Where in the cycle is the Social Economy?
When I was first developing corporate Web sites in 1994, business managers were asking how they would make any money or get business results from having a Web site. I’ve been in it from the very beginning and I remember the early years required a lot of evangelism to convince them. Case studies about online success from house hold brands began showing up in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. By 1998, we couldn’t build new Web sites quickly enough and there was a major shortage of professionals in the work force to keep up with demand.
In 2000, we were still building them, but the budgets dropped dramatically for Web site design after the tech stocks crashed and the events that followed such as 9/11. In 2001 and the early part of 2003, there were many starved Web design companies.
From mid 2002 to today, I’ve seen the majority of businesses suddenly wanting a total “redesign”. Budgets have been slowly increasing, but this time around companies are focused on using the Web to save money for their business. Content management, contact us forms, site search and other functionality changed from expensive extras to baseline offerings - and charging for premium services such as custom programming were replaced with open-source solutions or off-the-shelf products. Businesses wanted efficiency, automation, and real business results from their Web site with tools to measure success.
Having been through all the industry cycles before, my experience tells me that it will likely be several more years before Social Media is recognized as “mission critical” by a majority of businesses. We are still in early adopter mode. The mad rush for more businesses to “get in the game”, with dramatic increases in budgets and another shortage of specialized professionals to design, develop and manage social media initiatives will likely hit a peak in 2012.
December 10th, 2007 at 8:02 am
From my perspective, once people realize that Social Media is simply applying interactive tools in a way that connects and creates dialogue between people, any business applications may be better understood. Companies must realize that any tool must meet a real and authentic objective and the strategy is simply applying the correct tool and watering it.
People seem to be in a rush to use these tools as acquisition vehicles but must prepare safely and smartly for understanding how to manage their dialogue.
December 10th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Some great points Peter. I would just add that acquisition is only one part of the results that a business can find success. Customer retention (and employee retention) can also get a boost from such enhanced communication methods. it will take a few years yet before “best practice” can be proven. It should be an interesting ride indeed!