Social Media
Introduction
Enterprises investments into web portals often turn out to be islands in the vast ocean of the Internet! What does an Enterprise need to enhance its Web Presence? How can the Enterprise leverage Social Computing and Web 2.0 to establish its Web Presence? How can the Web Presence help Marketing, Customer Interaction and Support, and therefore, Customer Loyalty?
A Google Search on an enterprise’s key offerings will reveal the true state of the web presence. A low ranking on Search results indicates poor web presence and, therefore, low effectiveness of the portal. Web Presence is no longer limited to developing a web portal for an enterprise. A SEO/SEM practice will provide delivery of targeted advertising to targeted users. A robust portal promotion strategy and implementation based on Social Computing will provide targeted content delivery to targeted users, to complement an SEO practice. Content Enterprises need to integrate content for Web Presence with appropriately integrated Web Strategy. Let us also recognize the fact that the Enterprise is also made up of people who themselves have their web presence that can be leveraged to increase the “Web Footprint”. Social Computing has revolutionized the way users collaborate for information over the internet. The Enterprise Web Presence Strategy is to increase Traffic to the portal through Integrated Content, Employee-Enterprise Integration and Social Computing
Integrated Content
When creating an online communications strategy, personalized, targeted and engaging content is needed to develop personalized relationships with users to build trust and confidence.
Portal Content can be published in diverse formats giving users an array of choice to aid the relationship:
Social Computing
Communities on Social Networking Portals will help to disseminate information and build relationships amongst users and customers community. Communities build “Trust” among users who are seeking and willing to help. Communities share information and build a self-help system while providing an excellent feedback system. Management presence on the communities will break down the layers of abstraction with users and customers to provide first-hand experience.
Employee-Enterprise Integration
Unlike the enterprises of the 20th century, Web 2.0 has enabled a large degree of democratization of the Web while providing information for free to internet users. It has broken barriers amongst seekers and suppliers of information, and eventually of knowledge. Individuals now collaborate online amongst family, friends and communities to provide and seek help, share photos, videos and information. Individuals post their professional profile on business networking portals such as Linkedin to collaborate on business and job opportunities while they may actively participate on Social Networking sites ( such as Facebook, MySpace or Orkut) to keep in touch with alumni, communities and groups. The very same individuals may be ardent bloggers sharing their views across the web, participate in forums and explore the web in ways not considered possible a couple of years ago. As the web evolves faster, newer opportunities for collaboration are bound to evolve for individuals. Hence, it can be concluded that Web 2.0 has become pervasive as a way of life, rapidly and across age groups. Forester Group reports that the user groups in the age group 14-45 form over 85% of users of Web 2.0 offerings.
Enterprises need to encourage employees to increase their individual web presence and social computing links into the enterprise portal to increase the web foot print and gain closer proximity with customers and users on multiple formats and across communities. Such a strategy will help provide a stronger and closer relationship with users to understand their expectations better.
Benefits
The Next Generation e-Branding will require pervasive and all-round web presence, be built on Social Media integrated with Enterprise and individual content. The E-Branding 2.0 approach will dramatically increase the enterprise web presence many fold and change very definition of online branding for enterprises. Business models will move from transactions to measurable Relationships. Enterprises will have to therefore adapt appropriate models, techniques and technologies to stay in line with user expectations and demands in case they wish to stay connected with the user and build lasting relationships.