Is your organization or company doing what it can to maximize the web’s potential to reach out to people? In many discussions I’ve had the past two weeks I began to see a common trend in thinking, that you either have a web presence or you don’t. Hearing this, I wanted to write a bit of a primer and thoughts on what levels of web involvement are out there today and hopefully spark a discussion among local business and organizational leaders on what small businesses/organizations can do to improve their communications and marketing efforts.

On the surface, the observation is that you either have a web presence or don’t. Any website, marketing agency, or general conversation both online and offline will show that companies and organizations that lack a website are throwing away a variety of contacts, relationships, and other opportunities to reach out to their audiences. We’re 10 years into the new millennium, the Internet is not going away, and any group that creates positive web solutions for their operations will continue to experience success. Web communication has become a dominant form of communication alongside good ol’ face-to-face conversation.

This yes/no description of web presence, however, is not accurate any longer. There is a difference between a website and a great website, and those factors which are used to build great websites should be no secret. Highlighting the differing degrees of web involvement, this article is designed to aid local/small business, organizations, and agencies (and really any other group who doesn’t have thousands of dollars to perform research and web development) get a grasp on where they fall in the spectrum, what can be done to improve web communications, and how to become more efficient in their marketing and outreach efforts.

While this binary web paradigm of yes or no web presence is obviously still prominent as many businesses and organizations haven’t taken the next steps to improve their web presence and outreach efforts on the Internet, there are varying degrees of involvement and use of tools that can invariably improve a group’s outreach efforts. Industry leaders today strive to increase both the incentive for visitors to use organization or company web resources/ locations as well as help create a collaborative experience with those visitors that can be valuable to the visitor and lead to stronger relationships.

The spectrum

There are five distinct levels of involvement on the Internet for companies and organizations. These levels can be pictured and compared on a linear spectrum in terms of involvement. Academic and corporate research is still attempting to discover quantitative data to illustrate the positive effects and benefits of increased involvement and outreach using internet channels. What is exciting is that the preliminary data suggest that there is an increased effectiveness in marketing and outreach efforts when a company increases their involvement in web efforts.

Illustrating this effect, the recent ENGAGEMENTdb report ranking the top 100 global brands by The Altimiter Group and Wetpaint (www.engagementdb.com) cite a correlation between involvement with internet channels. They frankly ask and answer, “why do social media? We finally have a good answer: Because it pays off” (Engagementdb report, p.6). They further report that “companies that are both deeply and widely engaged in social media [and other channels including their own website] surpass their peers in terms of both revenue and profit performance by a significant difference. In fact, these Mavens have sustained strong revenue and margin growth in spite of the current economy” (p. 6). Using the data collected from a comprehensive survey and analysis process, The Altimiter Group and Wetpaint are researchers that are finding that there is numerical, solid data to back up claims that “being involved is worth it.”

What does it mean to be involved? The image below illustrates the five distinct levels of involvement ranging from zero web involvement (no website, social media, or other web involvement) to very active and engaged web involvement (through a interactive website, social media channels, web resources, and discussions/conversations with audiences). From level zero to level four, each level builds on the other, with the development of new efforts augmenting past efforts. For instance, if a company is at level two (optimized static strategy), they will take everything the have done from level two and integrate it with additional strategies and resources to achieve level three. As an organization or company increases along the spectrum, it naturally increases the resources needed and involvement required to maintain the web presence and involvement.

This spectrum is simple, but it illustrates well the direction that companies and organizations can take to increase their involvement and hopefully their outreach effectiveness.

The five levels build upon each other, and as companies and organizations move to the right increasing their involvement, visitors expect all other levels below the current level to be present as well.

A good reason why many companies and organizations have yet to achieve higher levels of involvement could be due to two primary reasons. First, business and organizational leaders as well as marketing managers may not have the resources available to both develop and maintain such a presence as the level of expertise for internet involvement has not become prominent yet in our advertising culture. As research continues to develop in internet practice, this will eventually become common knowledge, as a host of informational resources (such as this one) will become readily available, teaching business leaders how to maximize their efforts, make them efficient, and receive a high return-on-investment in their strategies.

Second, many companies and organizations may simply not have all of the tools and information available out there on how to get involved, what methods to use, and how to do it effectively. This article helps to address this issue by offering a variety of ideas on how an organization or company can engage audiences and visitors.

Remembering that greater involvement generally bring greater success and effectiveness, companies and organizations should strive to move to the right as far as possible without over extending themselves. The most important initiative should be to move to at least be a one on the spectrum having a static web solution. No web presence in today’s economy and society could almost be lethal for any group. For these companies and organizations in the 0-2 range, it’s important to focus on maintaining information, keeping content up to date, having smooth and eye-friendly layout and design, and incentives for visitation.

