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Mistakes organizations make using social media networks

2010-07-01T13:20:00.001-04:00

Even if your company is firing off tweets every hour and constantly tending to its Facebook page, how do you know if it's working? Before getting your organization to use social media you should first decide how to measure your efforts and what characterizes success. Is it the number of hits on your organization's Web site, is it the number of fans on your facebook – what are the metrics?

Here are a few mistakes organizations make:

Not Every Organizations needs Social Media

Not every organization needs a facebook and twitter. Analyze your individual needs and figure out what you are trying to achieve and the audience you would like to reach. Maybe you should be on LinkedIn instead of facebook and twitter. A government contractor may need to connect with key government allies while a night club may want to attract more clientele.

Don’t leave it up to the intern

You should NOT handover your social media responsibilities to the most inexperienced staff members. Your organizations social media strategy should be implemented by someone who posses strong communication skills, understands your organization’s message and vision and is not shy when dealing with the public. Social media is after all about being social and personal.

The conversation has to be on a two way street

Social media communication like any relationship should be conducted on a two way street. Organizations too often see using social media tools as just another way to push out information. Bombarding people with advertisements or press releases won't earn you many followers, it’s all about engaging your audience in dialogue.

You must follow up after the connection

Your organization should not bring people together then abandon them with no follow up. Use social networks like Facebook to continue the engagement on a regular basis with those who attend your organization’s big conference or event.

Starbucks beats all consumer brands on social media

2010-06-10T18:29:00.012-04:00

Starbucks’ huge Facebook audience makes it the highest-ranking brand on social media, according to a ratings study done by London-based Famecount, a media measurement service that aggregates popularity across social media channels.

Coca-Cola pulled in second, but Famecount ranks it well behind Starbucks. Whole Foods came in at No. 3, based almost entirely on its 1.7 million followers on Twitter.

2010-05-02T23:06:00.006-04:00

BP Oil Spill and Social Media

As one would expect, BP is taking a severe beating in social media right now, when consumers vent their frustration with the effects of the disaster. On Twitter, thousands of tweets are currently being published mentioning BP in connection with the oil spill. Many of them are also directly addressing BP’s US corporate Twitter account with angry comments, suggestions and questions. More...

2010-04-25T21:48:00.003-04:00

Obama Fights Goldman With Social Media - Forbes.comhttp://www.forbes.com/2010/04/22/obama-g...And he's winning. Corporate image managers--especially those at Goldman Sachs--have a lot to learn from the administration's Web savvy.

2010-04-11T20:59:00.003-04:00

More and more businesses are biting that bullet and getting involved with social media and employing agencies and or individuals to implement their social media strategies. It involves sending out tweets, posting messages on Facebook and constantly carrying a camera to get video on YouTube. more...

2010-02-07T23:33:00.003-05:00

Click Here to Watch All the Super Bowl XLIV Spots.

Social Media Making News and Changing the World - Haiti - U. S. Army - The Vatican

2010-01-25T11:55:00.016-05:00

Social Media Among Haiti's First Responders

In the aftermath of natural disasters, first responders are partnering with software developers and other tech experts to help in humanitarian efforts.

Guest host Audie Cornish speaks to NPR's social media manager Andy Carvin about hacking events called "Crisis Camps," taking place in Washington, D.C., and other cities Saturday. Listen Now…

Source: NPR

The U. S. Army Launches a Social Media Website

The U.S. Army has launched a new social media website for Army personnel.

A new Facebook-like social media site aimed at the U.S. Army tech community aims to make discussion of sensitive information easier and safer.

Called milBook, the new networking tool offers a centralized location for Army personnel to discuss military topics that were previously done through potentially insecure emails, chats, wikis and blogs.

Since its launch in October 2009, 18,000 users have signed up for MilBook. Like Facebook, MilBook users can choose what information they want to share. MilBlog allows users to share news, photos, ideas and insights in real-time. Want to Know More…

Pope Encourages Priests to Blog, Vatican Hops on Social Media Train

The most digital-savvy Pope in history has called for Catholic clergy everywhere to reach out to the masses via blogging and social media. Pope Benedict XVI released a message to priests explaining the difficulty in communication due to a shift from traditional means to online means of conversation. The Pontiff urged priests to spread the Gospel by not only blogging, but by taking advantage of the many multimedia sharing options available now. Pope Benedict is leading by example by utilizing YouTube in his spread-the-word campaign. Want to Know More…

Before launching a new product use the Monkey

2009-12-08T14:44:00.001-05:00

Approaching a project without the proper input from the right people or the intended target audience can be disastrous. Fortunately, there are a few ways to getting critical feedback before finalizing on a project or before putting a new product on the market.

