The Homa Files

Excerpted from WSJ, “The Secrets of Marketing in Web 2.0” By S. Parise, P. Guinan, and B. Weinberg, Dec 15, 2008

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For marketers, Web 2.0 offers a remarkable new opportunity to engage consumers…But most companies still don’t appear to be well versed in this area. So here’s a look at the principles we arrived at — and how marketers can use them to get the best results.

Don’t just talk at consumers — work with them throughout the marketing process. A leading greeting-card company…set up an online community — a site where it can talk to consumers and the consumers can talk to each other. The company solicits opinions on aspects of card design and on ideas for gifts and their pricing. It also asks the consumers to talk about their lifestyles and even upload photos of themselves, so that it can better understand its market…the online community is much faster and cheaper than the traditional focus groups and surveys used in the past…

Give consumers a reason to participate. Consumers have to have some incentive to share their thoughts, opinions and experiences…One lure is to make sure consumers can use the online community to network among themselves on topics of their own choosing. That way the site isn’t all about the company, it’s also about them…Other companies provide more-direct incentives: cash rewards or products…Still others offer consumers peer recognition…recognition not only encourages participation, but also has the benefit of allowing both the company and the other members of the community to identify experts on various topics…

Listen to — and join — the conversation outside your site. Consumers tend to trust one another’s opinions more than a company’s marketing pitch. And there is no shortage of opinions online. The managers we interviewed accept that this content is here to stay and are aware of its potential impact — positive or negative — on consumers’ buying decisions. So they monitor relevant online conversations among consumers and, when appropriate, look for opportunities to inject themselves into a conversation or initiate a potential collaboration…

Resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell. Many marketers have been trained to bludgeon consumers with advertising — to sell, sell, sell anytime and anywhere consumers can be found. In an online community, it pays to resist that temptation. When consumers are invited to participate in online communities, they expect marketers to listen and to consider their ideas. They don’t want to feel like they’re simply a captive audience for advertising, and if they do they’re likely to abandon the community…

Don’t control, let it go. In an online community, every company needs balance between trying to steer the conversation about its products and allowing the conversation to flow freely. In general, though, managers believe that companies are better off giving consumers the opportunity to say whatever is on their minds, positive or negative…The more that consumers talk freely, the more a company can learn about how it can improve its products and its marketing.

Find a ‘marketing technopologist.’ So who should direct a company’s forays into Web 2.0 marketing?…We coined the term marketing technopologist for a person who brings together strengths in marketing, technology and social interaction…”someone with the usual M.B.A. consultant’s background, strong interest in psychology and sociology, and good social-networking skills throughout the organization.”

Embrace experimentation. One Web 2.0 strategy does not fit all…Blogs, wikis and online communities are among the tools that companies are most commonly using for marketing, but there are other ways to reach consumers…For instance, many companies have long used instant messaging on their Web sites to allow shoppers to chat with customer-service representatives…

Edit by SAC

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While the Marketing 101 principles are sure to evolve for Web 2.0 the above mentioned principles provide a good foundation for marketers looking to take advantage ever changing world of the web.

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Full Article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122884677205091919.html

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This entry was posted on January 12, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Internet Marketing - eCommerce -, Mktg - Internet, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.