Web 2.0, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mobile Marketing and YouTube are relatively new terms and yet, they have made a huge impact on our society and the way we live and do business.
If we are so engrossed in the current state of the Internet, then what is next?
According to Marketing in the Moment: The Practical Guide to Using Web 3.0 Marketing to Reach Your Customers First by Michael Tasner, it’s important for those who are marketers to engage in web 3.0 in order to be ahead of the competition.
Mr. Tasner claims that Web 2.0, which includes Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, bBlogging and other tactics, have become “oversaturated.” He also states that there are many misconceptions, like for example, many people think that MySspace or Facebook is just for kids. He claims that web 2.0 has a lot of noise and is distracting and that the modes of interaction limit “human touch.” Lastly, he talks about how there is little or no privacy in these social networking sites.
He says that Web 3.0 is “the convergence of new technologies and rapidly changing consumer buying trends.”
The rest of the book talks about mobile marketing and how it will become an important component of one’s marketing plan. He believes this because mobile marketing is an opt in service and can provide valuable coupons and freebies to consumers. For marketers, it’s just another way to lure in consumers to frequent their business. Mr. Tasner gives real tactics to use when implementing mobile marketing in a marketing strategy.
One of the areas I found particularly interesting was when he talked about how one can use mobile marketing for better customer service such as, reminders about events or promotions and have interactions with your customers. The simplest way to do this is through text messaging, but, you can put audio and video files in a text messages too.
Think about it, years ago, no one had a mobile device. When you saw someone on the street talking on the phone, you thought that person was “nuts.” Now, when you look around, almost every person you see has a mobile device. Mr. Tasner says that less than 6% of all businesses use mobile marketing and there is a tremendous opportunity.
The other thing, I found interesting is how he felt that virtual worlds will become key in Web 3.0. I actually have a couple of avatars myself on Second Life. I’ve visited the virtual world quite a few times and found it fascinating that so much was going on including virtual trade shows, shops, concerts and more.
Mr. Tasner seems to feel that doing business in the virtual world is key. He writes that people are real in the virtual world and are more engaged. He states that there are many ways to “leverage virtual reality worlds,” by having meetings, sales calls, product launches and demonstrations and seminars.
In addition to Second Life, which has gotten a lot of publicity through the years, there are dozens of other virtual worlds that he mentions in the book and includes their targeted demographics.
In addition to YouTube, which has more than 71 million unique visitors a month, Mr. Tasner feels that in Web 3.0, we will be making a shift to Ustream, which is a live video site. He also discusses having an Internet TV show and how powerful that will become.
Creating apps (applications) and having collaborations are other areas he covers in the book. He provides url’s with real concrete information as to how to improve your marketing plan using these tactics. I loved that the book offered tips and real step- by- step tactics to implementing some of these ideas.
The book is scheduled to be released in July 2010 and will be published by Financial Times Press. I think it’s certainly worth the read.
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This article was first published at Blogcritics by Hilary JM Topper.