SurveyMonkey.com is an excellent online source to quickly get the opinion of friends, family and consumers about almost anything. It’s faster than approaching random people to receive feedback about a particular product and it’s great if you need quick input from buddies that are half way around the world. Basically, you create a form with a few questions that pertain to your project. You can send the form to whomever you desire and the results are accessible through your account on SurveyMonkey.com.

The above image shows two new packages that are being considered for Camels’ cigarettes. They have involved the consumer by giving them the option of voting for their favorite new package design.

Many companies setup booths in public settings to perform a competitive and comparison analysis for new products. This can be achieved by taste testing if the product is food or studying how the consumer interacts with a new product can provide valuable information. Often companies compare their products to a competitor’s product with hopes that their brand will be in favor with the consumer. Tropicana probably could’ve avoided their recent failure of rebranding their juice carton, if they would have used an online survey to get the valued opinion of the consumer. Ultimately we have to please the consumer; therefore, Tropicana made the decision to return to their original juice carton design.

Social Media and Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T17:12:00.002-05:00

What says Thanksgiving in 2009 – family, turkey, sweet potatoes, football, fall leaves and twitter and facebook!!

Did you say Twitter and Facebook!! Social media adds a whole new twist to the holidays. All the information and what to do when traveling, cooking preparations to festivities.

Check out these social media treats!
@butterball on Twitter
twitter.com/butterball
Just in case you need help preparing your thanksgiving meal – please check out @butterball on Twitter with actual instructions on how to prepare dinner, gift card giveaways, recipes for stuffing and more.

Google gives everyone FREE Wi-Fi for the holidays
freeholidaywifi.com/
Thank you Google! The company announced last week it's working with airports across the country to provide free WiFi as a holiday gift through Jan. 15. It's currently available in 47 airports.

Thanksgiving on Facebook
bit.ly/thanksg
Thanksgiving on Facebook! Check out this page and write anything you want about the holidays, from recipes, to loving memories of your holiday. Lots of awesome recipes!

Wi-Fi body scale
withings.com
A Wi-Fi scale. Yes, I said it. This scale connects to the Internet so you can keep track of what you eat - pound by pound. There’s also an iPhone app to go with it. You can tweet your progress too!

Please Tweet me with helpful thanksgiving and social media tips I might have missed. http://twitter.com/sojoinc

Google Wave - The email Killer

2009-10-27T14:15:00.011-04:00

E-mail as we know it is based on the snail-mail format: you send a message; your friend receives it. Google Wave makes mail collaborative and instant. When you type a message to a friend, he or she sees what you're typing as you type it. You can jump in and start drafting a reply before the initial message is complete. Google Wave also lets users collaborate on editable documents, called Wikis, share photos, update blogs, set appointments and chat in big groups. You can add conference calls to a Wave. A translation function called Rosy will translate chat messages between languages as you write.

Watch How Google Wave Works

Twin brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen are the brains behind Google Wave.

Jens Rasmussen is a member of Google's technical staff, currently based in the Sydney office, and with his brother Lars is co-founder of the Google Wave effort. In early 2003, the brothers co-founded a mapping start-up, Where 2 Technologies, which was acquired by Google in October of 2004. Jens joined Google and worked as one of the lead engineers in the team that turned this acquisition into Google Maps, now used by millions of people around the world.

Lars Rasmussen is a member of Google's technical staff, based in the Sydney office, and with his brother Jens is co-founder of the Google Wave effort. In early 2003, the brothers co-founded a mapping start-up, Where 2 Technologies, which was acquired by Google in October of 2004. Lars joined Google and worked as one of the lead engineers in the team that turned this acquisition into Google Maps, now used by millions of people around the world.

Coca-Cola’s “Open Happiness” Campaign Is Using Social Media

2009-10-26T10:25:00.003-04:00

Coca-Cola is taking an interesting and bold approach towards social media and is using it to engage its supporters worldwide. The soft drink giant will be sending three bloggers to more than 200 countries in a year to find out what makes people happy as part of their “Open Happiness” campaign.

