Of all the 2009 web trends, the so-called "Real-Time Web" has probably had the most obvious impact on our collective lives. Prior to this year, it's likely that you knew someone in your network using Twitter or Facebook. This year, it's probable that you are personally using a social media service like Twitter or Facebook, and you have family members who are as well. While Twitter and Facebook are certainly not the only examples of Real-Time Web, their popularity and usage have exploded recently and have become ubiquitous in our popular culture.
For interactive agencies, we are still at a point of transition where we recognize the clear effects of the RTW in daily/personal lives, yet for our client work, these effects have not yet fully infiltrated the strategies with which we approach projects. Certainly, clients are starting to inquire about integrating social media, RSS, blogs, etc., but the notion of "real-time" still remains somewhat foreign to most marketers who tend to struggle perfecting copy that might not change for months on their corporate websites. Undoubtedly, some of the more sophisticated organizations get it: what's the incentive for an end user to return to a website when the content is stale? There is a simple answer: NONE. No matter how much spit and polish on your website copy, most users may browse it once, but rarely will again...until it changes...until it becomes relevant and timely.
Many organizations still see little difference between the printed brochure and the web, but increasingly, at this point of transition, such thinking will yield only disappointing results. Normal users of the web these days are consuming information like a whale consumes plankton and have little patience for stale, irrelevant content.
So maybe you aren't employed by an uber sophisticated firm that has its own Chief Social Media Officer and a team of specialists. What can you do? Here are a few thoughts:
- Have a longterm content strategy: often, the strategy for content is to produce it to support a launch. Have a plan for the days and weeks and months following launch. Have a publishing schedule. Have resources assigned, and be able to forecast these internal costs to management.
- Put your web on a CMS: If your website isn't integrated with a Content Management System (CMS), this might be Priority One. Run, don't walk. Without a sophisticated platform that allows for easy publishing of content without programming capabilities, your content strategy will be handicapped from the outset.
- Research the competition: take the time to survey how your competitors and peers are using their websites and note best practices. Look for trends, and adopt those that make sense.
- Integrate 3rd party tools strategically: consider integrating a social media service as it makes sense and complements your strategy. Twitter is a powerful platform for microblogging and some users will appreciate short bursts of relevant information versus lengthy sermons. But remember that technology is always an ends to a means, so have a plan.
- Let go of perfection: don't let perfect be enemy to the good. Your website visitors will appreciate fresh, dynamic content, even if it's not worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. Avoid analysis paralysis when it comes to content and publish, publish publish!
For more information on the Real-Time Web, read "
The Top 5 Web Trends of 2009: The Real-Time Web."