Seattle Direct Marketing Association

Web 2.0: Tough Relationship?

Web 2.0 is the new word that businesses of every size are learning to understand and use properly. While the term "Web 2.0" was officially coined by Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media to identify what back then had no name, it has since spread out to become a new word that defines the Internet we all use for business and leisure every day.

But how does Web 2.0 differ from what we had before? Here's a comparison chart to help you see for yourself:


Now, what does Web 2.0 mean for businesses and how does it impact marketing and other areas of business?

• Feedback is king: Web 2.0 changed the user interaction pattern from a one-way to a two way communication, allowing for more opportunities, yet demanding a dramamtic change in approach to website design and content development.
   
• It's not just about your website: taking your offline networks online is becoming very important as social networks (think LinkedIn and Twitter) continue to grow agressively. Your website is no longer just your ID, but rather an android that represents your business in every spot it can reach online.
   
• Say yes to relationships: web 2.0 is all about two-way communication and calls for a conversation, rather than a mologue. Web 2.0 allows business to build relationships and bond with their clients and prospects, but it takes a shift in strategy to do so. 
   
• Create an effective personal/professional mix: With Web 2.0, it is typical to read about a new baby on a company blog! As Internet continues to grow with information, the division between personal and professional becomes blurred and sometimes intentionally absent. Use it to your advantage to show your clients and prospects that you are "just like them, only a little different".
   
• Online Reputation Management: If you are concerned about your privacy, you should stop reading this post and throw away your computer now. An online album with pictures of your baby (BTW, this is Web 2.0 kind of thing) or a press release about your volunteer work for a local non-profit, chances are the info will make it online quicker than you expect. The downside is though that your drunk pictures from a friend's birthday party will do the same.
   
• Consumers rule: With new technologies becoming more user-friendly and readily available, Web 2.0 allows anyone to build a blog or a website that offers content on just about anything!
   
• Stay on top of it or be doomed: Things are moving and changing so quickly today, there's no doubt we'll see Web 3.0 in no time. Yet make an effort to catch up with the fast-growing online industry and get your share of measurable revenue that Web 2.0 is capable of bringing to your business. 

Stay up-to-date on marketing trends and industry changes with monthly events hosted by SDMA and attend the Market to the Max conference to get the latest scope on Web 2.0 marketing techniques.