18 Nov Companies Shift Focus Back To Corporate Websites

According to a recent blog written by the very wise Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter Group, major corporations will be shifting some of their focus away from interactions on just their Facebook pages but also on their own corporate websites.

As of now, most companies have created an imbalance and have met their customers on their terms whether it be Facebook , Twitter, or any other social network. Companies are failing to lead consumers back to their website closer to the buying or action process. According to Owyang, the balance will be restored, as companies will start to take the most trusted or prominent discussion topics from social networks and attempt to infuse them into their own corporate sites. We are already seeing many companies doing this through sharing and aggregation tools. Most of the popular social networks already have website embeds available and their appropriate protocol for use.

According to the blog, most companies are up to date in posting on social sites but still lack insightful messages that encourage on-going dialogue with consumers. Most are still unable to abandon traditional marketing and advertising strategies. Formulating engaging conversation strategies will be a large goal for corporations next year.

Another observation by Owyang is that there is a lack of quality tools when it comes to social media monitoring systems. With the drastic increase in social media over the last two years brand monitoring tools simply can’t gauge the actionable measurements needed to make insightful suggestions or provide useful insights. Knowing the number of mentions for a brand is not nearly enough information to formulate a strategy or alter a current one. Owyang predicts that 2011 will see the emergence of social analytics vendors which will replace or out pace traditional brand monitoring.

I recommend you take a look at Owyang’s blog regularly if you aren’t already. It’s a rich resource that has become a go to resource for social media strategy and insight.

Sibet B Freides
socialmedia@ideaassociates.com