Social Strategy1

4 Reasons Why It’s Not About First Page Results Anymore

Congratulations. Your website, which sets the industry standards for aesthetic and use, is ranked on the coveted first page.  But focus your entire web strategy around site stats and first page rankings and you’re likely missing out on one of your most valuable assets—the voice of the customer.  Here are four reasons why your online strategy shouldn’t stop with first page results:

1. Your website can’t tell you everything the customer is saying– Cursing clients. Irate influencers. These voices may not be coming from your website. Instead, they’re coming from Facebook, Twitter, or blog comments. Social media monitoring can give you access to first-hand information, whether it’s the fact that your duster can’t dust or that the girl working your flagship store’s register wipes her nose on her sleeve. Learn about these tidbits, and you can start implementing plans to fix the problems.
2. Your website is only part of a brand management strategy – From a customer post that reveals trademark infringement to more tightly targeted marketing, listening to the online world can help your team manage your brand more efficiently.
3. Your website may not be where your customers are – Online listening doesn’t just clue you into what customers are saying about you, it also allows you to form a strategy for an audience that, according to business strategist Barbara Findlay Schenk, is ready to listen to targeted and personal marketing messages.
4. Your website isn’t where the influencers influence – Researchers at Forrester have identified three kinds of online influencers. Monitoring social media allow your company to pinpoint these potentially powerful advocates as well as determine the right forum to engage them. Do they Tweet two dozen times a day? Do they have thousands of blog followers? You won’t get that information by looking at your site’s page view stats.

Don’t let your website be the be-all end-all of your web strategy.  Learn more about how an online listening strategy can give you access to the information you need and the customers you want.