The power is gaining steam and so advertisiers better sit up and take notice before they get bolled over by it. This article is a great peice on how web 2.0 can help your business.
Much has been written about the power of Web 2.0 as a marketing tool and for good reason. Its power to help you market products to potential customers is undeniable. However, besides marketing your products, Web 2.0 can help your business in other ways.
Web 2.0 technologies are increasingly being used within organizations to improve productivity and efficiency and to improve communication between organizations. Take web video for example. Videos can be used for employee training, customer follow-up, as well as frequently asked questions. The purpose is to provide more types of media to fit more customers. Some people learn better by reading. Others by hearing or seeing.
The flexibility and usability of Web 2.0 applications ensures that IT departments can give other workers more power to customize applications to better suit themselves. This not only improves efficiency but also boosts morale and productivity.
Good communication is an essential part of any successful organization. The ability for employees to communicate in real time through instant messaging adds to efficiency. And, with freely available client applications such as Skype coupled with existing bandwidth, the costs are negligible.
Customer support is a must for any business that wants to retain its customers and has become an area where Web 2.0 has been used extensively. Customer support teams can communicate in real time with customers online providing another layer of support and reinforcing a strong customer service environment.
Many companies use blogs as a form of customer support. By posting content for common problems, a company can solve most common issues upfront -- cutting customer support costs. And because of the collaborative nature of blogs customers will often add their own problem resolutions.
Blogs are also a great way for a company to gauge customer satisfaction. But, you must be open to criticism. Deleting critical comments is not the way to establish credibility. By giving up a certain amount of control, a business is more likely to respond to customers quickly. What better way to get a solid testimonial than from a customer who had a complaint that was resolved as a result of a blog post.
Finally, Web 2.0 offers excellent opportunities in training and education. A quick browse on YouTube will show that online video training is growing fast in popularity. Several large organizations already use video extensively to provide product training.
From the smallest start up to the biggest multi national, Web 2.0 is revolutionizing the way people work, both within and outside the organizational structure.
The New Wave of Internet Marketing
I just recently read some more data that shows that internet marketing is going to become increasingly harder to make money at in the very near future.
What is next for 2007
As internet entrepreneurs we have a lot to look forward to in 2007. While the brick and mortar businesses are lagging economically and he country is wallowing in a self inflicted slump we internet entrepreneurs are thriving. If you do not believe me then look at Goggles first quarter earnings for 2007.
East Coast Charlie Journal
In fact, taught me things I don’t think he ever intended to teach me like the fact that if it were not for the “lobstermen” of Maine like myself, my “Old Pop” and my friends down at East Coast Gourmet, it wouldn’t be possible for the rest of the world to enjoy the succulent taste of lobster year round.