It’s all part of Coca-Cola’s Expedition 206 - www.expedition206.com. As of today there are only 11 days left to vote for your favorite team to have the privilege to travel the world to 206 countries within 365 days in 2010 where Coca-Cola is sold.
Adam Brown, director of Coca-Cola’s Office of Digital Communications and Social Media explains: “It’s about telling the story that involves Coca-Cola, that involves the attributes of what Coca-Cola is about, optimism and joy.”

To top it all off Coca-Cola will cover the bloggers’ travel expenses and plus pay them a salary. The bloggers will go from country to country in record speed and blog about their experiences. As Coca-Cola consumers you have the opportunity to suggest a to-do-list for the bloggers to check as the expedition unfolds.

I hope my favorite wins!

Now thru November 6, fans can visit expedition206.com and vote for which team of Ambassadors will get the chance to take this unbelievable trip!

Disney is Transforming Its U.S. Stores –Disney will spend about $1 million a store to redecorate, reorganize and install interactive technology

2009-10-18T20:39:00.005-04:00

Disney has teamed up with Apple’s Steve Jobs and his retail team to turn its stores into entertainment destinations. Disney plans to revamp all of its 340 U.S. stores, complete with theaters where children can watch clips from their favorite Disney films. Visitors can use interactive displays and book a Disney Cruise.

Disney claims the new look, branded “Imagination Park,” is going to be unveiled in spring of 2010 in the New York area. Steve Jobs, who has been on the Disney board since 2006, provided the company with proprietary information about the development and operation of Apple’s high-tech and highly successful stores.

“It’s about making this an experience rather than just picking up a toy,” said Disney rep Shawn Turner. “We want them to leave feeling like they had the full Disney experience. They don’t necessarily need to go to the park to have that experience, they can get it at the local mall.”

Bates said that the challenge is to balance the active experiences of interacting with the brand with the more passive experiences of buying products. The Soho Apple store in New York has done this successfully, he said. “You have to make sure that the activities are reinforcing the core brand message, and that they are not just enhancing the store experience, but they’re reinforcing the bigger brand message,” said Bates. “You have to build a brand experience that’s enriching enough in its own right, but also amplifies that experience after they leave the store.”
Read More on the Disney Interactive Stores in the New York Times

Ford Goes Zero to 60 on Social Media

2009-10-13T01:58:00.004-04:00

Zero to 60: Ford’s Social Media Story, by Scott Monty; presented by GasPedal and the Social Media Business Council from GasPedal on Vimeo.

Social Media and the Generation Gap

2009-10-08T13:10:00.001-04:00

Today’s teens are aware of Twitter but are certainly not using it. Thanks to Britney Spears and Ashton Kutcher – they know what it is but are not interested in it or other micro-blogging tools – as you well know with teens this can change at any time. Instead teens are crazy about Facebook and spend a heck of a lot of time micro-blogging about their status. They constantly update their friends on what they are doing and enjoying. The primary forms of communication tools today are: text messages, video/Skype, IM, and Facebook.

As for email – I am yet to meet a teen that is hooked on email – in fact not many people under 20 use email. They use email only as a tool to respond to something related to work or to set up accounts on social media sites. As teen parents and grandparents become more involved in social media - email becomes less relevant.

Another distinct difference with teens and their parents and grandparents – is privacy. Although teens care about their privacy they do so differently than the previous generation. When their parents go out of town they have the lights set to come on and off automatically and have a friend get their mail – on the other hand teens broadcast to the world their whereabouts.

Ben & Jerry's New Social Cause - Hubby Hubby Ice Cream

2009-09-15T09:16:00.003-04:00

Ben & Jerry’s has always carried a social message important to its founders. They are known for their euphoric ice cream flavors and dedication to social justice. They refused milk from cows injected with growth hormones before it became the trend, but because it was the right thing to do. They continue to use as much local milk as possible, supporting many Vermont farmers.

Ben & Jerry’s celebrates the beginning of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont with the symbolic renaming of its well-known ice cream flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby.” In partnership with Freedom to Marry, Ben & Jerry’s hope is to raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality and, to show its support, by offering “Hubby Hubby” sundaes in Vermont Scoop Shops throughout the month of September.

