be avoided. These SMS like emails do not create any bond between the brand and the customer.

Some ideas worth looking into:

Interactive Campaigns:
Interactive campaigns usually work if they are simple to follow and have instant and / or many rewards. These campaigns can be seasonal or event based. These campaigns also have to step ahead from the ‘send in point code’ and involve creative ways to involve customers. It is important that the content of the campaign and the rewards are equally attractive.

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