Changes in Social media or changes because of it ?

It’s reported that the Twitter people will become disappointed and that the Hype is over. (Gartner) My Space is losing popularity. Facebook is looking for ways of not getting stuck, by developing Facebook Light?

I believe that the future of social media hasn’t really began, and that the coming years will look very different from what it is now.

Maybe, just maybe “social media” will disappear as a separate “label”? In my view we are only in the beginning of a huge shift in the history of internet.

The businesses of collaboration,(synchronic and a- synchronic) e- learning, internet, intranet,extranet and social media applications might just merge into the business core IT (ICT) systems seamlessly and only those who are able to create added value for different organizations, businesses and societies.

Another huge area of change is the complete area of media.  Internet already have changed most of the media industry in film, TV, radio and print media. Journalism, entertainment and the industries surrounding all of this such as my profession: communication advisor. And the changes aren’t over, they just began! An couple of interesting blog posts on the failure of newspapers can be read here: conversationagent, by Valeria Maltoni, and  at splicetoday by  Bill Wyman

I believe that the keyword will be the same: seamless integrations. The channel and carrier of  TV/ Radio media has no real function in the future, and the IP will easily replace it, and this is about to happen with the film industry that’s going digital. Internet as a carrier (tecnological and communication wise) already have become the core of all other activities.

I believe that any enterprise without a digital centered business- it, and communication strategy will fail. Collaborative and social aspects of conducting business will be incorporated in the business itself. Interaction between the corporation and the market / audience will grow rapidly.

But I’m sorry to say; I don’t believe in the ever so popular naive statement: “Social media has given power to the people” I do say that the winners of today and tomorrows business world are those who are able to adapt and take advantages in these times of change. I do hope that ethic and environmental trade will be seen as an competitive advantage and will be incoporated as well, that will make a better world for all of us!

What have you done for me lately?

When did any web page answer this for you – lately? Long time ago? Never happened? – you don’t say…

It’s amazing. Just take a look around on the world wide web. So few web sites seem to be able to really offer their visitors what the visitors wants. It is as everyone wants to TELL you something – SELL you something. The “news” about the web 2.0 or social web doesn’t seem to have had an impact at all. What have you done for me lately?

Web 2.0, Social web or what label it has seems  to be the rebellion of the users, trying hard to find other ways to help each other out. Forums, chats, communities, dating services, Sharing sites,  Facebook, Twitter and so on,  all have huge amounts of users finding ways to connect, interact and communicate. This is great.

On the other hand; Public services, companies, PR,  advertising companies, IT providers, retailers, health care institutions and so on – what have they done for me lately? – Mostly nothing in the digital universe. Still shouting  in a confusing language, very unclear about what they are, and what they want to be there for. This is NOT great.

What have you done for me lately? As a user I want to know what your organization, your company can do for me.  I don’t want to know your business idea or who manages the company ( I might want to know that – when I do NOT get what you have to offer me) And you know what? I am, as a user, very helpful, I would love to help you get better – if you only gave me an opportunity. So why is it still hard to find “contact” on more than half of the web pages I visit during a day? Or:  How did you like our services? What could we improve? What is your idea of what else we could have offered you?

As a professional organization, corporation I really expect you to know what you are doing, and how to do it. I expect you to have a goal for your presence in the digital universe, and you know what? I’d rather join you, buy from you, return to you – if you do. What did I do for you lately?

How to transform your web site into a part of your core business?

It’s a great idea to stop asking what it costs, and start asking what the return of the investment is going to be.

It would be clever to acknowledge that the digital strategy have become the hub of all activities in all channels for your organization.

You might need to improve your definition of what your core business is, which part of the value chain you are in, and what part the web is going to play. If your web page or presence in the digital universe doesn’t have a purpose you will never get your investments back. Even if your web page is cheap, it’s a waste of money!
On the other hand if you presence has a purpose, you should get your investments back and earn on it / save by it.

The very idea is to know the value of every user of your web page  that act upon your core business. If you are selling a product, this means that as many of your visitors actually buy your product. If you are a public service it could mean that you saved money by delivering your services to a lower cost.

Visitors that you convert into users times value per convertion equals a unit value for you. If you are selling shoes online, you can easily figure this out. But your company might produce a annual report each year? Well the formula goes for this as well. You maybe want to have a lot of different stakeholders to read and understand your annual report. That’s your X. Today you maybe have to produce the annual report and have it printed, and distributed via postal services? An online annual ( or real time constant corporative report?) might cost less in production each year, certainly, there are no print costs, nor postal service costs. The savings of production and delivery per eks. is your VPC. The final value is the saving of sum of users reading and/ or downloading you digital annual report. You can use the same formula for your support system, by doing a shift from a phone / call solution towards a “ask Anna” automated and/or live chat system and so forth.

Furthermore it wouldn’t hurt to learn this formula by heart: X*CR*VPC=Value