The packaging features a wedding cake with two happy grooms perched on top. A campaign supporting the renaming says: “Now more than ever, Vermont is for lovers…and for lovers of marriage equality.”
I am anxious to see how this plays out for the Ben & Jerry’s brand as this is directly related to the brand itself. People know Ben & Jerry’s to be a socially conscious company, but this is new territory even for them. Consumers choose a brand based on their ability to identify with that brand. They buy a particular brand only because it feels right for them - as if it was specially made for them. For the past two presidential elections legalizing gay marriage has been a hot topic; one that even liberals are known to shy away from. Most Americans do not believe in same sex marriage and are pretty vocal about it. How many people will want to buy the gay marriage ice cream?

It will be interesting to watch how Ben & Jerry’s more conservative customers react to this. Although it’s a new age, especially one for social networking – Twitter and facebook and many companies use this avenue to dramatize their message. But will Hubby Hubby fall by the wayside just because of the association? Will the overall brand be in danger because of its link to the issue? There is also the chance that it will pay off for Ben & Jerry’s after all how many ice cream makers are as outspoken about social causes.
Let’s see what happens.

The Mommy Blogger Debate

2009-08-19T13:12:00.002-04:00

So much media coverage on the Mommy Blog-Ola – I had to put my two sense in.

First off "Blog-ola" is the free goodies, products, trips and other perks many marketers give to bloggers with the hopes of getting favorable reviews about their products and services. This shift is very evident in the “mommy-blogger” world, where they are proving to be quite influential with their readers and therefore quite valuable to marketers.

Lines become very blurred between companies and mom bloggers. Bloggers would once have sponsors sponsor their writing, now it’s the other way around and many mom bloggers are writing for companies, like Wal-Mart. The authenticity is gone and you are left asking questions like what is the real motivation behind this blogger’s backing about a particular product.

Are marketing firms to be blamed – for luring innocent moms to blog about their clients’ products in exchange for free goodies and trips? I say no. After all I am the mother of three children myself and I hold all my children accountable for their actions! Period! So moms are writing at their own risk, and putting their own integrities on the line.

Bloggers really just need to be direct and upfront in disclosing whether they are paid or getting freebies. The site Blog With Integrity asks bloggers to sign and post an ethical pledge. The Federal Trade Commission is also considering new guidelines to help clarify advertising content in blogs.

Firefox reaches 1 billion downloads

2009-08-03T13:32:00.005-04:00

In our offices at Sojo – you can tell the age difference of staff by the browser they use. Staff in their late 30s and higher, is more likely to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. While those younger, use Mozilla’s Firefox. Firefox is on their way to Browser domination!

Mozilla Corp.'s Firefox browser passed the 1-billion download milestone on Friday, July 31, 2009.

The Internet browser was first released by Mountain View-based Mozilla in 2004 and today has an estimated 31 percent share of the world market or almost a third of the market. It’s a shrinking margin for Microsoft in an area that they formerly had near complete domination.

Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer is No. 1 with about 60 percent, far ahead of the rest of the pack which includes Google Inc.'s Chrome and Apple Inc.'s Safari which have less than 5 percent of the market. This lead however does not look very stable for Microsoft.

Use Twitter to your Advantage

2009-07-22T00:46:00.004-04:00

Marketers should use Twitter to their advantage? Twitter is more than spitting out information about you or the company you represent – it’s about becoming involved in the ongoing dialogue... and staying involved. Twitter is not the place for one day or one night stands for that matter, but a place to build sincere and meaningful relationships that can last. Twitter demands lots of love and attention – in fact the very same ingredients in building any meaningful relationship.

Get to know your voice and your message well. Know that you must practice what you preach. If you tell your customers something on Twitter you have to deliver it.

You can use Twitter to:

Expand and improve your customer service support
Reach new customers and keep them informed on new product launches
Get the message out about breaking news
Create brand buzz
Get the word out about events
Alert customers to recent newsletters, blogs and articles
Happy Tweeting!

Facebook valued at $6.5 billion

2009-07-15T15:56:00.004-04:00

Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian Internet investment group plans to purchase at least $100 million of Facebook's common stock at $14.77 per share from common stockholders. This annoucement was made yesterday, Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

Search Engine Optimization and Michael Jackson

2009-07-02T13:22:00.007-04:00

For my Blog this week I anticipated writing about Search Engine Optimization and the benefits of optimizing your website. However, as every possible human being on this planet knows our Pop Icon, Michael Jackson passed away last Thursday, June 25, 2009.

What does that have to do with search engines you might say? I’m here to tell you everything!
Last Thursday the news of the Pop star’s death took center stage around the world and on the Internet. The speed at which this story unfolded online was very fascinating and impressive and as a marketer and online strategist very appealing. The online news agents Wikipedia proved to be the fastest – faster than Google and Twitter.