Companies and organizations should continuously attempt to move to the right on the spectrum and improve their outreach efforts whenever possible. Great care must be taken, however, to keep information current, relevant, and transparent. As a group increases its involvement in the web, it becomes increasingly transparent as well. Also, when moving into social media channels for greater involvement, great care also has to be taken to remain conversational, social, and friendly. If this social component is forgotten, the primary requirement for social media is forgotten and the campaign has a high chance for failure.

Visitors and the population of the internet have greater ability to detect marketing efforts and sniff out ads. In a social environment, regular advertising loses its effect and is generally ignored. The goal of social networking and media is to share valuable information among those in various social circles and traditional marketing and advertising find it rather difficult to survive in these channels. However, companies and organizations that positively engage their visitors and audiences as friends in this social atmosphere are increasingly finding that those visitors are more interested in the group’s web presence. These visitors can also potentially become influential within their own social circles, possibly promoting the organization or company.

Static – A great first step

Levels one and two of web involvement consist of static strategies. When using the word ‘static,’ this just describes strategies that are designed and do not change over time without a systemic overhaul or redesign of the website or campaign. Content is not updated regularly or changed based on participants’ use of the site. In short, static involvement does not change each time a visitor views the website or campaign.

Level 1- Static

Static solutions are a great first start for any organization or company looking to get past level zero and get on the web. They essentially provide the organization or company’s brochure to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, always up for viewing and consumer research. The always-available information allows visitors to view company/organization information on their own time, at any hour a day, without having to make a phone call, request information, or visit a physical location. The internet is quickly becoming (if it already isn’t the primary) the preferred method for conducting initial research on products, services, and other things related to economic decisions that may be made.

The goal for static is to get important information online and available to any and all who may be seeking it. It’s best if it’s kept simple and not too wordy, but also needs to be descriptive enough to be of use to the visitor. Vague and ambiguous information may be just as frustrating as no info at all.

These static solutions provide consistent information to visitors who may get involved with an organization or company. Some of the most common and important factors of a static site or solution include the following:

• Contact Info. The visitor should have ample opportunity to find contact information for an organization or company. If the intended marketing effect for the website is to encourage a visitor to contact staff or a physical location, it needs to be prominent on the website with multiple options to achieve this goal. All actions should eventually point to this for more information. An email address specifically for information that visitors can write to is a good idea. Also, an email form integrated in the website would be a valuable asset as well as visitors wouldn’t have to leave their browser.
• About Us. Information about the company/organization, its people, its policies, its history, and its vision, values, and mission should all be present on static websites in a clear area. Visitors who are conducting initial research on an organization or company and making a decision to deal with the organization/company stand a better chance of making an informed decision if information is readily available instead of having no information at all.
• Services/Product Info. It is absolutely necessary to clearly describe any products, services, programs an organization or company offers to help in the decision-making process and initial research of the visitor. Being clear, concise, and descriptive in this information proves to be more useful to visitors and can potentially aid in the decision-making process more effectively.
• FAQ. Anticipating the questions of the audience is a great way to address common questions and concerns that they may have. An FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page provides answers to common questions that visitors have. By anticipating their needs, companies and organizations can show that they care to keep visitor concerns close and are committed to providing the highest quality of service.

Level 2 – Optimized Static

Building on level 1, an organization or company can create a stronger solution by optimizing their level 1 static solution. While keeping everything in level 1’s description, level 2 assumes that additional steps are taken to improve exposure of the website, increase traffic, and start to move forward to more advanced models of outreach and involvement on the web.

