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The Corporate Website: Five Strategies for Making Your Site More Relevant and Social Companies need to structure their websites on the new connected marketplace.

orporate marketing mes­ are sharing and distributing content (BBS’s), ICQ, The Well and service providers sages do not always reflect that can have a dramatic impact on brand like AOL and CompuServe were the pre­ the market’s perception of a perception. Companies can no longer decessors of today’s thriving social net­ product or service. The prac­ ignore the content customers create and working websites Facebook and MySpace. tice of “push” messaging was the methods they use to spread it. The From a historical standpoint, the origins Cdesigned to shape a brand and suppress solution: companies must not only listen of the Web are rooted in sharing and col­ its inevitable weaknesses. After all, even to their customers, they must also engage laboration. And the centralized Internet the most reliable products and services them online. communities of the 1980s and ’90s are have the potential to behave in ways not now distributed and autonomous, super­ anticipated by the consumer. And in the AN EVOLVING WEB connected and armed with blogs, mobile past (pre-Web) world, customer experi­ In 1989 Sir Tim-Berners Lee developed technology, video cameras and messaging ences were usually self-contained, discon­ the information protocols and markup tools like Twitter. Services like YouTube and nected and not easily shared with others. language necessary for sharing and trans­ Flickr are free, and annual “pro-accounts” Companies were therefore able to control mitting pages on something he called the cost less than a month of basic cable TV customer expectations and take decisive . But many people had service. corrective measures on their own terms if already created communities for them­ The conversations are no longer techni­ something went awry. selves on the Internet. From the mid-1980s cal but instead have become product­ But in today’s connected marketplace, on, technical enthusiasts had been using oriented. An example of this involves people outfitted with low-cost digital pre-Web forms of online communication the popular new smartphone, the Apple devices and personal publishing tools like to interact with each other. Bulletin boards iPhone. A Google search on the term iPhone hack returns posts and You- Tube videos on how to extend the func­ by Matt Goddard and Page Sands, R2integrated tionality of the device. Not only is this con­ tent not produced by Apple, it ranks on the maTT goDDaRD is in charge of R2i’s digital marketing strategy and operations and leads R2i’s strategic first page of the Google search results. direction while providing valuable support to client digital marketing projects. mr. goddard’s business Indeed, the corporate website serves expertise and understanding of social network theory are frequently called upon by R2i clients and a different function than it did a decade partners as they develop their short- and long-term strategic plans. ago. At first, marketers tried to force it into a one-way monologue designed to push page SanDS is R2i’s managing director of social media and Web strategy. mr. Sands’ background in Web messaging to consumers. The early cor­ development (particularly blogging applications) enables him to advise R2i’s clients on how to use Web porate website was often no more than based tools for a variety of applications, including online video and audio. an electronic version of a company’s print

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n materials. Now – as the iPhone example their developer communities to develop commerce scenarios), the buyer and seller i

t shows – this is simply not possible. plug-ins, useful components that increase are geographically separated. For this e

k But although firms cannot control the the functionality of the products. Today, reason, the buyer and seller hold unequal r

a “conversation,” they can certainly develop more than 70 million weblogs are being amounts of information. Disclosure state­

