EBlog
The Social Media/Rich Media Product Page
April 6, 2008 | Posted by: Lee
Last fall I ran across the Social Media Press Release (SMPR) template and the Social Media Newsroom (SMNR) template on Todd Defren's PR Squared blog. Both are great ideas that advanced the static "cookie cutter" approach to traditional press releases and online news rooms by incorporating aspects of social media directly into each.So I got to thinking, this is exactly what B2B tech companies should be doing when it comes to the Products and Solutions pages on their web sites. For so many companies these pages are just static index pages that list the solutions or products they offer. They're wasted opportunities to engage a prospect, give them the information they're looking for, and in doing so to move them closer to being your customer.
So we set out to create sample Products and Solutions pages that would surround the visitor with relevant, engaging content, both created by the company and created by others via social media.
The Social/Rich Media Web Template pulls together content, in different formats, from different sources (even those outside your own site). It's less about selling and more about informing. Aspects of it are intended to help the company share it's expertise, while others leverage 3rd party content to help visitors learn more about the latest trends and opinions.
The Solutions page template includes elements of both rich media and social media:
- Featured video from company exec discussing trends and focusing on company's expertise
- Blog posts and news (yours and others) relevant to your industry and products
- Featured content (e.g., most popular whitepaper or podcast)
- Links to wikipedia entries, Technorati, Digg, and del.icio.us as appropriate
- Subscription to the page via RSS for latest updates
The products page surrounds visitors with similar content but includes product demos, screen shots, webinars, etc. (again as appropriate to the product). Additionally, the bottom includes an area where the experts in your company can offer up other resources (outside your own) where visitors can learn more.
While many companies may not be able to fill out a template like this right away, it does provide a road map for types of content to include and companies can plan accordingly.
Download (PDF) the wireframes and let me know what you think. We've run these by a number of marketing professionals and will be sharing their thoughts next.
Tags for this post:
content web-centric social media rich media solutions web page products web page
Categorized in: Web-Centric, Social Media
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Comments
April 08 2008 - 10:15 PM | by Jonathan Distler
Once again, I really see you guys really “get it”.
I believe one of the characteristics of working on the Web today is that
you cannot be sure how people will arrive at your site—increasingly,
however, it is NOT through a homepage (or through typing in a web site
into the address bar), but rather through a search engine result,
following a blog/Facebook link or aggregator referral (i.e. Digg,
Technorati, etc.). Online marketing then is less about your packaged
“dog and pony show” on the homepage and more about meaningful content --
what you’re looking for when you want to find “it”, no matter how you
find it.
Your template speaks directly to these points—first of all people are
much more likely to REACH your site because it’s great “bait” for search
engines and referrals. “Backpages” can be information lightning rods for
managers, analysts and other key researchers of products and solutions.
The use of rich media (video) energizes a largely text medium and
appeals to impatient “digital natives”, the new custodians of the Web.
Allowing visitors to read customer product reviews is also effective as
it can lower the perceived risk in making a purchase/investment—that
is a crucial factor people making or influencing decisions who are
perusing your site.
Finally, RSS fields with industry news demonstrate the organization
behind the site is connected to the larger community, lending
credibility and possibly a perceived competitive advantage.
As you know, templating is great because it allows for systematic
incorporation of these key elements, while allowing for customization
and flexibility on individual case-by-case basis.
One thing you don’t address here is how this new model upsets the apple
carts in most organizations ... what? Put OTHER site’s content out
there? Link to possibly unfavorable criticism of the product? How do we
control/monitor what people put out there? The technology piece of this
is easy, it’s the cultural change that presents significant challenges,
as you probably already know.
April 09 2008 - 03:46 PM | by Lee
Jonathan, thanks for your input. Great point about being able to build a systematic way to add elements (and create content).
Others in our mini-focus groups have also commented about the issue of putting 3rd party content on their corporate sites. It’s scary.
The culture has to be open to losing a bit of control (ok, maybe more than a bit), and the possibility of getting negative comments.
In most cases, we’re finding that these templates facilitate a discussion around all these points. It’s not likely that many will be able to implement all these elements at once.
As far as helping helping companies become more comfortable about losing control, we’ve starting by suggesting features that have some aspect of social media/UGC but with limited risk. For example, pushing up the most popular piece of content (as determined by downloads). No risk there, but does allow visitors to passively determine what gets pushed up.
What have others found helpful in starting that cultural shift?
April 10 2008 - 10:23 PM | by David Alison
I like the idea of making product pages rich with information however my concern with the template you created is that it’s too much information for a drive by user to become engaged. If anything the attention span of web site visitors is dropping even faster now that the social web is involved. Users are finding sites not because they searched them out but because someone else thought they were interesting.
You have such a small window of opportunity to engage them that having so much information on a single topic will likely overwhelm them. I think there is a place for all of the components in your template, I just don’t know that it will be effective as the primary products or solution page.
The concept of progressive disclosure would probably be well served here. The high level presentation of a product/solution would have the basics, key marketing messages and a call to action. You could then give them the depth to explore the product or solution in more detail with what you present, which is almost a dashboard like view into a product.
April 11 2008 - 12:58 PM | by Lee
Dave, I hear what you’re saying about the amount of information on the page and people’s short attention spans.
This approach it pretty much the exact opposite of progressive disclosure. We’re surrounding the visitor with information and letting them make the decision about what’s relevant to them.
Because social media and UGC are making so much more information available from multiple sources and engaging people in the discussion online, I think it’s changing user’s expectations in terms of the type of content they get and the experiences they have.
Prospects trust 3rd party content more than vendor content so we wanted to bring that 3rd party influence directly into the company’s web site and shift the focus of the page from a “marketing/sales” approach to an “educational/informational” approach.
But your comment got me thinking about how we could better organize the info so that it’s more digestible.
Part of that is a visual exercise, but we’re also looking at how to break the content down in terms of where the prospect is in the buying decision - 1) what is it, 2) do I need it, 3) are you the right person for the job.
We need to find the balance between providing enough information and helping keep the visitor engaged.