Interaction and Ownership – Websites
The number of communication platforms and resources available to companies today for promotion and interaction is mind boggling. Social media alone has completely changed the communication landscape, but companies struggle to take advantage of all these resources – especially smaller firms with limited in-house communications capabilities. So, when deciding which platforms to use and how much emphasis to give them, how do you choose? Often companies select to do what they’ve always done, or the platform they like the best. But two factors need to be taken into consideration – interaction and ownership.
Does the communications platform allow the customer or prospect to interact, respond, express opinions and receive response? And, does the company own the platform? If the resource were to go away tomorrow, would all the information, interaction and goodwill accumulated on it go away also? All platforms include a mix of these two factors that communicators need to take into consideration. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at communications platforms from the viewpoint of these two factors. The first is the website.
Web Sites – Ownership
Companies generally love their websites and there was a time when the cardinal rule of communication was “get them to your web site.” That’s because companies own their websites. A visitor to your website is “yours,” at least for the duration of the visit, and if you can get them to come back, that’s even better. If you have customers who rely on your website as a resource, that’s best of all. The rule to drive customers to the website still exists in many executives’ minds, but unless its fully supported by the website vision, design and navigation, the goal is no longer realistic. Why? Because of lack of interaction.
Social media has done away with the website as the primary source of information for most companies. If a customer can ask a question in a user community or on a social platform, why should they go to a website with limited information and no response mechanism?
Some consumer retailers do a fantastic job of making their websites essential. They sell on them, offer benefits not available anywhere else, include live chat and immediate support and response, and promote them heavily. These are tactics often not used by business-to-business website owners – although the wise web designer takes a page from the consumer book.
Constantly updating content is a mandate of websites most people know, but it’s hard to do. The vehicle essentially created for this purpose is the blog. A continuously changing blog, especially if it’s promoted on social media, is a source of renewed content. Even better, if the blog is interesting and addresses questions and problems users have, it’s a great hook for traffic. But most companies have trouble sustaining a blog, and quite frankly, it’s a tactic almost always better left to outsourcing. Bring in a good content development company and give them access to your SMEs and you can keep a blog going. Sometimes, however, due to security or other issues, a blog may not be desirable. In that case, if you want to make your website your primary communications focus, make sure the number one source of all your best knowledge – brochures, white papers, application notes, videos, etc. – is the website. And drive people to the website to get those resources. If customers can get what they need in four or five places, they won’t make the trip to the website.
Also be sure that your response mechanisms on your website are a constant focus of attention. If a customer asks a question or requests live chat and gets no answer or a limited bot, they’ll never try again.
Obviously, don’t select your website as your primary communications platform if it’s not up to the challenge. If the content is sketchy or out-of-date, or if the response is limited and the navigation is difficult, focus your communications efforts on a different resource – like your mailing list. But that’s another story.