User Generated Content – Web 2.0

“Damn good information!” This was one of the quotes we received from Eric, one of the participants on Friday’s Service in Action call. Our call focused on leveraging emerging Web 2.0 technology into your general marketing mix.

Dog.com talked about leveraging their online community to create unity. Their site is not about selling but about customer service. Their community gives you the opportunity to personalize information around your pet, bringing participants back to the site again and again. If you have a pet, you absolutely have to register – their community is phenomenal.

Stave Puzzles was closed December 25 through January 1! To keep their customers engaged they offered games, a blog and a community site to keep customers and friends engaged through the holiday season. They do this to build a loyal base of fans, and this is what helps you drive new products and new sales.

Reagan and I visited an 1154 LILL Studio store and were fascinated by the amount of help we received from their customers. Everyone wanted to help us design our bags, we had nine people mill around a table and only one was an employee! They’re on their way to creating the same sense of in-store community on their blog.

If you read the blog at King Arthur Flour it is extremely engaging; there are recipe after recipe of heavenly palate creations. They follow a great process to move people from stage to stage. You read a little summary of the recipe and then have the opportunity to click on the link to the main article. They have incorporated pictures and links to all the ingredients you need to create the recipe.

One of the concerns raised about blogs was about listing negative feedback, inappropriate information or promoting competitors. A lot of senior management is concerned that this could tarnish their company’s reputation. Not so surprisingly every one of the businesses on the call have encountered a minimal number of issues – more importantly, they felt that their readers actually policed their community sites against these threats.

The personal passion and commitment each one of these companies exude towards their customers and prospects is what makes me love these businesses. Thank you again and thanks to all of our readers and friends who have been an inspiration to us. Not only have we had the opportunity to learn from you and with you, but we have also enjoyed you taking the lead by implementing seemingly simple ideas.

Remember, incorporating Web 2.0/ User Generated Content into your marketing mix is very easy; the key though is starting correctly. Philip and Reagan should to publish a book on the best things to do (and what not to do); until then, contact us for help with your endeavors.

Thank you again, and you can always listen to the podcast on the SIA site.