Web Space - Content Expectations

The different segments of web space (traditional, web 2.0 and social media) each have their own user expectations, particularly regarding content. This seems obvious, but I have not seen any studies or recommendations regarding how often one should tweet, blog, update facebook or web content. Here are my suggestions for how often businesses (I am talking about manufacturing or service businesses not those organizations in the information or news business) should update content on various media. Does anyone have any other thoughts about this?

Some Guidelines - More or Less:
Websites should be updated weekly or monthly. Although if you are in the news / information business your visitors probably expect daily or weekly updates. The same is true for e-newsletters.

Blogs should be updated weekly or at least monthly.

Facebook, Linked in and other social media probably daily or weekly updates is sufficient.

Twitter followers expect daily or more frequent tweets.

Can you generate fresh content more frequently? Of course, the more frequently relevant and useful content is available to your visitors the more frequently they are likely to visit your site. As part of your marketing strategy that should generate more sales leads and improve your bottom line.

Web Space - Three Segments

What is web space?:
It is a concept that encompasses the methods to convey information over the internet. In conversations with clients I find it convenient to break up the internet into three categories:

1. Traditional Internet - This segment is composed of static web sites, e-newsletter, and emails.
2. Web 2.0 - (A phrase coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999) Traditionally is described as containing rich interactive web sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashup and the like.
3. Social Media - Contains a segment of web sites such as Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Digg, Delicious, Yelp... Many definitions put Social-networking sites as part of Web 2.0 I break them out into the Social Media segment of web space.

There is overlap between these segments, especially between Web 2.0 and Social Media.

Why make the distinction?:
Content, Content, Content: Web users expectations are changing. They want fresh and relevant content which is easy to find - or sent to them before they know they need/want it.

Web users have different expectations from these segments. I'll discuss these expectations in a future blog.

Social Media and Business Expectations

Goals what are they?
In my last post one of my comments was that companies should "Set up some reasonable goals" if they are going to enter the social media web space. One of my clients asked what are realistic quantifiable goals and how can you measure them?

Two Types of Goals:
My answer was that there are two type of goals. The first type of goal can be describe by the nebulous term "Brand Awareness". Those goals relates to how many people are talking about your brand/product/service or how many places is your brand/product/service mentioned (positively or negatively) in the social media web space.

The second type of goal is financial - either return on investment or return on time invested. How much business has social media brought into the business.

Measuring Awareness
Brand awareness on the internet and in the social media web space is always hard to measure because it means different things to different people. Is it the number of times people mention your product? What about links back to your site, or post? How about how many people are following your tweets of are your friend on Facebook? Pick one or a combinations which works for you.

Don't get hung up on numbers.
Odds are that you will not have as many followers/friends as a rock star or pop-culture icon. (When I wrote this SearsDeals had 1400 followers wallmartspecials had just over 2300 followers and Britney Spears had over 1.7 million followers.)

I suggest tracking trends and comparing your product to that of competitors. There are several free or paid services that let you track how many times a brand is mentioned on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, or social media sites. Here is a short, but not exhaustive list of some services: Jodange, Trendrr, Facebook Lexicon, Down Jones Insight and Overtone Open Mic. Here is a list of more tools/services.

Measuring Dollars
While tracking money seems easier, after all everyone knows what a dollar looks like, determining what dollars came from which source can be harder. This usually involves setting up business processes to track dollars. How you do this, or if you can do it will depend on your situation.

One clever solution I've seen is by NetTrack Marketing they have a system for their clients were the phone number on a web site changes based on the referring web site's URL/Domain. That way when someone calls their 800 number the client can tell what the online source was for that call/order.

The Final Word:
Sorry, but there is none. As social media keeps evolving so will technology and business practices. Keep up with the latest trends and keep informed.

Social Media - Twitter, Facebook, and blogs

Everyone's doing it:

Social media is definitely a hot trend now, which probably means I'm jumping on the bandwagon too late. But I'm going to write about Twitter and social media any way.

Group Think:
Whenever I am with a group of business owners or manager and they find out that I am in the business of building websites, the same topics always come up: Twitter, Facebook, and blogging. About six months ago the topic du jour was Viral Marketing, before that it was Search Engine Marketing, and before that is was Google Page Ranks. Why do I mention those "outdated" topics? Because they are all related to the same idea. What can I do to bring money into by business? More importantly what can I do to increase profits in my company. Since social media is in the news and on everyone's blog (including mine) people think it is what they should be doing.

Going Against the Current:
While I think Twitter, MySpace, blogs and other social media are cool. They are not not a silver bullet, nor will they have the same ROTI (return on time invested) for everyone . The owner of a tool and die stamping shop or the marketing manager of a thermoplastic resins manufacturer might have more profitable things to do with their time then Tweeting about what widget they are making, or the newest additive to the resin. Very few people care what C# code or stored procedure I wrote this morning. Twitter or other social media might not be for everyone. Don't get me wrong, social media can and has helped many different companies, you just need to find the correct content and format for your message.

Evaluation and Expectations:
Look at what other people in your industry are doing. Does what you see make sense? If not what do you think they should be doing? Let someone in your company who has a passion for this take the lead and let them try social media. Set up some reasonable goals. (If you have 500 customers don't expect 2,000 people to follow your blog after 3 months.)


Understand the Medium:
Does social media have a place in business? Most definitely it does. But business people need to understand the medium and determine if it fits into their strategy - for Twitter to be affective it needs a daily stream of relevant content. (Here is John Byrne of Business Week giving an example of how he uses twitter.) Blogs require regular content, but it can be less frequent - I only write monthly. Facebook and MySpace fall somewhere in between those two.

What to Write About:
I can't tell you specifically what to write, but the same basic principles apply to social media compared to any other marketing tool. Make your content relevant to your audience. Give them information that helps them. The tool and die shop could talk about using SolidWorks 3D and how it reduces turn around time and saves clients money.

Also remember that social media allows for two way communication. You can get immediate feedback from your audience, so pay attention to what they are saying.

What to Do:
Don't be afraid to try social media, but don't expect to see a huge jump in business because of it. I know there are examples of businesses increasing sales because of social media and viral marketing - Blendtec is a company which comes to mind when people ask me if anyone has dramatically increased sales. But their results are not common.

Determine which types of social media are appropriate for your company and give it a try.

Remember to "market" your efforts. If you are blogging or tweeting let people know. If your company puts out some great information on a blog, let people know. Don't forget to post links on your web site to your social media.

Don't worry if you don't succeed at first. Keep on trying.