Every day we open our laptops, power up our tablets, turn on
our mobile devices and begin the day. We launch a browser and begin to search
across a sea of data – just how much data is behind this screen? Well,
according to the Netcraft’s January 2014 Web Server Survey there is 861,379,152
websites (over 861 million websites). That breaks down to 256 million registered domains,
with about 108 million hosts serving these 861 million websites – in case you’re
interested in the details.
How, as a brand trying to establish yourself as a leader in
your field standout in this ever growing sea of data? What is the secret recipe
to stand apart? How do you stay relevant? Many brands have turned to consumer social
sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to ensure that they are both seen
and heard, which is important, but let’s not forget the continued importance of
the website and the need to use social channels to drive traffic back to the website. It is more
important than ever to continue the social engagement from within your website.
I agree with what Joseph Guarino wrote in a recent blog post titled, The Importance of a Website – Website vs. Social Media Pages. “Your website is
a unique space where you can deliver such a compelling message and persuade
your prospects into customers. No other location in the world of social media
(or the digital world for that matter) has as much potential persuasive power
than your website to build this understanding.”
I started to think about this as we get ready to launch our
new OpenText Experience Suite. The Experience Suite provides the ability to unite
your customers and customer communities with your web activities. The Experience
Suite brings together so many important elements when it comes to creating a
compelling digital experience. It is the first suite of tools to bring together
a leading digital asset management system, a leading customer communication
management system for invoicing or interactive correspondence, a leading web
content management system to present the dashboards, web pages and personalized
journeys using social tools, all with a strong archive and information
governance system supporting it. It is designed to help organizations
utilize the powerful combination of web content management, personalized
delivery, and social features on a uniform foundation.
If you are thinking about how you will stand out in the
digital crowd and stay relevant in a sea that is 861 million strong, recognize
that connecting and collaborating with your customers in social channels is
really only as good as your ability to also connect this organic customer community
with your existing web activities and most importantly, your website. This is
where you can start to further amplify your message as a brand, with the help
of your customers contributing to the conversation, and stand out amongst the
rest.
