WSI Digital Marketing Consultant – We Simplify the Internet

You may have heard of the Lost Generation, the Silent Generation and of course we’ve all heard of the Baby Boomers, right? We also have Generation X, Generation Y and, now most recently, Generation Z. And since we have apparently jumped right to the end of the alphabet, I guess we’re going to have to get a bit more creative when it comes time to name the next generation, don’t you think?

But, kidding aside… What I really want to tell you about is the Communication Generation.

What’s that?

Communication Generation is a phrase that I am going to use to wrap the members of all the previous generations together into one big group.

Why would I want to do that? Consider the following…

Thanks to the Internet, we now have more different ways to communicate with each other than ever before.

In addition to cell phones and texting, we have…

Emails
Instant messaging
Online chat applications
Blogging and commenting on blogs
Online forums & discussion groups

…and a virtual ocean of Social Media sites, all catering to different types of audiences and activities, and they’re all overflowing with people clamoring for more – more interaction, more information.

It’s communication at a truly staggering and historically unprecedented scale. Think about it. Every one of us today now has the ability to freely communicate with more people than has ever been possible, ever before, in the history of time. It’s incredible! And it is changing the ways that businesses need to communicate.

Now, enter the Communication Generation.

Did you know that the average household today has more than 4 internet connected devices? In one way or another, and to varying degrees, we are all utilizing some form or forms of online, digital communication on a regular basis. As a result, we have therefore all become members of…

The Communication Generation

But, what does the Communication Generation have to do with the success, or failure of your business?

Well, as vast and wide open as the online world is today, it has actually become easier than ever to target the specific social and demographic groups that fit the profile of your perfect, ideal customer or client.

As a business, you simply need to realize that your ideal customers or clients are a part of the Communication Generation. If you want to communicate with them effectively, you just need to understand their behavior. For example, what types of websites do they enjoy most? Where do they go to learn about the types of products or services that you offer? What kinds of things are they attracted to (like news and entertainment) and where do they go to find and interact with them?

Once you understand the behavior and preferences of your target audience, you can focus your communication much more efficiently and effectively. Remember, when it comes to the Internet, effective communication is just as much, if not more, about where you say it as what you say. And, with so many different places to spread your word on the Internet, this has never been more true than it is today.

At WSI, we specialize in developing and implementing targeted online communication strategies. Please contact us today for a free business analysis and a no obligation strategy planning session. We’ll help you tap into the Communication Generation.

Thanks for you time! Please feel free to post your comments and questions below. We look forward to talking with you soon.

It’s getting easier and easier to throw stones at big companies these days (not to mention our government). We’re still sore from the recent financial collapse and now Google and Facebook have to start making moves that threaten what some would call our innate rights to personal privacy.

Excuse me if I’m sounding cynical or militant, but I woke up to a couple pieces of news that set me off this morning.

First was the announcement by Market Samurai that they had lost the functionality of some key features of their service because of recent changes made by Google. Market Samurai provides keyword and search based data for internet marketing purposes, and they are not alone. Many other companies also do the same thing, and have also been impacted by the recent changes. In fact, the business of gathering, sorting, filtering and providing search data culled from the likes of Google, Yahoo!, Bing, et al, represents a rather large industry. And I can’t help think that while Google is fully aware of this, they are also a bit upset that someone else has figured out a way to monetize their services in a way that they don’t make a dime from.

Again, sorry for sounding cynical, but now get this…

The second thing that hit me this morning was the following article on the Washington Post Blog…
Google’s no-opt-out privacy changes and the end of the anonymous Internet

If you don’t feel like clicking off to read another article before you finish reading this one, here’s a short quote…

Google announced Tuesday its plans to integrate data from all its services with your profile for logged-in Google+ users. As usual, they sounded chipper about it: “We can provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day.”

In other words, they are going to start tracking, predicting and attempting to influence as many of your daily activities as they possibly can – whether you like it or not. Call me a prude, but I find that to be just a little bit invasive, not to mention presumptuous.

And let’s not forget about Facebook’s recent IPA announcement. Now that they’ve captured more than 800 million active users (securing their place as the third largest nation in the world, between India and the United States) along with all the demographic information those users have freely shared about themselves, Facebook has now decided to get serious about making money. They’ve sucked us in with their cute and free offerings of group sharing, picture galleries, status updates and now they are after our cash!

Okay, okay, I hear you thinking, “This guy’s nuts!” But the point to be made here is about our personal privacy. I don’t think anyone who has created a profile, joined a group or posted a video ever consciously thought to themselves, “I would really like this huge company to know a lot more about me.” But we’ve got these two massive companies who now have the power to not only track, but also predict our behavior with fairly reasonable accuracy. And, the fact is that we freely gave them that power.

Now, I’m not saying any of this is good or bad. But is it what we really wanted or intended?

Have you ever been in a social situation, at a party or with a group of people, where there is a lot of talking and different conversations all going on at the same time (I’m sure most of us have) and, at some point you realize that someone is saying something but no one is really listening to them? They might catch your eye, and they might have even been saying something interesting. But you really wanted to hear the rest of the story that Frank was telling about the carpenter, the podiatrist and the politician.

Well, the same thing happens all the time on the internet, too. And just like the party situation, there could be lots of different reasons why. Someone puts their stuff out there on the internet, but no one responds to it. Could it be that…

1. No one was able to find it?
2. People found it but it wasn’t what they were looking for?
3. People found it but it took too much effort?
4. People found it but they didn’t understand it?
5. They found something else that they liked first?
6. They weren’t intrigued enough by it to respond?
7. They couldn’t figure out how to respond?
8. Or some combination of all the above?

If you are looking to put yourself or your business out there on the internet, the best advice that I can give you right here and now is to think of yourself as that person at the party who might be talking when no one is listening. Start by listening to and understanding others first, before you start talking. Make eye contact and only then, after listening, understanding and making eye contact, share your thoughts.

What does this look like when it comes to the internet? Listening to and understanding others first is analogous to doing your homework, checking out your competition, learning as much as possible about if/how others are doing the same thing that you want to do. Making eye contact is similar to developing a strategy, envisioning how your approach to the internet will stand up against your compatriots and/or your competition. And sharing your thoughts is how you make the rubber hit the road, your implementation, resources, technology and final presentation.

Admittedly, there are a lot of different moving parts to building a successful internet presence. On the surface, people may see only a thoughtful blog, or a well designed website. These are just some of the many tools and techniques that we use to establish an internet presence. But what people can not readily see is your strategy, all the gears and pulleys behind the scenes that make everything on the surface work at peak performance.

All of that is Internet Marketing.

Please feel free to post a comment, below, or contact us directly. We’re always happy to answer your questions or help in any way with your Internet Marketing strategy.