Give up control to gain control

Image by HubSpot via Flickr

Websites have evolved from static brochure-ware to more interactive experiences with video, chat, forums, etc. However, with the new social media platforms, you need to re-think how you design your website to take advantage of the power of these mediums. Just having a Facebook or Twitter badge on your site is not enough. You need to consider these platforms as extensions, if not a discrete part of your website. You also need to treat each platform differently to get the most out of it. Here are some thoughts on how to think about each property:

• LinkedIn: More formal than other social media sites and should be used to promote networking, best practice sharing and industry collaboration. The subgroups are a great way to develop specific topics for discrete groups, such as local user communities.
• Facebook: You should use Facebook to develop conversations with your target market. Think of Facebook as the forum for your customers/prospects to informally interact and collaborate.
• Twitter: Twitter is a "volume" play both from amount of information you should tweet as well as how "loud" you want to be heard in the market. I think of Twitter as a communication platform, where you are sending out messages to people versus interacting with them like you do on Facebook and LinkedIn.

You need to utilize each of these sites to achieve a connection with your customers/prospects. Let's go through a use case with an integrated site that includes your corporate domain coupled with the appropriate social media sites:

Let's use Bestbuy as our use case. I am looking to purchase a new camera. I have been on BB's site and identified a few options. I have read the reviews on the site to better narrow my options.  I now go out to Facebook to seek other experiences and gather feedback on my options. I go to LinkedIn to also see if there is  a camera sub group to ask for feedback. After this due diligence, I have chosen the camera I want but do I need to go back to Bestbuy's site to purchase the camera? If the platforms are integrated, I should be able to buy it where I am at that moment. Frictionless commerce is an old concept but it is more important and more possible today than ever with these social media extensions. But we are not done yet.

To add to the complexity you also need to add in mobile as a potential platform. Say Bestbuy has my mobile information from our interactions on the website. My phone sounds and it is from Bestbuy telling me  I am right near a Bestbuy and here is a coupon for 10% off in the store for the camera I want to buy. Ask for Jim if you go to the store or you can purchase it now with the credit card we have on file. Friction? Not so much. And that is the point; your corporate domain is no longer the place to go to purchase something. I am not coming to you - if you want my business you be where I am. And that is the potential with these platforms if you use them correctly.

Extension. Placement. Location. Timing. Sales.