Since a static website by default does not grow or further develop, level 2 strategies can be employed to increase the effectiveness of a static solution:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Considered one of the cornerstones of web guruism, SEO improves the chances of a website to be spotted in a search when a visitor uses a search engine like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The higher a website is on a search, the increased likelihood it is visited by the searcher. While countless books have been written on this topic, some basic things to remember will help SEO in any strategy:
  • Good keywords in the title tag.
  • Good keywords in headers. These hold more weight than other text on page.
  • Good keywords in IMG ALT tags, the alternate text that is attached to images.
  • Having around 200 words in the body of a page and have it keyword rich.
  • Having text links instead of links that say “click here” or “more.” Instead, use text for links that describes the page that it will link to (e.g. “about us”, “info on products”)
  • Inbound links. A site is ranked higher when it is listed as a link on other websites and URLs. This can be achieved by asking affiliates, partners, and other groups or individuals to link the site from their sites.
• Appropriate listing with organizations and searches. Submit the organization or company to Google Maps (www.googlemaps.com). Joining a local chamber of commerce or other trade/professional organization may offer an opportunity to link from to the company/organization website. Do what is possible to find partnerships and affiliates that won’t hinder progress or positive growth. Avoid submitting sites to link farms and other websites that promise to increase SEO or exposure. Google doesn’t like pages full of links to increase page rank.
• Promote the website on all other promotional material. This includes any other advertising such as print materials, business cards, TV and radio ads, internet ads, envelopes, newspaper articles, emails, and billboards. Find ways to increase traffic by promoting visitation to the website in all promotional and marketing opportunities.
• Paid advertising. Perhaps more of an extreme for a static page, paid advertising on the internet on Facebook, Google, or other search/social options may be an option to help promote visitation to a website.
• Initial Social Media (unintegrated). Social media presences that are not integrated with each other (e.g. not feeding/working off each other and a company/organization website) can be employed to start the move to a more dynamic web presence and promote the static website. Beware, however, as a company/organization begins to move toward social and dynamic options, static solutions become less effective and can even be detrimental to the functionality of a dynamic presence. A company/organization should be ready to make the move into dynamic, collaborative web efforts if it begins to dabble in social media. By its nature, social media is dynamic and a company/organization should have matching web presences.

Dynamic – more engaged, more effective

Dynamic solutions, or those that are able to change regularly and provide visitors with a greater incentive to return and regularly be involved, are becoming more popular and proving to be more effective with both companies/organizations and the visitor. Visitors enjoy dynamic strategies because they have the ability to stay fresh, relevant, and interesting. If these criteria are met, visitors are encouraged to participate and take intended actions by the organization or company.

The term Web 2.0 implies this dynamic, changing, and constantly improving trait of the internet. While the previous years of the internet assumed success by a simple web presence and that many consumers were not active on the internet compared to traditional counterparts (TV, radio, face-to-face, print), Web 2.0 strategies are centered around involving individual participants and communicating with them on a personal level and providing them valuable information and involvement. This degree of communication essentially gives the visitor a piece of ownership in the organization or company, increasing their interest in the company/organization (which translates to loyalty and continued support).

Today, as a large portion (between 70 and 80 percent) of Americans are using the Internet regularly, dynamic solutions are emerging as the feasible option and standard for web involvement. While there is no set standard for what an organization or company’s strategy should be, tools for communication and involvement are continually emerging that can help aid in the outreach to target audiences and visitors, encouraging them to both take intended actions and develop meaningful relationships. For an organization or company, increased relationships and interest using dynamic strategies translates to an improvement of the bottom line, specifically revenues, use of services, and discussion/exposure of a product or brand, much more so than using static strategies.

By their nature, dynamic solutions should not be cut and dry. While static strategies mostly follow a common theme across the entire web, dynamic solutions should be uniquely tailored for each case, allowing maximum personalization and brand identification, a trait which is greatly valued on the web. Templates, how-to guides, and out-of-the-box solutions should be treated with care as a lack of customization tend to defy the principles of dynamic solutions and almost push efforts back down the spectrum of involvement.

The goal of dynamic strategies is to 1) provide useful and interesting material, resources, and opportunities for target audiences; 2) maintain a close level of communication with visitors as to increase the value of relationships; and 3) encourage the sharing of information, products, or services with one’s family, friends and social circles. Dynamic strategies all work toward the betterment of both parties, focusing on a level approach to communication (potentially one-on-one) rather than a top-down and impersonal strategy of communication and advertising.

The social web and dynamic solutions work best with personalization and user value. Participants place high value on resources and information that can directly benefit them or their social circles. Attempt to provide this.

A great way to imagine this strategy as compared to face-to-face interaction is the golden rule: Treat others the way you’d want to be treated. Give more than you receive. Try communicating, marketing, or advertising by being a true friend of the audience. Promote the positive benefits of services or the betterment of others. Selfish, non-mutual attempts and efforts are sniffed out and abandoned by participants of dynamic solutions and the social web. By focusing on an idea of friendship, an organization or company has the ability to discover the needs of their friends and respond to those needs, just as a friend would do.

A good example of serving others to help promote services can be illustrated by the recent 5,000 Campaign by the Grasshopper Group (http://grasshopper.com/5000casestudy/). Instead of focusing on the bottom line, revenues, or their profits, Grasshopper instead focused on empowering others (specifically entrepreneurs, one of their target markets), showing true friendship among efforts to promote its brand and services. In essence, the campaign to empower others was the primary effort, its branding and service promotion came in second.

