web 2.0 for the SME

The internet has changed subtly but fundamentally over the last couple of years creating new opportunities for small and medium sized firms to compete more effectively with corporate competition. The term web 2.0 has emerged to express this change. At rapid apps we have witnessed the growing frustration that traditional marketers are facing as well playing a part in this new way of doing things. If your passionate about something and like to communicate with your customers then web 2.0 could prove a low-cost but very effective tool for engaging people and winning their business.

To fully understand web 2.0 from a business perspective requires a radical shift in the way we think about our customers so before taking a look at what web 2.0 is, we'll take a very quick look at what web 2.0 isn't because we're constantly bombarded by things that aren't web 2.0.

televison, radio, newspapers and web 1.0

Typical business/consumer communication is a one way street delivering over three thousand unsolicited broadcast adverts to each of us every day using television, newspapers, magazines and the web 1.0 internet. We're inundated with choice and increasingly immune to advertising because we don't have the time & we know just what they're going to say - the product their selling is best.

web 2.0 - the accidental revolution

With so much unwanted & untrusted information about it's no wonder that most of us seek guidance from someone we know who already has some experience of the product or service in question - if only we knew enough people to cover all of the things we want to buy. This is where web 2.0 is becoming an unintended revolution. In practice it's a mix of different things but two phrases neatly sum it up - 'the socialization of the web' & 'the read write web'. We're social creatures, we'd rather be part of a dialog with people like ourselves than receive a predictable monologue from a salesman. Blogs, forums, communities & reader reviews mean that, no matter the product or service, we can find the kind of information we'd like to get from a trusted friend. If you've ever looked for a review on Amazon before buying something then you've already been a part of the web 2.0 marketplace.

Of course there's a lot on the web that shouldn't be trusted but web 2.0 sites that establish themselves as a source of trusted information for any group of people will have much greater awareness and trust than traditional websites that don't.

Mainstream business is finding it hard to understand web 2.0 and all of the uncontrolled activity it generates. Managers and marketeers balk at the thought of unprofessional copy and possible criticism on their website. The idea of people and organisations doing something without direct & tangible returns goes against most economic thinking but web 2.0 is here to stay, it's the most natural thing that computers have allowed us to do and pretty much any of the big internet companies you've ever heard of such as Google, Amazon and Facebook have got that way by using web 2.0. Large enterprises find it hard to establish the kind of direct & honest dialog that web 2.0 customers are looking for creating new opportunities for the smaller business.

If your organisation sells products or services then you already head a community - your past customers who are going to tell others how helpful you were and your present customers plus friends who are looking at your site for enough information to support a purchase. Most of the technology that drives web 2.0 is available free or for very little cost. As a small or medium enterprise, all you have to do is commit to using web 2.0 to establish an open and honest dialog with the people that keep you going.

Our website development offers the full range of standard web 2.0 tools such as blogs, forums, news as well as more exciting stuff such as image, sound or video uploads. We can help you understand and develop your customer community with our unique Community Management Service.