Saturday, May 23, 2009

Are You a Good Web Conversationalist? Companies better be!

The great benefit to Web 2.0 is the conversation. Normally, you advertise or do your PR work, and it is all about talking to customers (the target market, etc.), telling them your benefits, then measuring the impact and response. LinkedIn and other social networks allow a conversation between the company and its customers - not just listening, but interacting. How well suited are you to having a conversation with your customers? How do you listen and generate a response, without sending it through legal, etc.?

In my experience, many companies have no mechanism for this. At one company, getting a communication through legal could take a month or more - not practical for the Web. The companies that can design the system for having a conversation with customers online will have a tremendous advantage over their competitors.

The interactive nature of the conversations provides opportunities for market research, particularly for creating a Voice of the Internet Customer. What are the demographics? Do they mirror your target market for your product or service? A well-trained researcher can use the opportunity to ask generic questions, with sincerity, and collect ideas and attributes for analysis. The techniques outlined in our book are applicable here, with a few modifications.

How are you using the interactive nature of the Web? Are you taking advantage of the conversation, or just listening?

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