Consumers Take Control (It's a Good Thing) – by Kate Kirby
April 15, 2007
That buzz you hear this spring is not the honeybees busily pollinating flowers, nor is it the drone of thousands of lawn mowers coming out of wintry semi-retirement. No, that buzz is the marketing world chanting in unison: consumers are in control. Welcome to Web 2.0.
Most marketers define Web 2.0 as the set of technologies that enable communication and dialog among people online. It includes blogs and podcasts, social networking and shared news, wikis and other collections of information (like YouTube). It's also the next generation of opportunity for marketers on the Internet.
Executives who previously wanted to lie down until the Web 2.0 feeling passed are now embracing it. In fact, according to the 2007 McKinsey survey on Internet technologies, more than three out of four executives say they plan to maintain or increase their investments in technology trends that encourage user collaboration, such as peer-to-peer networking, social networks, and Web services.
While the concept of letting consumers drive content and public information is antithetical to marketing past, today's marketers are seeing that the benefits are many. Now, through a well-managed blog, marketers can discover tremendous amounts of information about what customers care about. What's more, Web 2.0 gives marketers the ability to truly nurture relationships with customers and potential customers. To that end, it's essential to respond to comments about your content, be it a blog or a social networking site, and participate in content created by others, including your customers. There's opportunity for dialog here. Even though it's traditionally been one way, the power of listening cannot be understated now that (all together now) consumers are in control.
Another big upside to Web 2.0 is that your company gets to have customer advocates. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell described a personality type he called "Maven." A maven is a person "who accumulates knowledge and who has information on a lot of different products or prices or places." Through Web 2.0, these mavens have a major forum for sharing their knowledge. That's why smart marketers will gladly make Web 2.0 part of their mantra, and be proactive about engaging with consumers. Engagement lets you influence (not control, mind you, but influence) what consumers say about you.
To capitalize on Web 2.0, consistency is crucial. Once you open the dialog, it's essential to maintain it. It's also important to keep track of efforts and ROI, just like any other marketing activity. You have more tools than ever to monitor your success this spring. Web 2.0 is about engaging with consumers, which is a highly charged method of marketing. So maybe that buzz you hear this spring is simply the sizzling energy with which marketers are gearing up for implementing Web 2.0.