Many dynamic efforts are actually most effective when they do not have a focus of an organization or company’s bottom line. While focusing on the needs of the audience may be an old principle of marketing, it has become ever important in developing strategies for the dynamic social web. Remember to find ways to empower, build up, and provide value for customers and visitors to remain successful using dynamic solutions.

Level 3 – Dynamic

New tools have emerged that make it easier than ever to update and provide fresh content and resources on organization or company websites. Those that do so achieve Level 3 of the web involvement scale: they are experiencing dynamic delivery of content to visitors.

It is important to remember that one size does not fit all in determining dynamic solutions. Because it worked for one organization or company does not mean it would work for another. Case studies and practical examples, however, are great ways to learn more about available tools and discover their benefits and limitations. They also provide great insight on how to apply these tools to certain circumstances and maximize the benefit for the tools. Just remember to clearly outline goals and measurements to determine the achievement of those goals. Also, adjust the use of tools along the way to respond to the shifting needs of the audience, using audience feedback to determine improvements.

Some of the most popular tools used in dynamic websites are listed below. Again, this is not a comprehensive list nor are they tools that should be used for every situation or every campaign/website. It would perhaps be best to consult with experts in the field of internet marketing and outreach to determine the best combination of solutions for an organization or company.

• Blog with targeted valuable info. An organization or company blog on the main website would be a great way to reach out to target audiences, provide valuable information or resources, and publish commentary on current events, sales, services, or projects of interest to visitors. Enabled comments for feedback from visitors are essential for this tool to remain as effective as possible. Companies and organizations need to be ready to hear feedback from customers, visitors, or others to be able to respond to the needs of target audiences. They also need to be able to identify influencers in online communities, and blog comments provide one way to spot thought leaders and social influencers. Blogs can also be enabled to have more than one staff member posting, allowing different, more specific commentary or information to help target a greater variety of market segments and targets. This also allows for greater discussion and one-on-one conversation between visitors and the organization or company.
• Email newsletter/email marketing. Tools are readily available now for any company/organization to have database email marketing and newsletter capabilities at their disposal. This is extremely valuable as it is a way to promote a company/organization website, programs, services, products, events, or other items of note in a fashion that is not considered spam. Participants sign up for the service, indicating an interest in the material. It is regularly distributed, keeping readers interested and stimulated. It would be best to work with an agency or expert who specializes in email marketing/newsletter design to determine the best options and strategy.
• Calendars. Offering a calendar of upcoming events and specials is a great way to have visitors returning for more information. Google offers a great calendar as a service to developers, can be placed on websites with code already developed, and can integrate with Outlook (www.google.com/calendar).
• Podcasts/radio shows. Offering an option to communicate directly with visitors through the regular production of audio shows, also known as Podcasts or radio shows, gives an organization or company to provide interesting, relevant, and valuable material to its listeners. Examples for utilization can be interviews with thought leaders and other special guests, discussion/debate on important issues, or highlight of products or services. Another exciting option is for visitors to automatically integrate iTunes/other media player to download the podcast when new ones become available for listening directly on a media player or iPod, iPhone, or other device. Many options for this tool exist – consult with an expert to find out more.
• Webinars. Seminars on the web = webinars. Many tools exist that allow the hosting of seminars on the web, allowing organizations and companies to reach out to target audiences without consideration of distance. Many include voice and video components, as well as sharing of powerpoint files and other slideshows. Teach, learn, and discuss with target audiences using this innovative tool by combining it with other outreach and dynamic strategy efforts.
• Video/audio/photos. These three media items make up a bulk of the dynamic web. Using services such as YouTube or posting images/audio of events, programs, or other items of interest on a company/organization website, the audience is allowed to interactively participate using visual and audio stimulus rather than just reading text descriptions. That old saying pictures speak more than a thousand words applies more than ever on the dynamic web.
• Surveys. Regular or special surveys that are well written or are relevant to a target audience are effective in creating interest and driving traffic to a website. Use this tool as part of a comprehensive campaign.
• Branded social networks. An advanced tool, but worth stating nonetheless. Branded social networks are those that are housed on organization or company web space that utilize some or all tools seen on popular social networks with a bent toward the organization or company in question. These options are generally more expensive as they take much resources to develop and require quite a bit of promotion. A long-term outreach plan could have a branded social network in the mix if it would have potential to drive itself and provide valuable content for visitors.
• Discussion boards. Used to target questions from staff, discussion boards were generally around before blogging and were one of the first components of the dynamic web. On a discussion board, a topic or question is posed and users answer the question or discuss the topic at hand. This option would be useful for targeting specific questions toward target audiences but would require promotion and participation to encourage these audiences to visit. If engaged properly, a discussion board could provide very valuable information on target audiences and their needs.
• Wikis. Encyclopedias are not just bound books anymore. The world’s most popular wiki, Wikipedia, houses thousands of pages of knowledge on many topics, from the general to the very specific. Companies and organizations can implement wiki software to house specialized knowledge, events, media, and history on their own web presence. The most exciting part about this option is the ability for visitors to correct information and participate in discussion revolving around the collection of knowledge, further engaging visitors to perform intended actions on a website or develop a stronger relationship with the organization or company.
• Documents & Publications. Regularly researching, publishing and distributing documents, resources, publications, and other useful items would provide value to audiences and encourage involvement with an organization or company. By increasing the value of the visitor, an organization or company can encourage the development of quality relationships with audiences by distributing knowledge and information to those who need it. Published materials also establish greater credibility of an organization or company.
• Live Chat/VOIP. Some options exist now for companies and organizations to implement live voice chat (VOIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol) or text chat (instant messaging) to communicate directly with their audiences. This would be an excellent way to communicate with visitors who need to discuss items with staff directly and quickly.
• Contests. Used as an incentive to take intended actions on a website, contests for both prizes or prestige can be used to increase exposure and excitement around dynamic web services.

