Are Blogs, Web 2.0 & Mobile applications Heating Up Marketing Communications?

The central threads of Web 2.0 - blogs, wikis, user generated content, bookmarking, social networking groups – are not just providing the wiring for the social web – they are beginning to make their presence felt within the business web too, with some good results. Companies are now beginning to use these tools to infuse new life into marketing plans, intranets and corporate websites. We strongly believe that the use of these tools is increasingly relevant for IT businesses given that they are so knowledge centric.

The key difference here from an earlier approach is that while traditional media relies on specialist Intermediaries – PR firms/PR departments, Customer Relationship departments, corporate communication teams – to spread the message (you may still need them to create the message), in the web 2.0 world disintermediation is itself a powerful strategy.

Another key point is mobility – with networks reaching penetration maturity – its natural that that mobility forms an important part of the new change. We think that mobility can be grouped along with other 2.0 tool elements. With more phones running full feature web browsers and mobile networks faster than before, web 2.0 applications and elements translate quickly and effectively into this new medium.

The important thing about a web 2.0 strategy is that it needs to be seen as an approach rather than as individual elements. While a press release is a self contained universe – it tells you about the announcement, what the CEO has to say plus it often has a brief corporate profile – a web 2.0 element or “webot” is different. A webot – which may be a blog post, a user group discussion thread, customer forum – individually does not communicate much. To a user who is not part of the user community/forum, the context may seem less complete. To make an impact and deliver on the promise of the medium, companies need to set in place a strategy and reflect that in a sustained program to get results. So, one blog a quarter, a customer forum that’s updated only every few months, just won’t work. If your marketing communication is going to be sporadic, a traditional approach may work much better.

Source - NASSCOM Leadership Forum 2008