In fact Google News had so many delays due to the searches for “Michael Jackson” they posted an official statement:

"The spike in searches related to Michael Jackson was so big that Google News initially mistook it for an automated attack. As a result, for about 25 minutes yesterday, when some people searched Google News they saw a "We're sorry" page before finding the articles they were looking for." - Source

Twitter has created a new real-time web. Google had a time lapse in indexing – more than 3 hours! With such a delay people were going directly to specific news websites to get the information on Michael Jackson’s status instead of doing the typical Google search, as the delay was so behind.

The following is how the news spread on the Internet – starts at 19:21 and ends 23:47

x17online.com breaks the news about the pop star – a really small entertainment news agent and post photos and a brief story - 20 minutes before the larger entertainment sites like TMZ.com .

TMZ.com posts "Michael Jackson -- Cardiac Arrest" - the story is distributed to hundreds of thousands of people via RSS.

Wikipedia reports Jackson's Cardiac Arrest - A member of Wikipedia adds the news of the Cardiac Arrest to Jackson's Wikipedia article. Before any other news or social media source.

Ten minutes after the first click from TMZs Twitter to TMZ.com where the story of his death is posted. Reports of his death start to show up on RSS feeds and eventually Twitter.

10 minutes later CNNbrk tweets that Jackson goes to hospital – to 2 million followers
Wikipedia freezes Michael Jackson page - After an explosion of edits to Jackson's Wikipedia article, editors take the step of locking it down in protective status.

Two and a half hours after it all started Wikipedia editors mention Jackson's death on the article discussion page.

bit.ly link reaches high of 2,500 clicks a minute

Three hours later - "RIP Michael Jackson" tops Trends on Twitter Story takes the next step and appears on Twitter's Trends. Tens of millions of Twitter users now can see the story.There are now over 2000 mentions a minute of Michael Jackson on Twitter and Twitter overloads and falters.

Google News Results of Jackson's death start showing up on the results page for the query "Michael Jackson" Finally after a whole three hours.

The Internet felt the loss of Michael Jackson just as much as the fans did. I would liek to hear your comments. If you want regular updates - follow us on twitter.

Shall We Twitter?

2009-06-25T16:26:00.005-04:00

You can say a lot in 140 characters or less! That’s the twitter way. Your success on twitter depends on the frequency of the updates, your tone, the content and how relevant what you say is. Be upfront about who you are and what you are trying to sell.

Your brand’s Twitter objectives should be to create as many followers as possible by having ongoing conversations and skillfully injecting your brand messages without it being very obvious. Don’t commercialize the channel as tweeters are very sensitive and can quickly respond with negative to perceived violations.

Five reasons to Twitter.

1. Twitter is Hot. Twitter can assist you with today’s trends - find out what's hot and what’s not.

2. Join the Conversation. Use Twitter to express yourself or your brands view point. Tweeting also helps you gain credibility and attract a following of believers that can help you spread your message – globally in any market possible!

3. Monitor Your Brand. By monitoring Tweets about your brand you are better able to know your customers needs, improve customer satisfaction and gather marketplace and product intelligence.

4. Satisfied Customers. Several brands have added Twitter to their customer service process with raving results – so much so that their customers are talking positively about it. They include JetBlue, Whole Foods, Dell and Starbucks to name a few. They have attracted a significant number of followers and built buzz about the responsiveness of their brand’s to service related issues.

5. Brand Promotion. Use Twitter to announce new services, new products, events, new clients, and just about any message you want to get out to the public and fast. See you on Twitter – Sojo’s Twitter

Delivering Your Brand

2009-06-23T10:38:00.003-04:00

I had the opportunity to fly British Airways the fall of 2005 – all my friends and family have heard the story about the customer service representative who upgraded us to business class without telling me or my girlfriend. We were coming back from London on a girl’s only trip and had just had a blast in Paris, Zurich and London.

On entering the aircraft and looking for seats all the way in the back we noticed our seats didn’t seem to exist, until some kind stranger said – “those seats are to the front of the plain” note the British accent. After we got over the initial shock that we were seated in business class we quickly settled into our new seats. It was nothing like I had ever experienced – the seats could double as a bed and came with dividers so you could tune out other passengers when you were ready to get some ZZZs. The fight crew were amazing and just plain attentive. They kept giving us warm rags for our hands before and after every meal, and a menu that had five course meals like any five star restaurant, newspapers available in at least five different languages, and as many drinks as we could manage. What a life – I thought! We enjoyed the service so much we were surprised and disappointed when the pilot announced we were landing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. We could have flown another seven hours.

