:: Vocabulary ::

The New Buzzword
What’s Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 refers to a supposed second-generation of Internet-based services such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. O’Reilly Media, in collaboration with MediaLive International, used the phrase as a title for a series of conferences and since 2004 it has become a popular (though ill-defined and often criticized) buzzword amongst certain technical and marketing communities, says Wikipedia. Proponents of the Web 2.0 concept say that it differs from early Web development (retrospectively labeled Web 1.0) in that it moves away from static Web sites, the use of search engines, and surfing from one website to the next, towards a more dynamic and interactive World Wide Web. Others argue that later developments have not actually superseded the original concepts of the WWW. Skeptics may see the term “Web 2.0” as little more than a buzzword. Or they may suggest that it means whatever its proponents want it to mean in order to convince their customers, investors and the media that they have begun building something fundamentally new, rather than continuing to develop and use well-established technologies.

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Dear Reader,

This is the latest addition to our series of informative newsletters on Communications. Communication is the key to any successful business, be it internal or external. Innovative ways have been applied in packaging and developing channels for effective deliveries of Communication. The web has been taking a major role as cost effective communication tool. In this issue, we are taking a closer look into various communication tools and platforms used for achieving varied communication objectives. Besides all these, this issue also discusses the important subject of Corporate Culture and Communication.

Raj Sekhawat ~ MV Managing editor

Blogs more trusted than TV, email ads

Blogs are becoming a force to be reckoned with as a means of advertising products. Reuters reports that an Ipsos MORI poll finds the Internet journals are a more trusted source of information than TV advertising or e-mail marketing.

The survey found a direct link between blogs, or user-generated content, and people's intentions to buy goods or services. Any company that fails to come up to standard should beware. The blog is replacing word of mouth for endorsing or condemning a product or service. About a third of those Europeans questioned said they had been put off making a purchase after reading negative comments on the Internet from customers or other web-users, while 52% said they had been persuaded to buy after a positive review on a blog.

Get it right, and blogs could be a boost to companies and even save on their advertising and marketing budgets. Blogs are a more trusted source of information (24%) than television advertising (17%) and email marketing (14%), the survey commissioned by Hotwire, a technology public relations consultancy, said. But they still lag behind newspapers (30%). Gareth Deere, head of technology research at Ipsos MORI, said: “We all trust people’s opinion in the real world. Now we’ve proven the same link online, and it’s having a major impact on people's buying behavior. Word of mouth is no longer restricted to close friends and family, it can have the same level of influence upon millions of people across the world.”

New trends in search engine marketing

Search engine optimization aims to index and improve rankings for the webpages which are most relevant to the keywords searched for according to the algorithm of each search engine. The search engine marketing industry is changing, sometimes at a pace that makes it hard to believe that search engine marketing services can stay on top of all the latest developments. Scott Buresh, a search engine optimization guru, predicts issues that the industry will face in the near future.

Accountability

Search engine marketing firms that use tactics designed to trick the engines into showing results that aren't directly addressing the search query will struggle, as more companies begin to look at the larger goals that lead them to investigate search engine marketing services in the first place. The "traffic-centric" mindset will evolve as companies begin to demand accountability from search engine marketing firms in terms of bottom line increases.

Spike in PPC costs

As larger companies with huge budgets continue to jump into the pay per click (PPC) arena, costs will continue to rise. In fact, average PPC costs have increased 37% from the first quarter of 2005 to the first quarter in 2006. These well-funded companies will use PPC as a branding tool as much as a sales tool, which will squeeze out many of the current smaller advertisers. More large companies will continue to join the fray, many of them throwing ROI out the window and bidding high prices for desirable keyphrases for the sake of branding. This means that search engine marketing firms will find small- to medium-sized companies turning to SEO to achieve results when they no longer can afford PPC.

Organic SEO

A disturbing trend is that 66% of consumers “distrust” paid search ads. Up to 85% of searchers say they “tend to ignore the paid listings” while 87% of commercial clicks take place “on the natural (not sponsored) search results.” Three times as many marketers who outsource the management of their natural SEO to search engine marketing firms and who also participate in pay per click advertising recognize a higher ROI from their search engine marketing services than from PPC. These facts point to an increase in the number of companies that investigate organic SEO programs, whether internally generated or provided by outside search engine marketing firms.

Ad agencies’ reluctance

To most, it seems like a perfect fit — traditional advertising agencies joining forces with (or purchasing outright) PPC providers and organic search engine marketing services. However, the average agency is scared to death of search engine marketing services in any form. The reason is that good search engine marketing services offer metrics that scare traditional advertising agencies. If these agencies were to present such metrics to their clients, those same clients may start to demand similar metrics for other campaigns such as television, radio and magazine ads. Until the “percentage of spend” model is altered, large agencies will continue to reject search engine marketing services and will not recommend them to their clients.

Excerpted from an article by Scott Buresh on Buzzle.com

How to get the most out of it

Corporate culture has been defined as the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization. And corporate communications is the process of facilitating information and knowledge exchanges with internal groups and individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. It is concerned with internal communications management from the standpoint of sharing knowledge and decisions from the enterprise with employees, suppliers, investors and partners.

Just like countries and regions, corporations and other organizations have distinct cultures. Some companies are essentially conservative. This may be seen by the way the employees dress but the culture will also be reflected in the organizational structure. At the other extreme end we have organizations that are small, entrepreneurial software and dot.com outfits where employees may determine what hours they work, what they wear, and may even be able to operate out of their homes. Most organizations fall somewhere between the extremes. What does this have to do with communication? The way a company deals with communication is part of parcel of the overall culture. Figuring out the underlying values and beliefs may help you make good decisions about communication strategies, says Emily Thrush, a communication expert.

  1. Channels and formats
    Large companies that have been present for some time tend to be conservative. They have evolved specific formats and channels for communication. In these companies, it's important to find out what format is expected and who to address on particular issues. An extreme example of the consequences of violating expectations in traditional organizations comes from the near-disaster at the Three-mile Island Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania, US, in the 1970s. An investigation later found out that the information had indeed been conveyed about the possibility of a problem but it didn’t reach the manager concerned only because the report had been written in a wrong form.

  2. Who's the Boss?
    While conservative organizations are generally hierarchical, with clear differentiation between the roles and responsibilities of various members and offices, recently, many upstarts have used what is sometimes called a "web" structure — that is, the members of the organization are connected in a radiating pattern around the owner, often with roughly equal status, benefits, and responsibilities. In a hierarchical setup, an employee could only make a proposal to his immediate superior and not to the higher management. This results in a considerable waste of time as any proposal which needs a correction needs to move up and down the hierarchical ladder many times. But in a web-like organization, an employee can straightaway meet the bosses and put forward his proposal. This can be discussed among the decision makers and then the proposal can be implemented with changes suggested by the top management.

  3. Persuasion works
    Many of the office documents are persuasive, whether it's a memo reminding workers of a company policy or a proposal for a major change in operating methods. You are always  trying to persuade your reader that you are competent. All persuasion rests on knowing what arguments or persuasive devices will work with your audience, and that depends on knowing who they are and what their concerns are. Identifying these concerns will help you communicate about how the issue at hand relates to those concerns and can help the reader accomplish his or her goals.

There are many clues to the organizational identity and culture of any company. Look around and notice the physical signs — how are employees dressed? What do the work areas look like? Then look at company documents such as the employee manual. What is the tone — stiff and formal or relaxed? Is there an organization chart? Is it essentially vertical or horizontal? All of these clues can help you determine what your tone and approach should be to your communication tasks.

Condensed from an article by Emily Thrush on website Suite101.com