Death of the Corporate Promo Site

That sounds more like the death of website designers and in a way it is. Long live Internet Consultants.

So what is the story here, well companies have been battling the problem of spending large fortunes on websites and then having no visitors… Often companies like Nike, MacDonald, HSBC and other high profile brands have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on campaigns for virtually no return, people just aren’t that interested in seeing a basketball player wearing sports shoes.

There is no surprise in this and companies have to turn the tables around, listen to their users and deliver the things they want. In the case of a basketball player I would imagine people want to talk to him – so Nike listen up and deliver.

Where do you come into this… Well listening to customers is crucial to all of us and delivering what customers want is at the centre of that process. The question then is how to listen to customers?

You website is one of the obvious answers… ask for feedback, it matters not a jot about whether news is good or bad, whether people write complaints or actually praise you both ways you are seen to be listening, and seen to be active in this role.

Tools for listening include:

• Feedback forms
• Rapid enquiry response
• News Blogs
• Have your say
• Customer Reviews
• Chat
• Live support
• Skype
• Community Building Online

The web has opened up a raft of channels that allow customers to contact you and these should be embraced – don’t think your corporate promo site is going to work all on it’s own.