AniBlurbs (Column)

Nowadays the general notion of Marketing, Communication, PR and HR(!) is that it’s not just about branding and influencing the attitudes of your core audience by connecting with them.

It’s about the big picture, about adding value to their -shared- experiences, or even better still, the big story you create together with your customers, empowering them to become your ambassadors. Your Corporate EQ if you will. All this undoubtedly requires a lot of hard work, but it can be as fun and as fulfilling as you’re willing to make it.

From the quality of your product/the service itself and the way you communicate about it with your consumers (and handle their feedback), up to the way you give out, say, a profile-customized receipt after a successful transaction took place. It ranges from cold-calling to After Sales, all the way up to Customer Services and helpdesks. Offline and online, back and forth. And also the core-values you hold, portray to, and share with your employees.

So, if all of the above is true, then why this post?

Because when we take all these facts and zoom in on your Online Marketing/Strategy in general and your online corporate presence in particular; than somehow in spite of all the research, proven best practices and cases of how it can and should be done, some of us still tend to forget (or rather just plainly fail to see) that your company’s online presence doesn’t just end with the mandatory neatly SEO’d corporate website, banner campaigns and the use of Google AdWords and the like.

It’s about the Search Engine Results Page (SERP): For many prospects and consumers indeed Google is the context-sensitive corporate homepage and this  article by Mr. Owyang from Forrester outlines the strategic considerations to take into account when sharing your story online. Once again essential reading by Jeremiah.

Possible Related AniBlurbs

• Why the Click Is the Right Metric for Online Ads (On Adding Value and Thinking Beyond the Display Advertising Business Model)
• Why Social Media Agencies Are The Emperor’s New Clothes
• Resultaten ICT Barometer e-Commerce 2008 Ernst&Young