m content for it. Features like events, career tracked by Technorati, a search engine for ments are tools businesses can use to opportunities, company photos, and prod­ blogs, with more than 120,000 being cre­ bring information asymmetry into balance. uct information and demos are not static ated worldwide each day. For example, PayPerPost, a company components permanently bolted to the Web services. Services like YouTube that connects content providers like blog­ corporate website. They are instead hosted and Flickr are free to consumers; an annual gers with advertisers, caused a debate in off-site using specialized Web services like “pro account” costs less than a month of the about the need for disclo­ SlideShare, Flickr, Blip.TV and Upcoming. basic cable TV. The range of available Web sure. The company paid bloggers to write com – services that are uniquely designed services includes tools for messaging, about products without requiring them for the content they host. These content keeping to-do lists, managing projects and to disclose that the post was paid for in items behave more like mini-campaigns or sharing bookmarks. the body of the post. A search for the com- social objects that customers can use to Search. For many, search engines like pany name in Google returns the following write about and share in forums, blogs and Google are the primary interface for inter­ search results on the first page: “PayPerPost social networking profiles (Figure 1). acting with the Web. Search engine results Offers to Sell Your Soul”; “The PayPerPost pages return a variety of content, including Virus Spreads”; and “PayPerPost tests your FACTORS LEADING TO business websites, news, social media ethics, & ’s fake blog for Wal-Mart.” THE EMERGENCE OF sites and various file types (such as video This is significant because search engines THE SOCIAL WEB and audio). like Google are providing a permanent To fully examine the impact of the social digital reminder of the issue for anyone Web on the corporate website, it’s impor­ STRATEGIES FOR searching on the company name. tant to identify several of the reasons why MAKING YOUR WEBSITE Let the network spread your content. the social Web emerged. MORE RELEVANT If no one knows about your products or Wireless Internet and mobile. Internet By employing the following five strate­ services, they can’t buy them or tell their access is now faster, less expensive and gies, you can ensure that your website will friends to buy them: this is the premise for ubiquitous. Cities like San Francisco, Phila­ become more relevant to your users. content distribution in a connected delphia, Houston, Atlanta and Boston have Promote disclosure and transparency. marketplace. Syndication functionality either already implemented municipal WiFi Networked markets have expectations. built into widgets gives users the ability programs for providing free or low-cost They want access to as much information to spread content quickly and efficiently. wireless Internet access or have plans to do as possible about a particular product or Hugh Macleod, a marketing strategist so. People no longer need to be tethered service. In many cases (particularly in e­ for South African winemaker Stormhoek, to their desktop computers or laptops in order to connect with someone online. Consumer electronics. Low-cost digital THE OLD CORPORATE WEBSITE THE NEW CORPORATE WEBSITE devices like camera phones capture audio, pictures and movies, allowing for instant upcoming.com communication of this media between friends as well as much wider audiences. events blip.tv craigslist The combination of Web services and events monster mobile technology gives users the ability jobs demos jobs to broadcast and publish to the Web from photos any location. For example, the Nokia N95, presentations website when combined with Qik, a Web service news photos news for broadcasting video, gives users live demos flickr.com video streaming capability right from their presentations blogs cell phones. Personal publishing. Personal publish­ ing is either inexpensive or, in many cases, slideshare.net free, and blogging platforms like Word­ press, Movable Type and Live Journal are easy to use. Some of these platforms allow FIGURE 1 The Old Versus New Corporate Website

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has leveraged these tools to good effect. For example, one of Yahoo’s internal as its own clip with its own address, plus an As the writer of the blog “Gaping Void: memos (to be seen by its executive team RSS feed so that all future segments could Cartoons Written on the Back of Business only) referred to the company’s waning be automatically downloaded. Cards,” he allows readers of his blog to resources as being “spreadable like peanut Tear down the walled garden. The copy the content for noncommercial pur­ butter.” The document was later leaked to corporate website has evolved from a static poses as long as they give attribution and the Wall Street Journal, which republished brochure to a dynamic aggregator of both Whatever electronic content you develop, develop it as if it were going to be seen by the outside world – even videos, blog posts and Email that are intended for internal use only.