Level 4 – Social Dynamic

The integration of social media channels into a dynamic web solution presents the most comprehensive web involvement and outreach options available to an organization or company. Research on involvement in the web streams is showing that companies and organizations that integrate fully with dynamic, social web solutions will meet with the highest level of success in both revenues/financial performance and in relationship building/exposure.

Social media channels allow an organization or company to take a persona on the web, giving them a feel and look of an individual participating in larger communication. It is important to remember that on the social web, everyone is an equal – everyone has individual rights and is expected to follow a code of etiquette. Don’t be mean. Respond positively to problems and work with criticism or feedback. Work well with people: Some basic things that people learn in dealing with others face-to-face. It all comes down to this: the social media streams are simply an extension of face-to-face conversations on epic levels.

We’re finding that the traditional hierarchies between companies and consumer don’t exist in the social web. To be successful, messaging has to be uplifiting, valuable, interesting, and not self-serving. Advertising is easily identified and generally ignored. Most effective with social media is the active participation with its participants. In other words, to be successful with social media one must be social.

Being social with social media. It’s simple. Just have a conversation.

Social media is not the fix-all. Like outlined above in the description of the spectrum, all levels build on each other. For social media to be successful for an organization or company, the foundation should be present to help back it up. Having a dynamic resource for social media participants to fall back on for more information is more than helpful, it’s necessary for effective outreach. Combining the social media tools along with dynamic web tools on a company/organization website is a powerful combination of strategies that can take a company/organization’s message from weak to incredible if given the right forethought and development.

It would be best to consult with a social media expert or marketing agency that specializes in developing social media solutions to integrate with traditional marketing campaigns. Social media should not replace traditional marketing efforts. All tools combine to develop comprehensive efforts to reach out to target audiences. Social media is just an emerging, effective method to reach out to the millions of users on the web and begin discussion around products, services, or brands.

Some of the most effective social media tools that can be integrated with a dynamic web strategy include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and to now a lesser degree, MySpace. More comprehensive primers and descriptions of these tools are available in countless locations on the web by completing a simple Google search. Millennial Associates will be developing specific information on each of these tools and others from the perspective of their implementation by small/local business and organizations. Visit the Millennial Associates resources page to find out more (www.millennialassociates.com/resources).

There are countless other social media solutions emerging every month. The most important thing to remember when concerning social media solutions is that one size does not fit all. Special consideration and strategy needs to be taken for each case. What works for one company will not work the same way for another company.

Know the limitations and benefits of each tool while developing strategy, as well as resources that will be required to both develop and maintain a presence in the social media streams.

***

Millennial Associates specializes in developing outreach and internet involvement strategies for clients that may not have the in-house knowledge or resources to determine the best course of action. More information can be found at the company website www.millennialassociates.com.

FREE WHITE
PAPER

Are You Set Up For Millennial Success?

Business and community leaders are seeing the fact that the face of marketing and outreach is changing. Models that once dictated how businesses and organizations communicate and market to their target audience have started to deteriorate and become ineffective. Why has this happened?

Download this free report for an overview on some of the changes facing businesses and organizations today in communication and marketing methods. Also, find out what you can do to improve your organization or company’s communication and marketing strategies to respond to these new trends! ]]> http://www.millennialassociates.com/2009/06/are-you-set-up-for-millennial-success-2/feed/ 0