The holistic web – developing a 360º online strategy

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Online todayYou can say one thing about the online world with certainty – it never stands still.

» The next version is always just over the horizon

» Today’s online users are less passive and better connected than ever before

» They engage with each other and companies in a bewildering number of ways

» Websites and microsites are just part of an overall online strategy: you need to consider your entire online presence.

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things that should be keeping you awake right know

Social media – the elephant in the room, outside the room, in your pocket

The age of the micro-celebrity. How can you help? How can you make your users feel special?

Charlie bit my finger! Make more engaging, more authentic and stickier content

Channel hopping. You should be asking how stretchy your content is

Show me the money. Link all activities with tangible objectives and measurable results.

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A digital world of paradoxThe 21st century user is not predictable. They are walking, talking, tweeting paradoxes. Four paradoxes:

One-to-one vs tribe

Getting things done vs getting away from it all

Fame vs anonymity

140 characters vs deep immersion

You must be flexible to the changing needs of your customers and be present wherever they are (in whatever form they prefer).

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» You need to be more dynamic, more intimate and more expansive

» Your website must be delicate enough to deal with flighty users but powerful and flexible enough to deliver the right experience

» You must embrace the idea that users no longer have exclusive relationships with your site

» You need to think about how to integrate with other sites, communities and content

» All about the experience. User experience is a huge issue and has also a direct impact on how to generate revenue online.

What it all means for your online strategy

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» All about the users

- How can you best engage with your users’ lives in a way that makes sense for your business?

- What’s in it for them?

» People are unique

- Engagement is about meeting customers on their terms.

- Focus on what they care about and serving personalized content

» Four C’s

- Plan and create your online startagy with the 4C’s – content, communication, community and commerce

- To have a fully holistic online presence, it’s important to consider each of these areas.

Introducing the holistic web

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» Great content is sticky. The characteristics of the content you value are probably:

- Directly relevant to you, your life or your work

- Useful in getting something done

- Providing new information or challenging your assumptions

- Relatively simple and easy to digest

- Engaging, human and even emotional

» Great content is contagious

- Contagious content needs to be fresh and attention grabbing to be picked up by the right people

» Kevin Bacon

- Find your connectors – someone who is connected to far more people than average.

Stickiness, contagion and Kevin Bacon

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» Think about the customer first. If they’re getting 10, 50, 100 plus emails a day, why are they going to open yours?

» No email is an island. Don’t treat outbound communication as separate from the rest of your online strategy

» Testing times. Sometimes it’s good to go with your instinct. But what if that instinct is wrong?

» Engaging your customer in the process will help you plan and create communications and content that resonates better and increases loyalty.

Are we on the same wavelength?

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» Blog with commenting

» Walls/bulletin boards

» Social bookmarking

» Share with friends

» Favourites

» Contests/polls/voting

Socialize everythingBuilding your own community doesn’t need to be all or nothing. You can take a step-by-step approach and add social elements to what you’ve already got.

» Rating/tagging

» Chat/messaging

» Expert Panels

» Forums

» Community with profiles and groups.

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» You need to think about the whole buying cycle – from browsing to buying to aftersales

» Your design must be crisp, clean and user-centered

» Nice to haves are quickly becoming essentials

» Making the sale

» It doesn’t end with the sale.

Buy, buy or bye byeThere is no slowing down in online business growth. You need a fully holistic buying experience to get and protect market share.

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Bringing it all togetherToday’s online world is complex and exciting and the possibilities just continue to grow. Five things to do right now:

Start with the 4 C’s. Have a clear picture of what you are trying to achieve.

Align your business with your customers.

Model success. Look outside your business and industry.

Start small. Scale fast. No one has all the answers.

Ensure you have the right infrastructure in place.

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About EPiServerEPiServer is the leading supplier of solutions that enable true web engagement and drive business results for end customers. 3,500 customers worldwide use EPiServer's technology platform that combines content, community, commerce, and communications with a configurable metrics dashboard.

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