don’t alter or otherwise transform the work. the memo and ran an article entitled “The on- and off-site opinions. Instead of trying As a result, his tiny cartoons, often witty Peanut Butter Manifesto.” to keep visitors on site, the website directs and humorous, are syndicated across hun­ Employ microchunks and . visitors to relevant conversations in blogs, dreds or perhaps even thousands of blogs Microchunking is the practice of cutting comments and social networking sites. via a combination of widgets and Creative down digital media into usable pieces. Each Thus, marketers have evolved into the role Commons licensing. piece has its own address (known as a per­ of trusted advisors, behaving as custodians Own your words – all of them. What­ malink), which should contain relevant key­ who actually send users to other sites that ever electronic content you develop, words indicating what the content is about. might interest them. The days of “opening develop it as if it were going to be seen For example, late-night talk shows lend a new window” are behind us. by the outside world – even videos, blog themselves to the practice of microchunk­ The computer manufacturer Dell is posts and Email that are intended for inter­ ing. The entire show is typically an hour using its community of PC enthusiasts to nal use only. If you don’t want to see a long, including a monologue, some guest influence how the company rolls out new particular piece of content spreading out appearances and even a musical perfor­ product offerings. Dell Idea Storm is a over the Web, don’t create it. And if it does mance. Instead of distributing the entire Dell-sponsored website where users sub­ spread, make sure you can stand behind hour-long episode as a complete video, the mit and vote on features like the ability your words. content owner could offer each segment to order machines without preinstalled software. The fact that Dell is now selling machines with the Linux operating system is being attributed to feedback that was first discussed on the community-run website. Know when to say you’re sorry. When faced with major inci­ dents – for example, a wide-scale product recall – companies often have no time to mobilize the traditional press release process. In such scenarios, a chasm is likely to emerge between corporate messaging and the reality of what’s happening in the market. Blogs provide an appropriate business communications tool for rapidly transmit­ FIGURE 2 A Platform for Dialogue ting news and updates to the market. For

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n that their content is microchunked auto­ jetblue” returns not only Neeleman’s “Our cancel their AOL accounts in the com­ i

t matically. New posts have permalinks, and Promise to You” video but also a video ments section of the blog post. Ultimately, e

k posts are assembled into categories. Users from a delayed passenger documenting more than 1,000 comments were left. Fer­ r

a can subscribe to feeds, and the comments the three days it took for him to get home. rari was later interviewed about the experi­

m section is designed to enable the website Both the customer and JetBlue were using ence on NBC News’ “Today.” owner to interact with website visitors. a common space even though they weren’t In addition, blog posts are well suited for directly engaged in a dialogue (Figure 2). CONCLUSION embedding content from off-site Web Don’t underestimate your audience. Given the external factors that helped services like PowerPoint presentations and Customers no longer have to wait on hold shape the social Web, marketers are faced audio and video recordings. for customer service. Instead, they can post with new challenges when developing JetBlue, the discount airline, was forced their service issues on a blog, revealing relevant messages and interacting with to cancel all fights during a snowstorm in potential weaknesses in a product or service. customers. Since customers and prospects 2007. Faced with hundreds of unsatisfied They can escalate an issue on their own, alike are outfitted with innovative and customers and a major customer relations particularly when a customer-centric super inexpensive publishing tools today, many backlash, the airline’s CEO, David G. Neele­ node like Consumerist.com picks up on it. customers are finding themselves acting as man, decided to use YouTube to deliver his For example, in 2006 Vincent Ferrari, who “influencers,” with their recommendations message. The company was able to move at that time was an AOL customer, wanted and opinions capable of reaching thou- The corporate website has evolved from a static brochure to a dynamic aggregator of on- and off-site opinions.

quickly, posting the video within days to cancel his account with the Internet ser­ sands of people. By using the strategies of the first delayed flight. Mr. Neeleman vice provider. The AOL representative did for engagement outlined in this paper, we issued an apology, outlined a short-term his best to encourage Ferrari to keep the hope that the connected marketplace is plan for corrective action and instituted service, but Ferarri, dissatisfied with the brought into balance, and becomes more a passenger bill of rights. The video was experience, posted an MP3 of the conversa­ of an ecosystem that raises the level of cus­ watched more than 300,000 times, and tion to his blog. The recording quickly tomer service, encourages relevant mes­ more than 300 comments were left. spread, and many former AOL customers saging and results in better products. n

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