I have told this story so many times that I was now an evangelist for British Airways and I know I have influenced my friends to fly them. In order to beat the competition and do more than just survive, brands must deliver more than expected, they must make the brand experience so memorable that people do exactly what I did – keep talking about it – hasn’t it been now almost four years!

Brands through digital communications can turn word of mouth brand evangelism into a major viral campaign. To be successful your brand has to be extraordinary – it must satisfy customers’ needs and expectations. Brands that fail – actually fail to deliver on their promise to their customers. In the digital world this type of delivery can really be fatal. It does not take much time to get angry customers riled up online. Start the process and see what your customers are saying about you and use this knowledge to improve your brand experience.

Social Networking Exclusively for the Wealthy

2009-06-10T20:04:00.007-04:00

The very wealthy seem to have had it with the free for all mentally of the web and are launching their own networks. Most wealthy people are afraid to hangout on social network sites due to privacy issues or that’s what they claim and have been leaving Facebook and LinkedIn. Instead they have turned to social networking websites like Quintessentially, aSmallWorld, Squa.re and Diamond Lounge.

Some of these social networks mirror their offline counterparts with strict invite-only policies and rigorous application processes based on job title and connections. Squa.re and Quintessentially, are more lenient than most and only require an existing member to invite you.

Wealthy-consumer participation in online social networks is on the rise, according to a January survey by the Luxury Institute. 805 people were surveyed, each with a minimum gross annual income of $150,000 in 2008, of which 60% said they participate in a social network. Wealthy members in the leading social networks were 16% for MySpace, 13% for LinkedIn and 11% for Facebook.

The wealthy want to leverage the global social advantages of the web too – connecting with people of like-mind around the world from London to Dubai. So these exclusive networks offer them this very opportunity in a safe environment. They can connect online to find true love, find their next luxury yacht, similar to a Craigslist except its high-end, or find out which part of the globe has the best event for that weekend.

For those of you out there who are unhappy with the social networks that accept everyone – maybe a luxury social network is for you – let me know what you have to do to get into the club.
Please feel free to drop me a line if you happen to be a high-end social butterfly online – gibsons@sojoinc.com

Sojo, Inc. Featured on MSNBC.com

2009-06-02T15:47:00.007-04:00

I invite you to read an article featuring Sojo, Inc. on MSNBC.com by Diane Mapes "Holy Twitter! They're tweeting from the pews"

Holy Twitter! They're tweeting from the pews

In April, interactive marketing firm Sojo, Inc. surveyed 145 churches with memberships between 500 and 25,000 and found that 32 percent of them said they use Facebook, 16 percent are on MySpace and 10 percent are on Twitter, with many more chomping ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30970139/

Getting Back To The Basics

2009-06-01T16:54:00.003-04:00

Too many marketers are caught up in the fringe benefits of being online, like pay-per-click, blogging and the latest SNS – Social Network Sites. This is of course extremely important but means nothing if your website is outdated and the web experience you provide for your customers has no impact. So let’s get back to the basics… (Download the PDF - http://www.sojoinc.com/pdf/perspectives_2.pdf)

A poor web experience may have a greater impact on a company's brand than a poor presentation or customer service call gone bad! The presentation and customer service calls all have the potential of a quick fix if there is a follow up visit or the next customer service representative gives the customer a better experience. But if a brand’s website fails to deliver on a promise, then visitors leave with a diminished opinion about the brand and the company…forever!

Your website is successful if your customers feel good about your site. Customer satisfaction online means a good web experience which translates into increased revenues and encourage customers to speak about your brand and company in a positive light. Instead of focusing on web analytics and counting how many people are coming to your site, start with how your customers feel about your website. You know this by your ability to engage them. Before beginning your website design project, get a plan together outlining your strategy to engage your customer. Be sure to measure how successful your engagement is. Feedback from customers in the form of a survey, an email or comment online is an engagement. Clicking onto your site does not mean engagement, it means foot traffic much like at the mall.

A customer that reveals something about himself or herself online mean they care, which means you have been successful in engaging them about your brand. Read more Sojo Perspectives

Send me your feedback about this blog entry directly to - gibsons@sojoinc.com